Damaged packaging

Pushing the formulaic format

What?: The rush is on to find a new format to replace the CD, but is repackaging really the answer?:

* Universal Music are to release tracks by Keane and Nicole, (lead singer with The Pussycat Dolls) on USB stick “This is aimed at the younger, 12 to 24 year olds, who no longer believe that the CD is as cool as it used to be”, said Brian Rose, commercial director Universal UK.

* Fightstar are releasing their next single on vinyl-disc, a double-sided half-CD-half- vinyl format. The result of letting the man behind Right Said Fred and Crazy Frog tinker with their latest marketing format.

* Batch Totem are releasing their new album on the long-defunct floppy-disc format squeezing 74 minutes of music (19 tracks)onto 1.44MB of storage space.

So what?: Why on earth would anyone use a USB when a CD/DVD already does the job better? How many Fightstar fans have even seen a record player yet alone own one?

DVD is the format of the moment, but in truth it only leveraged the same interest as the CD did, it just took the film industry a long time to get there. Formats win over the public based on two factors – usability and availability. HD-DVD, Blueray and now HD VMD will suffer as they offer little that is truly new and the multiple formats only hinder their marketing potential.

Kit Kat may have successful sold the same product in a different shape but the music industry is going to have to think harder if it is to compete with the most recent format of choice – Free.

www.fightstarmusic.com