How to make your digital album more like a physical one!

I didn't know about half the things that Chris Bracco has put into this post!

The post talks about 7 ways to make the digital music experience more tactile and involved - like when you had a CD or that lovely bit of black plastic that so many now fondly remember!

An example is the interactive tags in the metadata used by Arcade Fire on their last album that makes the images in iTunes interactive. This is one of the things that I didn't know you could do!

 

But the piece has 6 more cracking ideas - check them all out here.

Vinyl releases growing in popularity - offer them to your fans

When you're making a special package for your fans on your next release it seems that you aren't forgetting to offer the tactile analogue pleasure of vinyl. It's one of those music marketing tips that has the happiness of the fan as it's aim.

Although a lot of the growth in vinyl sales is from established artists creating a premium package for diehard fans the trend is even more obvious among new acts wanting to embrace the coolest of all formats.

Offer a digital download immediately and send the vinyl in the post. Instant gratification and long term pleasure for your fan.

Seventy-two years ago last week, the 33-1/3 long-playing vinyl record was invented. And while most music fans have moved on to streaming Bluetooth audio, MP3s and other digital music formats, LP sales are higher today than at any time in recent history.

According to Nielsen Entertainment, vinyl record sales have been booming over the past four years. In 2009, 2.5 million albums were sold in the U.S., up from 1.88 million in 2008.

Read the stats on vinyl here.