I Eat Music

The artwork for Mariah Carey’s new album, ‘Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel’, will carry adverts, it has been announced. Due for release on 15 Sep via Island Def Jam, the first million copies of the album in the US and first 500,000 in Europe will come with a specially created miniature Mariah-centric edition of Elle magazine as the CD booklet, containing adverts for Elizabeth Arden, Angel Champagne, Carmen Steffens, Le Métier de Beauté and the Bahamas Board of Tourism, as well short articles on the singer, lyrics and the usual credits and suchlike.

A condensed version of the mini-magazine, minus the CD-specific elements, will be inserted into 500,000 subscription copies of the October issue of Elle (published shortly after the album’s release) and in the US the CD will be sold alongside Carey’s new perfume, cunningly called Fragrance, at its manufacturer Elizabeth Arden’s counters in WalMart stores.

With ad revenues funding 100% of the booklet’s printing costs, Island Def Jam are hoping that if this experiment goes well, they will be able to sell off the artwork of albums by Kanye West, Rihanna and Bon Jovi in a similar fashion.

The label’s chairman, Antonio ‘LA’ Reid told Brand Week: “The idea was really simple thinking: ‘We sell millions of records, so you should advertise with us’. My artists have substantial circulation – when you sell two million, five million, eight million, that’s a lot of eyeballs. Most magazines aren’t as successful as those records”.

He added that Carey had been “very open” to the idea when he had shown her the original mock up of the booklet, adding: “I wouldn’t want to do Mariah Carey and Comet abrasive cleaner. I wanted things that really reflected her taste”.

He admitted that partnerships like this would become increasingly important as revenue from record sales continues to decrease. He continued: “We don’t have music retailers any more, so a smart consumer products company that understands the value in distributing music is going to restore the vitality of our business. If we distribute music properly and if it’s done tastefully, it could be a huge profit centre for all of us. That is the missing link – we need partnerships”.

Ah yes, partnerships. That old thing. While it’s true that CD sales still make up three quarters of revenues for record labels, sales do, of course, continue to slip. Then again, magazines, particularly fashion titles, aren’t doing so well either so I’m not sure how long this specific kind of partnership will work. I wonder how long it will be before ads creep onto the CDs (or downloads) themselves, Sigue Sigue Sputnik style. Hmm, now there’s an idea. Though if you work in marketing or advertising, forget I said that last bit.

Apple have rejected Nine Inch Nails’ previously reported ‘nin:access’ iPhone app from the iTunes Store on the grounds that it contains “objectionable content”. The news comes despite Apple accepting the same app just last month.

‘nin:access’ is basically a condensed version of the comprehensive Nine Inch Nails website with added Twitter-like functions which allow users to connect and share content with each other. The reason for the rejection seems to be the inclusion of the song ‘The Downward Spiral’ in a podcast which can be accessed via the app. The specific reason as to why this song would cause such offence is unclear, particularly as it is available to buy as a standalone track from the iTunes download store.

In a lengthy rant on his official forum, NIN man Trent Reznor said: “Now, ‘The Downward Spiral’ the album is not available anywhere in the iPhone app. The song ‘The Downward Spiral’ I believe is in a podcast that can be streamed to the app. Thanks Apple for the clear description of the problem – as in, what do you want us to change to get past your stupid fucking standards? You can buy ‘The Downward Fucking Spiral’ on iTunes, but you can’t allow an iPhone app that may have a song with a bad word somewhere in it. Come on Apple, think your policies through and for fuck’s sake get your app approval scenario together”.

Reznor has a history of being stubborn in situations like this, and made reference in his post to WalMart’s demands for bands and labels to provide edited “clean” versions of albums for them to stock in their stores. Reznor refused to allows cut versions of his music to be produced, meaning that the band’s music is still unavailable in WalMart stores to this day. Reznor said: “My reasoning was this: I can understand if you want the moral posturing of not having any ‘indecent’ material for sale – but you could literally turn around 180 degrees from where the NIN record would be and purchase the film ‘Scarface’ completely uncensored, or buy a copy of ‘Grand Theft Auto’ where you can be rewarded for beating up prostitutes. How does that make sense?”

In WalMart’s case, it’s unlikely that they’re particularly bothered by the fact that they can’t stock Nine Inch Nails albums. Nor are they worried that Trent Reznor will start sneaking CDs into their stores. However, that may (sort of) be an issue for Apple. Although ‘nin:access’ will not be available to the majority of iPhone users, Reznor says that he will make it available to those users who have chosen to modify (or jailbreak) their phones so that they are not tied to Apple’s iTunes software. Reznor said: “If Apple doesn’t get it together, we will most certainly make it available to the jailbreak community. I didn’t invest in this app to see it languish on the sidelines from an idiotic policy while this tour is in full swing”.

In happier, and less sweary news, Trent Reznor has reportedly got engaged to his girlfriend, West Indian Girl vocalist Mariqueen Maandig. In an announcement on their website, the band said: “In case [you] haven’t heard the news, Mariqueen got engaged. Everyone in the West Indian Girl camp is super excited and happy for her. Q’s an awesome person, friend and bandmate, and she couldn’t be marrying a cooler guy”.