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Weird Al To Release Songs As He Records Them

Posted by timothy on from the pitch-perfect-parodies-piecemeal dept.

slapout writes "Weird Al has announced that with the Internet he can now release his songs for sale as he records each one rather than waiting for a whole album to be produced."

5 of 333 comments (clear)

  1. Probably will be great for him by sokoban · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I guess now by doing this he can have a parody in the hands of his fans while the original version of the song is still popular. If you're trying to lampoon popular culture, releasing an album at a time means that you will always be a good deal behind the times.

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 is the magic number.
    1. Re:Probably will be great for him by DynaSoar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I guess now by doing this he can have a parody in the hands of his fans while the original version of the song is still popular. If you're trying to lampoon popular culture, releasing an album at a time means that you will always be a good deal behind the times.

      That's not as good an idea as you might imagine. I do the same thing -- parody songs. Popular != well known. Older means more people have become familiar with it, particularly those who don't keep current on the genre the song is from. If fewer people recognize it, the act falls flat. I'll bet Weird Al is aware of this since he typically runs years behind a "hit" despite producing things in the interim. Plus, if he seeks permission (he used to sometimes) it'd be easier to get when something's no longer hot. Very new, and they won't want it made fun of. Older, and the parody can bring the original back up the chart.

      --
      "I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
  2. Re:Just because he can... by electrictroy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes it does mean he should. Through his actions he can demonstrate that an artist doesn't need the corporate engine in order to succeed. He can use the internet to eliminate the waste of the middle man.

    --
    The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
  3. Re: "physical media" on the way out? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm afraid you are completely missing what is happening to the music industry.

    DRM was never about catching piracy, it was about extracting more money from those who legally pay for their media. Fortunately, DRM appears to be dying a death but the media companies still want to make more profits from those people who do pay for the stuff.

    The fact is that downloadable music, legal or illegal, is turning music into a disposable commodity - i.e. once your iPod fills up, wipe it and start again. And because of that, there will no longer be the *need* to make albums that people are likely to listen to for their entire lives.

    Look at modern pop music and you will see endless clone artists, no matter what the genre, that are thrown into the limelight for eighteen months or so just to churn out cheap-to-make music - as soon as these same artists get beligerent and demand more money, they disappear, with a new cheaper "clone" put in place.

    For the record labels its great - no arrogant mega-stars to deal with, just churn out plastic dross that's cheap to make but makes loads of profits. This is why a lot of youngsters these days have a perception that albums only have one or two good tracks on them - because that is actually the case for the trash that's forced on them by advertising.

    So I actually feel sorry for your kids - because when they get to an age where they can start to appreciate music, there will be no "classic" albums that will come out of their generation, just "pick 'n' mix" music.

  4. Re:Just because he can... by Mordaximus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Much like Trent Reznor and Radiohead, he's got tons of cash to play around with and experiment - cash made while riding the corporate engine. I'll subscribe to your theory when I see a brand new artist do the same thing and make a profit from it.