A Good Album is More than Just a Collection of Singles

Some people find it hard to understand my man Jay-Z's decision not to let iTunes break up his American Gangster album and sell it as single tracks. They say he's fighting the future and losing out on sales from fans who only want to download singles. But I say it was a stand somebody had to take in the music industry. Jay is speaking for all of us.

He's not the first. He's not the lone cowboy in all of this. Radiohead and AC/DC have turned their backs on iTunes for the same reason. Doug Morris, the CEO of Universal Group, has been fighting Steve Jobs on this for a minute now. But Jay is at a level people are going to pay attention to. He's had 10 number one albums. He may run Def Jam but he's also an artist who put his heart and soul into something that he wants people to hear all the way through. As the creator and investor, he has every right to demand this.

Not only that, I believe he's starting a movement that's necessary. More artists and producers are gonna take back control of how their art is sold because his strategy has paid off. Maybe Hova coulda sold another 100,000 to 200,000 units by playing it iTunes' way, but he still had the number one album last week. He STILL sold 425,000 units. Even more, he's proven you can still sell an album without those guys.

Jay made everyone realize that iTunes taking what we give them and doing what they want with it isn't the way it has to be. He put the light on and made other people realize, "Oh these guys are just selling our music, they ain't making it." If anything, WE made iTunes. It's like how we spent $300,000 to $500,000 each on our videos and MTV and BET went ahead and built an entire video television industry off of our backs. We can't let that happen again. These businesses exist solely because of our music. So if we as artists, producers and label executives stand up, those guys at Apple can either cooperate, or have nothing for people to buy and download on their iPods.

Apple thinks that's never gonna happen. They think that we as the record industry will never stick together. But Universal sells one out of every three records. All it'll take is for Warner Music to say, "You know what, I'm with you," for us to shut 'em down. No more iPods! They won't have nothin' to play on their players! We can take back the power if we're willing to sacrifice some sales to make our point.

These days people just assume that you need a number one single to have a number one album. But look at what's really happening. Soulja Boy sold almost 4 million singles and only 300,000 albums! We let the consumer have too much of what they want, too soon, and we hurt ourselves. Back in the day when people were excited about a record coming out we'd put out a single to get the ball going and if we sold a lot of singles that was an indication we'd sell a lot of albums. But we'd cut the single off a few weeks before the album came out to get people to wait and let the excitement build. When I put out Kris Kross we did that. We sold two million singles, then we stopped. Eventually we sold eight million albums!

Did consumers complain? Maybe so. But at what point does any business care when a consumer complains about the money? Why do people not care how we - the people who make music - eat? If they just want the single, they gotta get the album. That was how life was. Today we should at least have that option. Yeah, it's about the money, but it's also about quality. Creating each album as a body of work that means something gives the consumer something better to listen to, It's that simple. Otherwise all anyone would care about is making a bunch of ringtones.

A good album is more than just a collection of singles. American Gangster was a story with a beginning, middle and end. I came in at the end and did the last song, "Fallin'." But every joint was related. Each song gets better from listening to the one next to it, and the one after that. I didn't just sit by myself in my studio in Atlanta, crank somethin' out, and throw it in the pot.

That album was the product of the best minds in hip hop today: Jay, Puffy, the Neptunes, No I.D., Just Blaze and me. We all came together and threw ideas around. Me and Jay had long conversations about our favorite mafia movies, and that moment in all those gangsta stories - Scarface, The Godfather -- when the hero makes his big mistake and falls. We came in with respect for each others' craft so the whole album could do right by the story. We made quality music for our consumers. We made art.

None of this is new. Every record is in some way a concept album. The whole always strives to be better than its parts. I dedicate a whole chapter in my book to this process. Every thing I produce is a product of me spending time with the artist and getting to know where his or her head is at. Usher's Confessions album was all about where he was at that point in his life. Same with Mariah's Emancipation of Mimi.

Even if I'm not executive producing and I'm brought in at the end on someone else's album, I listen to what everyone else has done and try to make my tracks fit. I'm like an interior decorator who comes into a house and fixes up one room. It doesn't look like every other room, but at least it picks up some threads so that room looks like it belongs in the same home. Every album is created for you to hear the next song, especially on rap albums. Rappers make intros on their records for a reason- they want you to listen it to set the mood and get ready for that second song.

I'm not saying that music can't ever be sold as singles. Not every album is equal and consumers are always going to try to cherry pick the songs they like. But that doesn't mean the people who investing their time, money and sweat into a record shouldn't have the right to decide how it's gonna be sold, whether that's in single units or as a whole. My book, Young, Rich and Dangerous: The Making of a Music Mogul, came out in hardcover last month, but Simon & Schuster doesn't let the book stores tear it up and sell it chapter by chapter. A record is no different.

Asking us to let other people mess with all our hard work like that is disrespectful. It's like when you go an art auction, and an Andy Warhol painting is up for sale at $5 million, but a buyer is allowed to just by off the top right hand corner of the canvas for a hundred thou'

Apple, why are you helping the consumer destroy our canvas? We don't tell you to break up your computers into bits and pieces and sell off each thing. When you go to the Apple store you may only need one thing, but you have to buy all their plug ins and stuff. You have to buy their whole package, even if you don't necessarily want it, or your equipment won't work. We're just saying, if you have the audacity to sell your products like that, don't treat our products as something less than yours.

Respect the craft!

**

Jermaine Dupri, who was named the most successful R&B producer of all time by the Guinness World Records 2007, is a Grammy-award winning music producer, president of Island Urban Records and author of Young, Rich and Dangerous: The Making of a Music Mogul (Atria, October 2007). For more information about this blogger, click here.

Comments

[Belve]

Part 3
The best comment I saw however on the subject based the idea of not making breaks in the CDs. How ingenious is that!! But I guess us dumb consumers and fans won't listen all the way through for that to be a good idea. Amazing however that podcast seem to do just that without getting paid nearly as much.

I apologize for the long post AND if this last part was sent multiple times.

If you want to read one part and come back leter if it interest you, that is fine by me.

:)

[Belve]

Part 2
It cost to make, produce, market and distribute music these days, we as a consumer base realize that fact. But the fact is very, very very few artist get more than a few cents per album per consumer. While the process of making the music has been rather happy to embrace technology in the terms of producing music in a cheaper and more efficient manner, the cost savings have until recently been realized to the consumer. If the artistic content of an album is important to the artist, why not reduce the amount of albums produced thusly increasing the demand of your product. To compare an album to a book or a canvas-based art is border-line foolish and completely devoid of intelligent reasoning. Andy Warhol paintings are one-of-a-kind pieces and "IF" they are mass produced it is still not to the degree of music. Books while the analogy makes much more sense, still doesn't jibe because most books are available in library's and can be acquired, read and returned for free. I'm sure most authors would sell much more if that was not the case.

BET and MTV aren't made by you artists as you would like to believe. They are create of the back of the consumers that have like interest in your music. Yo! MTV Rap wasn't produced as a show until rap fans showed themselves as a market that would watch, which in turn created 1. more fans 2. more artist who wanted to emulate and 3 more entrepreneurs looking to make money off the same gathering. That I think you will find is what iTunes and other online outlets are creating. I think it would help if the music industry stop regarding itself as above the understanding of its consumers.

[Belve]

I have to admit some things about this article. I almost hurt myself trying to get to the keyboard to type back a comment against almost everything Mr Dupri stated. Also that I am not a fan of any of his particular work. That said I am a fan of artist and artist being duly paid for the work they do. I am a fan of Rap and Hip-Hop, so most of my comment will be related to my preferences therein. Most of the great beats and melodies that Rap and Hip-Hop are based on is from a producer or DJ having listened to the entire album and picking out a piece that they enjoyed and wanted to further expound upon and while this isn't a practice MOST musical artist are in favor of, it is an art. Therefore the argument given in the article has some merit. The problem is that most albums/CDs produced today are not thought out works. At least not by the artist themselves. I would suggest Mr Dupri ask his fellow artist to start thinking in terms of album experience rather than album sales.

[markoplex]

wow, its amazing how this thinking is still out there. iTunes and Apple did what the music industry failed to do (create a solution to a problem, rather than trying to litigate it), and now, because the industry cannot control or buy it (like the did radio, retail and distribution), its whining about Apple having too much control.

i was there at the launch of the iTunes store (sat in the 5th row) and Jobs first slide was:

"people who want to steal will, we have to provide a compelling alternative to free."

did they get it completely right? no. did they get it much more right than the industry that should have? umm, yup.

the second slide was:

"apple is not for sale."

what that slide meant was that the iTunes store could not be bought from a position standpoint. music featured on the homepage is decided upon by an editorial staff, not by a major with the biggest checkbook or the biggest stick.

and guess who doesn't like it?!

guys like our writer friend will either evolve or die. music is alive and well, thank you very much, going forward, the creators of music that understand its about a direct connection between the artist and their audience (understanding that the audience is actually interested in supporting that artist) will win.

those who hold on to ideas that they know better, who attempt to hold a market position thru litigation and legislation, well, they already have their answer, don't they...

[Madampotential]

I think HOV can get away with this b/c he is well HOV, the best rapper alive. I don't think this would work for most artist though b/c 90% of what I hear on hiphop/r&b radio is unlistenable and I just don't think most fans would but the album. Payola is ruining pop music.

The album you produced for Usher sold over 18 million records b/c it was beautifully written and produced, and that is sooooo rare. People just are not gonna buy many of these albums put out today.

I think the music industry needs to focus on writing & producing great albums before they try to go to war with itunes b/c the artist will lose on this one... until they start making great ALBUMS again. We need more Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, Maxwell, John Mayer, Amy Winehouse, Erykah Badu and less Soulja Boy!!!

[mbaty]

I disagree with this; it's fine for an artist to say, "no, keep my album together," but overall, we should be able to download individual singles. I've bought so many somewhat dissapointing pop albums this year...tak­e Ciara's Evolution-­-"Promise" was by far the best song on the album, and then there were a few other good songs, but the rest is so uneven. This year I got Maroon 5, Hillary Duff, Timbaland, Britney, Rhianna, Bjork...an­d all of them were decent, but not great, with some great songs and some not so great songs. The last really great album I bought was Madonna's "Confessio­ns..." which I listened to for a long time...and I also very much enjoyed "the emancipation of mimi" but those were two years ago, and while we've had some great singles, like "umbrella," which has been played to death, I haven't heard any great albums start to finish recently--I mean really consistently good. I have yet to hear the Radiohead album, but I generally like them.
Making the album downloadable by song only means the whole album has to be better so that each song gets bought. Or not. At least then I can download it and pay for it instead of realizing that only a couple songs are really good and burning the album from a friend...

[Abbychuela]

Well if artists would put out a good record, I'd be more than happy to pay the $9.99. When you only have one or two good songs, why should I pay $9.99 or more? It's not worth that much. I will buy your one or two songs at $.99 cents a pop. Call it quality control. You put out good music, I will put out my hard earned cash. Funny how the rich love to cry poverty. Try being a full time student and employee paying for rent, car, insurance, food, tuition, etc... on a $23k salary. Then you can cry poverty.

[jawoflife]

As rap music fan I find it funny how there are independent artists you can't find on itunes or in bestbuy and other large retail chains. These artists build a fan base with no radio play, tour 300 days out of the year, sell concert tix to their shows for 15-20 bucks, and then sell albums and merchandise at the show. I don’t hear them complaining about their albums being released as singles. And in my opinion they have more incentive to complain than the majors because their product quality is often far superior to what you'll find on major labels. They’re not immune to having their album downloaded but I don’t think they’re feeling the decrease in sales as much as the majors because they’ve built reputations based on good music.

The same way they talk about the consumer being too lazy to wait or go to the store to get an album, the major labels are just as lazy when it comes to investing in artist developmen­t... They’re searching for the next big thing. Rap music has been depreciated on both the consumer and artist side. So maybe when they step their game up we will to.

[GaranceD]

I should hasten to add that I have no opinion on JayZ's new album. Maybe it is a very good album, and fans of JayZ will be get more by having the whole album instead of just cherry-picking a few hit songs. But if he has made an album where the most of the songs *are* worth owning, then fans of JayZ *will* buy the album as a whole.

JayZ just needs to make an album for his fans. And if he continues to do that, then his fans will keep coming back for more, and will continue to propel his albums to the #1-selling spot. There is no mystery here. But I am tired of someone waving around one good album from one artist, and then telling the world that *every* music fan must buy *every* song from *every* artist.

Me, I happen to like groups like Porcupine Tree, or Dream Theater, or more obscure groups like White Willow and Hipgnosis (out of Poland). I also buy the CD's from people like Al Stewart, Little Big Town, and Alison Krause. I also go for electronic music, like Redshift, ARC, and Radio Massacre International. Given that I have all these artists who can put together a full album which I do like, I am no longer going to waste my time and money buying a weak album from some other artist just because they managed to include one or two good songs on it. I will either buy *just* the good songs, or I won't buy anything at all from them.

So, for artists who put out mediocre albums with a only few memorable songs on it, you can either sell just those good *songs*, or you can force people to buy the whole album and end up selling nothing at all. *This* is the new world order.

[GaranceD]

I agree complete that a *good* album is more than a collection of singles. However, that does not mean that an artist can throw together any set of 10 songs and have a "good" album.

I have been buying music for over 30 years now. I do still buy albums, when they are worth buying. I own over 4,000 compact discs which I have bought with my own money, for instance. And I have also purchased a few hundred songs off of iTunes, where the artist has some really great *song*, but the rest of the album does nothing for me. (other people may happen to like the whole album, of course, while I may only like a song or two).

I find it odd that someone with real talent in the music industry would write some whiny article like this one. Every time people write something like this, the only thing you do is prove that you -- personally -- are not a music fan. Every music fan is well aware that there are good albums, and (conversely) that there are albums which have one or two very good songs, but the album as a whole is very mediocre. If an artist makes a good *album*, then why on earth would a fan of that music *not* buy the entire album? What, do you think they want to deprive themselves of a really good album?

Do you actually *buy* any music, or (as a highly regarded figure in the music industry) do you just get buried in free CD's from everyone who is trying to win your attention? What do you, Jermaine Dupri, feel when you pay $15 for a CD, only to find out that most of the songs are immediately forgettable throwaways? Or have you made enough money that you are happy to throw away your own money on throwaway songs?

[modoe]

JD has a point but what he doesn't realize is that if consumers don't BUY their favorite songs for Itunes they will download it for free from Limewire.

The music industry has been fighting a losing battle with internet downloading. Itunes has helped them in that fight. Picking a fight with Itunes will result in another loss.

I find it funny that he speaks out against singles as if his entire career isn't built on creating hit singles.

I think he, like many other celebrities, have reached heights that insulate them from the consumer realities. Consumers want one song at a time. They've been trained to accept music like this for over 30 years now. Now that technology has made it possible to download your music instantly to your phone or computer the recording industry stands to make much more money from impulse purchases than ever before.

You are not going to be them viral atmosphere of the internet.

[MrWampler]

"It's like how we spent $300,000 to $500,000 each on our videos and MTV and BET went ahead and built an entire video television industry off of our backs."

Oy, vey! Where to begin with this one?

Music videos are nothing more than promotions to sell the album. You should be handing them out for free! They're commercials!

Although it's obscene that one would spend a HALF MILLION on a music video, I'm sure that's in line with any other promotional budget for toothpaste or toys or movies or any other product.

I don't recall music videos being that prolific prior to the creation of Mtv. Mtv had a great idea, the music industry saw another avenue to PROMOTE their product. Win-win. The "off of our backs" comment is nonsense.

Mtv & BET pretty much IS the entire music television industry. Does Mtv even show them any more?

And in response to your argument, bullsnot! It is about the money. This "artistic expression" nonsense is painful to read. I kept thinking about Britney Spears' new album. With her many producers and synthetic instrumentation, is that a cohesive "work of art" or a product that can be broken into singles?

And iTunes does have an Album-Only sell option, if it's that important to Mr. Z.

[CitizenE]

One of the biggest problem of the e-tune phenomenon is that it will mean there will be fewer live recordings done or songs with long live-like dance breaks in them. These were the big breakthrough when we went from a 45 to 33 lp, which were enhanced by the even longer cd recordings.
Artists will be economically forced to do 5 minute (or shorter) songs, and so that will be that.
It's true that artists will have to come up with collections that are solid from top to bottom, but what we will get is nothing but studio songs.

[RAMHaiti]

Maybe Jay-Z can do a good song on an album but no way you can convince me that he can do a good album in which someone/anyone would want to listen all the songs. I'll bet you he can't even do 2 good songs on an album. Give me a break fellas...

[popmanifesto]

threefingerbrown said:

"The Beatles taught the record industry how to use singles to promote albums and vice versa, and the artists who followed the Beatles business plan profited greatly by it--if they had a legitimately good album, that is."

Actually, the Beatles' business plan was exactly the opposite of that. The Beatles' policy was that they never put the songs that came out on 45s on their albums. In the U.K., whatever songs they released as singles did not show up on their albums. They thought it was a rip off to the consumer to make them buy an album that had some of the same songs they had already purchased as 45s. They saw albums and singles as separate pieces of the business which were not to overlap. But Capitol in the U.S. didn't follow the Beatles plan and not only did they put the singles on albums, they created additional albums out of the pieces. The "screw 'em," quick-buck mentality has been a part of the U.S. record business for as long as there has been a U.S. record business. Don't blame The Beatles for that.