Billboard magazine reports that Island/Def Jam, owned by Universal, will begin selling downloads of singles the day they hit radio, meaning consumers can buy the singles even before the album comes out.
The initiative starts today with the premiere of the American Hi-Fi track “The Art of Losing.” The single has been made exclusively available for purchase online in the U.S. for 99 cents. The Island album from which the track was taken, “The Art of Losing,” does not hit retail until Feb. 25.
The digital tracks will be sold at a host of E-commerce sites — including those of Trans World Entertainment’s FYE, Tower Records, Best Buy, and Circuit City — as well as through subscription services Listen.com, MusicNet, and Pressplay. The downloads can be burned to CD and transferred to secure portable devices.
Related
- Tower stacking up downloads
- Music download sales help double the U.K. singles market
- 06 album sales plunge; downloads way up
- RIAA chases P2P distributors of ‘promotion’ singles
- Bands disallow iTunes downloads
