Jay-Z To Fans: Please Steal My Music And While You're At It, Help Yourself To Beyonce
Never mind Vegas folks pissed over Beyonce's bikini-clad billboard overlooking the strip, iTunes buyers who want to purchase Jay-Z's new soundtrack to the "American Gangster" movie are out of luck. That's because the rapper insists that fans buy the entire album, not individual tracks, and Apple's (AAPL) online store won't allow that.Jay-Z's not the first artist to stay off of iTunes because of an album vs. tracks dispute. But is the first time he's had a problem with it: You can buy much of his earlier music, track by track, on iTunes today. Giving that artists aren't moving units like they were back in the day, what gives?
Jay-Z is also head of Universal Music Group's Def-Jam label, so it's easy to imagine that Jigga's move had something to do with that. Having just recently paid $15 mil cash for that clothing line, Maybe the rapper is sincere when he says he wants fans to experience the entire album as a whole, just like they'd watch a film all the way through instead of scenes. Or it may just be Jay-Z wishing he could dial the clock back to the late 90s, when people who wanted to buy an individual song had no choice but to buy the album it was on -- a lousy deal for consumers but fantastic for the music biz. Whatever the motives, the result will be the same: Fans who want to acquire Jay-Z's music legally have lost their easiest and most widely used option, which means they'll be that much less likely to pay for it, or Beyonce's music, at all.