Daniel Mount points out an interesting Crossroads Music press release that was issued this past week. A new recording by Michael Frost, Pigeon Forge stage star of The Miracle and songwriter, will be distributed digitally, but a physical CD does not appear to be part of the deal. (If one is, the press release neglects it.)

Daniel Mount asks:
“Is this the first step of the wave of the future?
At a very minimum, it’s a creative way for labels to minimize their risks with a new act.”

Digital distribution has become ordinary enough in the last couple of years. Even though Southern Gospel labels were several years late to the party, iTunes and other services have been up and running for quite some time. Of course, independent artists were the first to embrace the digital delivery method and turn the established music industry on its ear.

Limiting delivery to downloads, though, also limits exposure. The reason this might be productive for a songwriter is to raise his exposure among artists who want to record his songs without losing money on promotion, packaging and warehousing. This limited method of distribution would have made more sense for a non-performing writer, though. Frost sings in a theater where the audience is different every day, so you’d think it might be worthwhile to print up a few CDs.

It only took a few years for CDs to squeeze out cassette tapes. Downloads probably will take the place of physical media eventually, but I think it’s going to take quite a bit longer this time.

There are several intermediate steps we’ll likely see before the transition is complete.

1. Rather than going into the studio for several days of tracking and returning a few weeks later for several days to record vocals, artists will go into the studio for a single day of tracking and a single day of vocals. This will produce three or four songs per effort rather than 10 or 12. These songs can be downloaded and/or sent out as singles to radio right away, but there will be three or four two-day sessions of this sort over a period of several months before enough material is recorded to release a full length CD.

2. CDs will be manufactured for the artist to sell at events, but downloads and/or direct orders from the artist will be the only other way to buy music. Look for graphic design budgets to take a hit under this model so costs of manufacturing lower quantities of product at a given time can be offset.

3. Once downloads become the norm, compilations of a group’s most popular songs will continue to be released on CD.

4. Once CDs are gone, artists will still want to have something physical to sell at their tables. Look for them to offer inexpensive USB memory sticks pre-loaded with their songs for about the same price as a CD. Or better yet, their entire back catalog of songs for $50-$100.

Regarding #4, I’m honestly surprised we aren’t already seeing offers like this to some extent. I know there have been some contests where you could win an iPod loaded with a group’s catalog, but I haven’t yet heard a record pitch that includes a statement such as, “We’ll sell you the 500 songs we’ve recorded in the past ten years for $100,” followed by some corny joke about how so much great music can be packed into such a tiny object.

UPDATE: Daniel Mount points out that Legacy V sells an MP3 player pre-loaded with their entire catalog consisting of 18 albums. It’s $99 HERE It’s actually a player, not a mere stick of USB memory as I had mentioned…glad to see I was pretty much on target with the price range. I wonder how many they’ve sold.