How about Thelonious Monk? Charles Mingus? Or Miles Davis, pictured above? With CD sales tanking and a recession upon the land, Sony BMG is stretching out and selling photos from its vaults. And while some of the shots are beautifully vivid, and deeply appeal to consumer nostalgia, they're nowhere near cheap. In fact, given the current financial state of the music industry, the limited-edition prints on Sony's new Icon Collectibles site seem prohibitively expensive.
Billy Joel's contact sheet from The Stranger is going for $5,000. Photos of Johnny Cash, Carlos Santana, Sly and the Family Stone and more often start at $300 and approach $1700, stopping at $1699 for the sake of a dollar. Further offerings featuring Jaco Pastorius, Billie Holiday, Glenn Gould and The Greatest himself, Muhammad Ali, are on the burner, which is hot with hoped-for revenue in an era where the internet has made digital replication, of everything in sight and sound, a commonplace, personal occurrence.
Will it work? That's up to what's left of the consumption economy, which is getting battered by failing banks, job losses, military spending and unrepentant downloading. In other words, it's up to you.
this audio or video is no longer available**this audio or video is no longer available"The downturn caused everyone to say, 'What assets do we have that we're not taking advantage of?'" Sony BMG catalog division chief John Ingrassia told Rolling Stone. Ingrassia hopes to pull in $1 million from Icon Collectibles, which means Sony will have to sell hundreds or thousands of the shots, depending on the shot. But the jury is out on whether or not the business is there, especially today. The value of the pictures is determined by their availability; Joel's is being limited to 25 prints, while the rest hover in the hundreds. And there's little standing in the way of Sony expanding the run if enough sell.
No matter what happens, the Icon Collectibles line is indicative of an overall collapse in the music industry. In an earlier time, this venture would have been a peripheral bonus. But with CDs on their deathbed, and Sony still smarting from the Great Rootkit Fiasco of 2005, it feels like a desperation move.
But you are the consumer. You will decide Icon's fate. What do you think?
Photo: Sony/Icon Collectibles
