It amazes me that in this digital age we are still reliant on old world marketing methods. As i read the post about Koopa's sales and indeed all the chart sales figures, it made me wonder why when more and more people are listening to music, aren't sales exploding ?

Could it be because by then most people have downloaded it of p2p, gotten sick of it rammed down their throats or just plain bored with it by the time it's for sale ?

Thankfully i see a light at the end of the tunnel with the Beeb announcing their new playlist policy. But it doesn't go far enough.

Radio should play a track not because it may or may not be available in the shops, radio should play the track because they liked it.

There is no need for a build up to release, this only fuels piracy as we are in a 'now' culture. I want my mp3 and i want it now. I want to hear a track and go online to download it right now. I don't want to wait 4 weeks before it is available, times have changed.

We see artists, and i'm as guilty as everyone else, put
up freebies on Myspace for fans to download, in the hope
that it may stimulate 'promotion' and interest in the band, why not go straight for a sales model. Make money now, forget about trying to get a high chart position. The charts is meaningless if you only sell 2000 copies. Would Koopa swap their 'first unsigned band to chart' fame with sales of 10000 ? Would you rather sell 500 downloads each week for 52 weeks than to crash and burn and disappear under the clouds of your own hype ?

Perhaps we should rethink our strategy and release first market next and maximise the sales.

Or am I just being silly ?