Lady Gaga’s new album will not be a typical record. The pop star announced on her Little Monsters Blog that ARTPOP is more of a project. Gaga wrote that it will be released as a compatible application for the iPad, iPhone, mobile and computers. It will be interactive with chats, films for every song, extra music, Gaga-inspired games, fashion updates, magazines and more still in the works.
The new application raises many ideas about what this means for the music industry.
“When an artist is coming out with a new album, we usually hear a new song from the artist on the radio and you go download that song,” WTAMU Director of Broadcast Engineering Randy Ray said. “But instead of just downloading that song, you go download the app of the album.”
When this is done, you get that song plus a video of that song, maybe liner notes explaining why he or she wrote that song, even who played on that song, Ray said.
“I love the idea of the app because it’s organic, dynamic and interactive,” Ray said. “I think that’s what a music product needs to be.”
Professor of Mass Communications Dr. Leigh Browning said there are some issues that can’t be avoided.
“The jury is still out on ARTPOP,” Browning said. “The problem is the saturated market of apps. “
Browning said the better way to approach this is to develop an app that allows us to see all albums from any artist we choose.
“Again, it is about aggregating a massive amount of content,” Browning said. “Gaga is simply curating her own brand, and that is smart.”
Browning said as a professor of mass communication, what this album means to the field is “that we all have to think outside the box.”
Ray said the lack of change in the music industry has caused issues.
“For years, they did not evolve. They fought against change and that has been to their disadvantage,” he said. “Because they didn’t evolve, they got left behind and that is why the younger generations started doing other things like illegal downloading.”
Ray said had the music industry been proactive with change, they would have been on board with the issues at hand. He believes “integration to social media is huge.”
Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition, Benjamin J. Brooks, said it is about the experience and engaging in the music.
“It does enhance the experience for a listener to be able to see the artist’s new music and prior music and also engage the music in different ways with interactive tools,” he said.
Brooks said whether he would buy it or not depends on “if they could find a way to not clutter your phone or music listening device.”
