Jonesing for more
Published Saturday November 28th, 2009
Music: Artists like Norah Jones can't resist push for bonus content, so they're getting creative
In a decade of dwindling record sales, Norah Jones has been one of the few artists to reliably sell millions and millions of albums around the world.
Since her 2002 debut Come Away With Me, listeners have followed Jones to the tune of well over 37 million records sold around the world.
And yet, she says she's not immune to the industry's latest tactic for imploring the public to actually shell out real dollars for music.
"These days, (in) the weird world of the music industry, everybody wants an extra song," Jones said in a recent telephone interview from her home in New York.
"A bonus track for iTunes, a bonus track for Amazon, a bonus track for Wal-Mart - (it's) like you have to make two records all the time."
Indeed, the increasingly urgent push for bonus content has become somewhat taxing for musicians who have also been feeling the financial crunch of an industry in transition.
But the demand for extra material has also forced some artists to do what they do best: get creative.
Rapper 50 Cent wrote, produced and directed a film version of his new record, Before I Self-Destruct, that is being tucked in with the regular disc. The deluxe version also includes the documentary 50 produced about Run DMC DJ Jam Master Jay, as well as bonus tracks.
Then there's Lady Gaga's new The Fame Monster, which can be bought on its own, as a two-disc version that includes her debut album, or in a collector's edition that features various trinkets apparently designed by her Haus of Gaga, including paper dolls, a puzzle, fanzines, 3-D glasses and, um, a lock of Gaga's platinum-blonde hair.
Jones hasn't commissioned anything quite so elaborate for her recently released fourth record, The Fall.
She spent the past couple years labouring over the 13 tracks that comprise her new album and initially, she didn't savour the idea of having to generate a knot of new tunes for multiple retailers.
"So, we thought that a really good way to lessen the pressure on me to have a bunch of extra songs would be to get some remixes done," she said.
She enlisted the Beastie Boys, Beck and Santigold to rework some of the songs from The Fall for a forthcoming EP. It's a fittingly diverse group to coincide with an album that has amounted to something of a departure - or evolution - for Jones.
Sure, the hallmarks are there: the clear-eyed ballads, long pauses and spotless melodies that announce themselves immediately.
But signs of change are everywhere. She ditched her longtime band - and Lee Alexander, her former boyfriend, songwriting partner and producer - in favour of a group of seasoned vets. She played guitar more and piano less, and aimed for a "very different sound."
"This is kind of time for me to branch out a little," she said.
"I was really excited to work with some new musicians. I've had this great band for so long but I think at the end the last tour, it became apparent we were all kinda itching to go in different directions."
What results is something of a break-up album, on which Jones pairs some contemplative lyrics with her newly filled-out sound.
Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff co-wrote the moody Stuck, on which Jones asks: "Why don't you leave? Leave me be?" And Jones says that the gently groovy lead single Chasing Pirates was inspired by a bout of insomnia.
Ultimately, Jones found herself inspired enough that she was able to generate enough bonus tunes to please the various stores and services that required them. Some versions of the CD come with an extra disc that feature covers of the Kinks' Strangers and Wilco's Jesus, etc.
Strokes singer Julian Casablancas tried to be similarly creative when putting together a deluxe version of his debut solo record, Phrazes for the Young.
The "luxury edition deluxe set" of the eight-song album will come with a 48-age classically bound storybook - personally signed by Casablancas - containing original and exclusive artwork, lyrics and photographs. There's also a DVD with filmed solo acoustic performances from Casablancas, an interview, album trailer, and a music video.
But wait, there's more: an extra CD with demos from the album and B-sides, a vinyl LP, a double-sided poster, and a cult records pin.
It all comes packaged in a "beautiful custom-designed antique-style box," which Casablancas seemed to take particular pleasure in.
"I'm glad it comes in a cool box," he said in a recent telephone interview.
"You can just throw everything out and use it for jewelry or whatever."
Blue Rodeo wasn't immune to the push for bonus content either.
The band created a special iTunes-exclusive version of their latest double LP, Things We Left Behind, with interactive album notes, portraits of the band's most prized instruments, a song by song commentary from songwriters Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor and acoustic performances.
"We only have our heads partially in the ground," Keelor laughed in a recent interview. "We still realize that technology leads the music industry, they go hand in hand. You have to be a part of all of it."
And Cuddy said that artists have always been obligated to do a little something extra in some form.
"One way or another, we've always done something," he said. "When we first started they used to do EPKs, just (with) talking. We did an interview record once. I think we try to make the stuff that's given through iTunes, we try to make it musical. We try to either talk about the songs or play the songs in an acoustic forum.
"I guess with all these things, they're all ways of communicating with whoever your audience is. We just try to make them so they're not too, so they lack dignity. We just try to do them so they're musical. and if they are, then that's OK."
Jones, likewise, says she ultimately doesn't mind.
"There's a lot of bonus content that people want," she said. "I'm not against it. It's just really difficult to come up with that much stuff. I made the album and I thought that that was enough!"
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