I always assumed that the charm of iTunes, eMusic, and the rest of the online mp3 stores sprung up due to the fact that consumers really only liked the 1 or 2 songs they heard on the radio from an artist. I also assumed that this was due to the fact that major record labels actually put out albums with only 1 or 2 hit songs with a lot of filler. Any dedicated fan will go out and purchase the full album, but most people will simply purchase a couple songs and put them on their mp3 player.

iTunes LP is a fundamental shift in the way that iTunes has sold music in the past. Where before they sold single mp3s, they now plan on selling full albums with artwork, liner notes, videos, photos and other extras. The problem there is that if you’re clever enough to find Google and enter a few choice words into a search, it’s fairly simple to find album artwork, band photos and both music videos and concert videos; all for free. Now all we’re missing is the music and the liner notes. Oh, and the joy of handling a physical product and putting it on your record or CD player…

Are physical products really a thing of the past? Not according to the shelves of records and CDs that I have in my living room, and also not according to the many independent record labels that still put out LPs and CDs. Even Best Buy has started carrying LPs. I would much rather hold an LP in my hands and have a large copy of the artwork. Files on a computer are just so intangible. They get tossed into a folder within a folder within a folder and they get lost in the shuffle. A single click and they’re gone; a hard drive failure and they’re gone. If I do really want to put an LP on my mp3 player though, it’s fairly simple to make a digital copy. And if I’m too lazy for that, record labels often include a way to download the album as mp3s when you purchase it.

So if you buy the actual LP you get everything that iTunes LP gives you plus a physical product that you can hold in your hands, put on your record player, hang on your wall, or use to play frisbee with your friends. iTunes LP, while an interesting idea initially, seems completely useless in a market where physical products still exist.