“We’re releasing the open specs for iTunes LP soon, allowing both major and indie labels to create their own. There is no production fee charged by Apple.”

If this makes the practice more pervasive, it will just make the P2P networks more attractive. In that world, people get to “vote” on which songs they want AND which ones they don’t. This is a rather popular feature, alongside the “free (stolen)” thing.

Back in the “good old days,” we would hear a song we liked on the radio, go to the store, and pick up the CD that had that song. In the process, we would also find several more songs that we liked just as much (or, in some cases, DIDN’T like), but for me, it’s like a treasure chest – will the rest of the album be as good as that one song??

Now, mainstream artists have released singles for years. If someone only wanted that one song, they could go to the record store, buy the song on a 45 RPM (and later, cass-singles and CD singles). I can count on one hand the number of singles I ever bought because I wanted to hear the entire album. But how is this any different from iTunes’ selectibility? The only difference is that you can pick what singles you want rather than let the record company choose for you.

In fact, I know that many record companies would release songs on the B-sides of singles that weren’t even ON the regular album, driving up single sales. In essence, a complete project included 11 songs, but only 10 were on the album and one was on the back of the single, so you had to buy both.

One possible solution to this “buy the whole album” thing is to offer a bonus track that is only available with the full purchase. That way, people can still buy the regular album a song at a time, but the incentive is there with the “full album exclusive.” It also provides an added bonus to iTunes (or whoever the particular online retailer is). Stores like Wal-Mart and Target have been offering exclusive content for years, and to much success. Why can’t iTunes do the same thing, and kill two birds with one stone?