Rock Star Sting Says Apps Are The New CDs
(Photo by Adam Riggall, used with thanks under Creative Commons license)
Former Englishman-in-New-York Sting has been speaking to journalists to plug his solo career retrospective album, the 25 Years box set. And in his opinion, the music industry is facing another big change. The CD is dead. And its replacement is apps.
In an interview with Billboard, Sting said:
I think the app is the new model. People are going to stop buying CDs. People are going to stop selling and making them, so I am looking for different ways to get music to people, and the application at the moment seems to be the favorite.
He’s not the only one looking for new ways to sell songs. Icelandic genius Bjork released her last album as an app alongside the traditional CD. Only yesterday, we reported efforts by rock legends Pink Floyd to re-invent their archives as a “this day in history” style app for fans.
It makes sense. The more you stop and think about it, the more apps feel analogous to albums: a self-contained work by an artist, a thing they can put together over a period of months or years and then sell to fans. Many of today’s youngsters don’t see why they should pay for music – but they’re perfectly happy to pay for apps.
You can see why Sting and his peers are turning towards the App Store.
Giles Turnbull is a freelance writer in England. He also writes for 
