Eminem’s New Download Record
Eminem has been out of the game for a minute. With the exception of a few appearances, a couple tracks here and there, we haven’t heard much from him since Encore. With the announcement of the upcoming album Relapse, anticipation has been on the rise. When Relapse comes out, we’ll get the first new album-length batch of material since 2004. A lot has changed in the 5 years since Encore’s release, particularly the now-ubiquitous iTunes distribution model, the ascendancy and popularity of blogs and other digital media. Sure, in 2004, all those pieces were in place, and plenty of people downloaded Encore, but we’ve had a bit of a leap in the past 5 years in that these practices are now firmly entrenched as the ways and means of promotion and distribution. In 2004, the debate was still on regarding exactly how new digital distribution was going to effect the music business, and now, the question seems largely settled: it is the future, now. We know that with Atlantic Records’ recent announcement that digital sales had surpassed physical product sales, we’re firmly in the 21st century.
It looks like Em is still relevant though, and even though he’s managed to lay low for most of the past five years, he smashed the doors off the digital distribution model with the release of the “Crack a Bottle” track. According to the BBC, “Crack a Bottle” sold418,000 digital copies in its first week of availability, breaking the record for US downloads. The previous US record holder? The “Live Your Life” track by T.I., which moved 335,000 digital units late last year. After only a short period of time, it has become the third best download single.