Sebastien Tellier - who was robbed, ROBBED I say in the recent Eurovision contest - has finally announced a US release date for his album, Sexuality. The manner he has chosen to deliver it might be considered a little unorthodox:
Record Makers is proud to announce an agreement has been reached with American Apparel, which will make Sexuality available at all American Apparel locations throughout North America in an exclusive pre-release beginning July 22nd (full release to follow in October). This is the first time in the history of the Los Angeles based clothier that music will be sold at store level, whilst marking the first foray of the Parisian indie-label Record Makers (founded in 2000 by Marc Teissier du Cros and Stéphane Elfassi) into the world of clothing retail.
This unique collaboration began with a special pre-release of the album at the retailer’s German locations, before expanding to the rest of Europe and now North America. Sexuality will be available on CD and vinyl LP formats alongside the new single Divine (7″ and 12″ versions) in store and online at www.americanapparel.net. To promote Sexual Sportswear, the album’s first single, American Apparel created two exclusive garments - the SexualiT and SexualiTank - which will be in stores for a limited time only.
Viva Radio, American Apparel’s in-house radio station, will be showcasing Sebastien Tellier content throughout, programming tracks for in-store play and offering album preview streams online. In addition, Sebastien will be contributing select content for the Viva Radio airwaves in-store and online.
Of course, this might not be that unorthodox anymore. After all, in recent months we’ve had LCD Soundsystem and M.I.A. representing Converse, McFly joining forces with McDonalds, and Santogold lending songs to Bud Lite Lime (as well as the aforementioned Converse). And how many artists have released CD’s at Starbucks in the last 5 years? (Though they won’t be anymore).
Santogold had this to say about ’selling out’:
“Everybody wants you to sell a lot of records, but it’s not considered a failure if you don’t. The record labels know that most of the money nowadays is made in licensing. On MTV, their whole approach is to put your songs in their programming now—they’re even [looking into] some new technology, like TiVo, that will record the music played on a show and then give you the option to purchase it. So where before it might have been, ‘Oh, you’re gonna sell out?,’ now it’s how we make our money.”
With the current state of the record industry, it’s hard to fault artists for seeking out new and creative ways to get paid for their music. And it doesn’t change the fact that Tellier’s album is one of the best of the year. So whether you buy it from AA or Astralwerks, it’s worth it.
MP3: Sebastien Tellier - Sexual Sportswear (Donovan Remix)
- Sean
