iTunes LP (yawn)

IS THAT ALL THERE IS? The iTunes LP format has totally fizzled in the six months since its launch, GigaOM reports. Industry sources told writer Paul Bonanos that the vast majority of iTunes shoppers have no idea the format even exists, and only 29 iTunes LPs are currently on sale—including the dozen that were available at launch. Not surprisingly, labels are finding it difficult to justify peeling as much as $60k out of an album’s marketing budget to produce an iTunes LP. The bonus materials may interest super-fans, but they aren’t generating much buzz among mainstream consumers, and don’t appear to be stimulating album sales whatsoever, Bonanos notes. “It’s something most people will look at once,” one person told him. (3/11a)