Discounts.  Over the last few years album sales have been plummeting as users opt to buy ala carte on iTunes as well as other popular music formats.

Just last month Third Eye Blind launched their new CD URSA Major.  It sold on iTunes for $9.99, but if you headed over to Amazon or MySpace the first week of release it was $3.99.

Talk about a discount and why give up so many points on margin for sales? If a single is $1.29 from all major platforms why not spend the extra 3 bucks and get the full album.  Artists now are shifting focus to touring and need to move units to expose their brand and hope you buy tickets to their shows.  Especially someone like Third Eye Blind who hadn’t had a record in 6 years.

So why am i posting this today?  Well for today and today only Mariah Carey is launching her new album 24 hours early only on Amazon at the discounted price of $5.99.  Which to me is clever and also a sign of desperation.  Mariah Carey’s latest song only hit #7 on the Billboard charts and was released back in June thinking it would be a summer anthem and the album would drop in early September.  The album has since had a few delays rumored to be readying a new single “I Wanna Know What Love Is” which is a cover of an old Foreigner Song.

Personally I like the move.  It is a crowded week of releases.  The industry is suffering and she needs to get people talking about this album.  Give it to people for the cost of 4 songs and get buzz brewing for tomorrow’s official launch.

Tags: Mariah Carey, Third Eye Blind