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The NY Times has heard the future (of music) and they think it's becoming embedded in "things":

Over the summer, the vice president of Sub Pop Records told Seattle Weekly's music blog, Reverb, that the shirts, caps, key chains and cozies that once served as promotional collateral may have greater value to potential customers than recorded songs. "We used to give many of these tchotchke items away for free in an effort to entice people to pay for the music," Megan Jasper said. "But we're considering flipping our strategy so that people pay for the toy and receive the music for free. Just a thought."

It is just a thought, but one that is catching on:

In a sense the market is already filled with various attempts to imbue objects with the aura of music (or musicians) as technologies make owning the music itself a less physical experience. Rap artists pioneered the strategy of extending a musician's brand into the department store through clothing lines; more recently, Macy's announced that the band Good Charlotte is curating an apparel collection for the store. Stones Throw Records sells a Madlib Espresso blend, connected to the rapper/producer of that name. DJ Irie from South Florida is putting out a line of jewelry. You can buy a Weezer Snuggie in one of three colors. The German metal band Rammstein even sold a set of sex toys.

And on and on and on and on...

Whatever this may say about the direct market value of recorded songs, all this merchandise creativity is probably nudged along by the (related) fact that past concerns about losing credibility by working with commercial entities have long since evaporated. John Lydon did a butter commercial, Lady Gaga fills her videos with paid product placements and every "indie" band in America knows the best place to break a song is in a TV ad for . . . well, for almost anything. In other words, the aura of music has been imbued in objects (and services, cruise lines, life insurance, etc.) for years.

Artists know as well as anybody that music sells stuff, so why shouldn't they sell the stuff too?

So there you have it: the future of music distribution, ladies and gentlemen!

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