British music collective Sault have made mystery a key part of their career so far: no named band members, no interviews, photos or live shows etc. Now they’re doing something fun with their next album ‘Nine’ which appears to be coming out later this month. We say ‘appears’ because the group’s website currently has a countdown saying “107 days left of Nine”, while their Instagram post announcing the record explains that “Nine will only exist for ninety nine days” – thus pointing to a release date in eight days’ time.
The post went on to say that fans will be able to download the album from Sault’s website, buy it on vinyl or listen to it on all streaming platforms. The implication is that 99 days after its release, the sales will stop and the album will (we assume) be removed from streaming services.
A case of creating your own scarcity and encouraging sales, although the band’s team will clearly need to have a good plan for dealing with any subsequent uploads to platforms like YouTube and SoundCloud, as well as for piracy.
Music Ally’s next Learn Live webinar will help you build the strategies for artists to thrive in new international markets!