Yesterday I wrote up a whole bunch of notes for what will most likely be another long post about some hypothetical near-future publishing idea. That’s not important (yet). What’s important is that in those notes I used Lady Gaga as an example of how musical artists could offer small written works as impulse-purchase content to their fans, thus raking in yet more money.
As usual, as soon as I gave shape to the idea, the universe spat it back in my face in some way or another. Me and this universe, we’re gonna have a throw-down one of these days. Not 18 hours after I typed out my Gaga example, I came across this Flickr set of an illustrated “book” presentation of Lady Gaga’s song “Telephone.” (I swear I didn’t know about this before today, even though it was posted last September.)
Sure, it’s not “real” in the sense of being an actual product for sale. Also its visual appeal is partly due to the vintage effect of the illustrations, inking and fake paperback texture.
But whether or not you like Gaga, that particular song, the corresponding crazy-assed video featuring Beyoncé, or drawings of ladies at country clubs, I argue that this is still incredibly cool looking. And if I ever manage to get my notes formed into a cohesive post, you’ll see why I think it’s not as far-fetched a concept as it first appears.
Lady Gaga – Telephone [Andrew Kolb @ Flickr, via omgblog.com]