Can DVDs Help Music Sales?

After 10 consecutive years of annual growth, profits contracted last year in the record industry by about 3%. CD burning, free downloading of music from the Internet and the enormous rise in popularity of movies on DVD were contributing factors in this decline.

Now, more and more record companies and recording artists are diving headfirst into producing music-oriented DVDs in an attempt to boost flagging sales and to take advantage of this booming and multifaceted entertainment format.

“The music industry is coming to terms with downloading, burning and the devaluation of the CD in the marketplace,” says Ty DeGooyer, general manager of Palm Pictures, a multimedia company that includes record, film and DVD divisions. “The DVD is the next step for us. It has the potential to be an enormously compelling [musical and visual] experience.”

In an effort to make music DVDs as alluring as possible, record labels and artists are looking to sweeten their video compilations and concert films with bonus material and an array of fan-friendly features. While ancillary materials are commonplace with feature films on DVD, the music industry has been slower to react to this trend.

“When you’re recording an album, you’re not necessarily thinking in terms of creating projects for DVD,” DeGooyer says. “This may be a reason why music DVDs have been lagging behind feature-film DVDs [when it comes to bonus material]. But today consumers expect to get those extras.”

Ty Braswell, vice president of new media at Virgin Records, says his label is placing film crews in the recording studio with the notion that footage of artists at work and in-studio interviews could eventually be used as DVD bonus material. For the same reason, Braswell says that Virgin now insists on owning any footage of its artists featured on Webcasts.

This week, two music DVDs are being released that reflect the increased creativity and energy being devoted to many music DVDs: Palm Pictures’ compilation of work by rap video director Hype Williams, and Universal Music Enterprises’ two-disc DVD featuring Depeche Mode in concert.

DeGooyer says Williams’ “The Videos” collection represents the first time a videotape or DVD has been devoted to a music video director’s work. The compilation contains 10 videos handpicked by Williams, featuring such hip-hop artists as the Wu-Tang Clan, Jay-Z and LL Cool J. “The Videos” also includes commentary by Williams and behind-the-scenes footage.

The Depeche Mode DVD set, “One Night in Paris: A Live DVD by Anton Corbijn, the Exciter Tour 2001,” features the band in concert on one disc, then another offering interviews with director Corbijn, band members and key people in the Depeche Mode touring camp. There also is behind-the-scenes footage and one track from the concert that can be viewed from multiple angles.

“The cool thing about this title is that we’re releasing it as a front-line single CD, which will cost $24.98,” notes Jeff Fura, DVD production coordinator for Universal Music Enterprises. “The band wanted to consider the second disc as a bonus disc. It’s not like you’re paying for two discs.”

U2 also has a two-disc concert DVD available called “Elevation 2001: Live From Boston.” The concert and a documentary on the filming of the show make up the first disc. The second disc includes an option that allows the viewer to experience the concert from several perspectives. A brief road movie, additional tracks, trailers and Web links are also included.

The DVD format has led some music artists to think in very creative ways.

Recently, the Welsh rock band Super Furry Animals became the first group to simultaneously release a CD and DVD. The DVD contains a commissioned film for all 18 tracks on the CD. Young filmmakers were asked to use their own imagination in making a short film based on a song from the “Rings Around the World” CD.

“I don’t think any of the filmmakers who participated had made music videos before,” says Gruff Rhys, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Super Furry Animals, a popular band in Great Britain. That was preferable because “we didn’t want anything run-of-the-mill. We just wanted a personal interpretation of the song. It was quite exciting receiving them in the post and checking them out. Some were really good, and some were very bad. We scrapped some of them. We reedited some of them ourselves. It was a very exciting thing to be part of and to work with so many different people.”

“The Smashing Pumpkins 1991-2000: Greatest Hits Video Collection” is another DVD that is likely to impress most ardent fans of the deceased band. Each track contains generally engaging commentary by band members and/or the video’s director. Beyond that, there are never-before-seen outtakes, behind-the-scenes documentaries and a 15-minute film by Jonas Akerlund, titled “Try,” the poignant story of two young homeless people.

Arny Schorr, senior vice president at Rhino Records, says his label is starting to include more interactive features on its music DVDs that he terms “Easter eggs.”

“You might look at a DVD menu and you will see a picture of somebody’s kitchen,” Schorr explains. “There’s no explanation, but if you click on the salt shaker, it takes you to a special feature that’s not listed as being available. It’s like an Easter egg hunt. It might be outtake footage. It could be another song. It could be somebody from the group telling a dirty joke. But it’s something you have to look for.

“That’s when the fans start talking amongst themselves, which is what you want. It’s like, ‘I bought this Alice Cooper DVD and there’s this really cool game on it, but I also found an Easter egg.’ And somebody else will say, ‘I found a different one.’”

The majority of new music DVDs employ 5.1 surround sound capability, a quality not available through the CD format. With surround sound systems available now for as low as $300, it is a feature that is likely to help galvanize sales of music DVDs.

“With a 5.1 system, you are going to hear elements of a concert that you wouldn’t hear in two-channel,” Universal Music Enterprises’ Fura says.

“With this Depeche Mode concert, you’re watching the concert and the sound is coming out of your front speakers and your subwoofer. Then you have the back speakers and you hear the crowd behind you separately. You hear a very faint sound of the concert going in the back, which gives you the sense that you’re in the concert hall. It’s absolutely amazing. Hearing it gave me goose bumps.”