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 Eminem's Early "Encore"And for his encore, Eminem's record company has moved up the release date of his latest record, Encore, due to what they are calling "rabid" demand.
The rapper's latest offering will now be available Nov. 12. The studio set, his fourth for Interscope, had been slated to drop Nov. 16.
If you think you've heard this one before, it's because you have. A similar scenario played out two years ago right before The Eminem Show was to be released. The drop date for that album was bumped up twice over cries of pent-up demand and Internet piracy concerns. That disc went on to sell 9.2 million copies in the U.S. and more than 19 million copies worldwide.
"This is something we have been anticipating," Steve Berman, Interscope Geffen A&M head of sales and marketing, said in a statement Wednesday.
"Once we had all of our pieces together we started a discussion as to whether Encore should come early," he continued. "We knew there would be a tremendous demand for this album--we were ready, we just had to press the button on the date."
If Interscope executives have learned anything, it's that they had better be ready to roll out the release early if they hope to capture big first-week sales. Interscope is just one of many labels that now frequently push up their high-profile fourth-quarter releases.
Indeed, hours after Eminem's annoucement, Geffen Records announced it was moving up Snoop Dogg's new album, R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece, one week, to Nov. 16, and Sony Music pushed up the date of Destiny's Child's new disc, Destiny Fulfilled, one day, to Nov. 15.
Cynical types would be forgiven if they think this may just be a marketing ploy, but some music industry experts maintain Internet downloading of entire records is a problem that can seriously cut into first-week sales numbers.
However, the notion that illegal downloading is killing the music industry has been proven false this year by increased record sales across the board. In September, the LA Weekly noted that, according to SoundScan data, 252 million records have been sold in 2004 compared with 235 million units moved during the same period of 2003; an increase of 6.35 percent.
A quick Morpheus search Wednesday evening didn't turn up any results for new Eminem tracks, except for the two singles he's already released, "Just Lose It" and "Mosh."
Regardless, Interscope is pressing ahead with the earlier release date on what is sure to be a huge seller this fall and into 2005.
Already, Slim Shady himself is generating controversy the way only he knows how.
Last month, the hip-hop phenom took some heat from BET and Michael Jackson over the "Just Lose It" video. The clip features a scene in which Em, dressed as the Gloved One himself, is seen sitting on a large bed with children jumping around behind him.
More recently, the 8 Mile star generated some controversy with "Mosh," which slams President Bush. The 32-year-old Rolling Stone coverboy also performed the track last weekend on Saturday Night Live.
Two days earlier, Eminem held the Shady National Convention, a party/concert/political spoof, to launch his new channel on Sirius satellite radio, Shade 45.
Meanwhile, Billboard reported Wednesday that Em has produced 12 tracks over previously unreleased rhymes from the late rap icon Tupac Shakur. The songs will appear on the album Loyal to the Game, due Dec. 14.
Unless that release is pushed up a week early, too.
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