Illegal downloading is killing music. That's what any record label exec will tell you at least; record sales are plummeting, people are caring less and less about music, and the industry will eventually collapse. It's up to a brave and imaginative few to spark life into the art form and keep us excited about music, although let's face it: the music is often the last thing that catches our attention these days. In the age of the internet, Gangnam Style became a worldwide hit off the back of a YouTube video. Less obvious than that, a lot of Daft Punk's success last year came from an intelligent marketing campaign, and David Bowie's triumphant return to music can be attributed to his last few years of laying so low, we wondered if he was okay. Artists can't generate hype in the same ways they used to, and the industry is learning to adapt. It's the album release though that's most fascinating; artists are learning new ways to connect to the public and coming up with new ideas of how to sell their records. But how exactly are artists changing the ways they release albums? Here are eight of the most ingenious ideas and experiments that have happened since the dawn of the internet.
