The Sony BMG music division has launched a retail digital art business titled, Icon Collectibles. Given technological advancements have dropped the floor from under the industry's former staple of CD sales, who can blame the company for trying to leverage whatever intellectual property they own.
The Wired magazine's Listening Post blog posted this item, Would You Pay $1,700 for a Digital Print of Dylan? It is informative to read the comments from its geek-oriented readers and their attitude about prints and limited editions.
Some of the limited editions are printed as fine art photograph in the platinum palladium print process. It is not clear from the Web site whether the open edition and lower priced prints are giclees. The term is not used anywhere on the site.
The priciest piece on the site is a $5,000 hand-signed, by Billy Joel, limited-edition set of 25 platinum palladium prints. It is a reproduction of the contact sheet for his best selling album cover, The Stranger, shot by photographer Jim Haughton in 1977.
Undoubtedly, the images appeal more to rock n' roll memorabilia collectors than art collectors, but it will nevertheless be interesting to see what success Sony BMG will capture with its foray into the print market.
