According to a press release, the Raconteurs’ (or the Sabateurs’, if you’re Australian) second album will be available everywhere next week, March 25th. Whether or not you’re excited about “Jack White’s side project” (I’d argue they have legitimate claim to being considered an actual, valid band), I think it’s worth getting excited about the manner in which they’ve chosen to release the album.

From the band’s press release:

The purpose: to get the album to the fans as soon as possible and as we promised. We wanted to get this record to fans, the press, radio, etc., all at the EXACT SAME TIME so that no one has an upper hand on anyone else regarding its availability, reception or perception… With this release, The Raconteurs are forgoing the usual months of lead time for press and radio set up, as well as forgoing the all important ‘first week sales’. We wanted to explore the idea of releasing an album everywhere at once and THEN marketing and promoting it thereafter.

I think this is a terrific idea. In this age of advance copies leaking on file-sharing sites, tracks available for preview on websites and MySpace, and “pre-release” downloads available for purchase with bonus material, an album’s street date has pretty much become irrelevant. The idea of getting music out there, everywhere, to everyone, as soon as it is ready, is absolutely the way to go. No more waiting, no more marketing plans, no more first-week sales numbers. Oh, the album’s ready? It’s done? We can listen to it? PUT IT OUT. There have been more than a few occasions where albums have been hyped to no end, and then “dropped” like lead balloons on their release date because they’ve been sat upon for MONTHS, and when the album finally comes out, nobody gives a shit anymore. Radiohead had the right idea by throwing their album at us when we weren’t looking, and now it seems the Raconteurs have the right idea, too. MORE, PLEASE.