Yes, They Can Give 'Em Away
By JOEL TOPCIK

Published: April 24, 2005


n April 27 the folks behind the con-game musical "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" will begin distributing 50,000 limited-edition CD's of the original cast recording to ticket holders - free. So what's the angle? The stunt marks what could become a dramatic shift in the role of the Broadway cast recording, from a profit center of increasingly diminishing returns to a loss leader for the marketing of the show. "Frankly, most Broadway cast albums do not make a lot of money, if any," said Marty Bell, the show's lead producer. "What they really are is a promotional item for the show. Songs sell shows, and I think the more people that hear the songs for this show the bigger audience we'll have."

In a market where a hit like "Hairspray" sells roughly 250,000 cast albums, giving away a fifth of that might seem reckless. But the producers are betting that they can still turn a profit by forgoing the traditional arrangement with a major label. Except for cast albums that hit the jackpot, like those for "Wicked" or "Rent" (which has gone double-platinum), the royalty holders see little profit after the label takes its share. The backers of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" instead formed a partnership with Ghostlight Records, a division of the boutique label Sh-K-Boom, enabling them to produce the album more cheaply, retain ownership of the masters and see profit more readily. (The album's official release will be on May 10.) Kurt Deutsch, Sh-K-Boom's president, said: "I don't know if I want to make a habit of giving away 50,000 CD's. It definitely makes for an exciting experiment." One that won't be tried with, for instance, the forthcoming "Spamalot" cast album (due May 3 from Decca). But it didn't hurt Prince: "Musicology," which he gave away to concertgoers, has gone multiplatinum