Middle Age Hollywood

X Factor 2010: Performances will be available to download each week



Simon Cowell has thought of a new way to monetise his X Factor show. The music mogul is reportedly planning to release each performance made on the show this autumn and fans will be able to download the tracks from iTunes.

The plan would see the ITV singing show follow in the footsteps of American Idol. On the hit Fox show, weekly releases of the contestants songs regularly top the iTunes chart, as do live versions of the group performances from the results show.

An insider told The Daily Star that Simon Cowell is hoping to boost the incomes of his flagship show, by releasing the tracks this autumn.

They said:

“Simon is determined to make this year’s show the biggest and the best yet.

“And he knows the best way to do that is by making each week’s live performances available for fans to download.



The source added: “In theory, they could take up every spot in the top ten for the majority of the run.

“There’s talk of having 16 finalists this time around instead of 12. And even when it gets down to the end of the show, the singers perform twice, making more songs available for fans.

“It would make it incredibly hard for any new acts to have an impact on the charts.

“Even the major artists would think twice about releasing singles in the lucrative run-up to Christmas.”

We don’t think Cowell will be allowed to dominate the charts in this manner though. In America, iTunes and Billboard don’t count Idol performances in their weekly chart and we think their UK counterparts would act in a similar way if Cowell pressed ahead with his weekly releases. However it won’t stop Cowell, ITV and the singers from raking in the royalties though….suddenly entering the X Factor became a whole lot more attractive!