One of my personal heroes, Weird Al Yankovic, spoke with Billboard.com about the possibility of using digital delivery to make for more topical parodies. This idea is, of course, brilliant, and I am really excited. Instead of a Weird Al parody following the original song’s release by several months, it could come within weeks or even days of the song blowing up. Not only that, but he could also do funny songs that aren’t specific song parodies based on current pop culture events. Imagine!

But think of the larger implications: album sales are down and the whole music business is slumping – could Weird Al single-handedly save the entire industry?

Of course he can.

Think about it. Before White & Nerdy, who had heard of Ridin’? Well, lots of people, probably, but more people got to know the original after hearing the hysterical parody. It’s a symbiotic relationship, in other words. (Who’s white and nerdy now??) Then there’s the whole domino effect: You hear the parody, then check out the less funny original song, and then maybe you start listening to other songs by that artist, or related tunes based on the recommendations on iTunes or Amazon or whatever, and next thing you know, record executives and artists stop complaining about how sales are down. Everyone wins!

The anti-climactic part? Weird Al has no immediate plans for such a topical parody, and his current record contract doesn’t include a way to make such releases make sense. But they are working on it, and when Weird Al puts his mind to something, you KNOW you’re gonna get some damn fine results.

Weird Al also said that he still plans on putting out albums the conventional way, which is of course always a good thing. But if he were able to fill in the gaps between albums with periodical topical songs along the way, well, doesn’t that just sound like heaven?