Here’s a new marketing approach that takes advantage of writeable media formats. The Residents, a band with a cult following, had their CD released by Cordless (Warner Music Group’s “e-label”) a couple of weeks ago. Nothing really unique about that. Except that the contents are missing.

The Residents are performing the music for a radio serial called “River of Crime.” After the five episodes are released (over a 10-week period), purchasers of these blank CDs will be able to log into their subscription website and unlock all the features, including the ability to download the five complete episodes to their CDs. Subscribers to this limited edition release (the full version will indeed be released afterwards as a complete unit) also get exclusive materials like ringtones, wallpaper for their mobile devices, and that kind of thing.

Read CNN’s story online.