By the time Imogen Heap's new recording, Ellipse, was released today, fans and followers already had two years of previews, insights, sneak peeks, and personal reflections about what was to come. Because for two years, Heap -- a socialite of on-line systems -- had been sharing her journey:

• on YouTube (through 40 video blogs from her home studio, even as she was building it -- here's the first, here's the last, and here's a one-minute montage of them all),
  
• on Twitter (through tweets about the artwork, photography, and press tours in support of the recording),
  
• on 12seconds (with short video bursts of sound clips and odd asides), and
  
• on Flickr (sharing images, and hosting a user competition to create album art inspired by lyrics of the as-yet-unreleased songs).

Heap is certainly not the only active artist on social media sites. But this effort places her among the more connected. And it leads me to wonder if the extensive online narrative will lead to faster sales, or more discussion, or deeper experiences than a cold release with the standard media coverage.

It's no epiphany to realize that the growing social systems on the web provide new and extraordinary access to artists and their process. It's just fascinating to watch at least one artist take them for a serious spin.