Word on the street is that despite mixing problems, Zwan's album has already sold almost 100,000 copies and should debut next week at either #1 or #2 on the billboard charts. This is fantastic in that it is already shaping up to be more successful than the final Pumpkins album, but I think they can do better.

Tupac Shakur "died" (based on this website he is still alive) on September 13, 1996. Prior to his shooting, he released four albums. Since his death, he has released at least five albums under the name 2Pac, possibly more under other names (although what constitutes a rap "album" is a subject up for debate, as a lot of albums are just a bunch of rappers guesting on each others' discs). Clearly dying has spurred the creative songwriting process, not to mention the jump in sales that it resulted in.

Sublime also saw a big surge in popularity after ceasing to exist thanks to the death of their lead singer, another reason for Zwan to think about going this route. However, they should take note of the Blind Melon counterexample, a band that saw a sudden dropoff in musical output.

If they do it up right, though, a well-timed death could result in 3 or 4 more albums and millions in records sold. At least if this whole Computer Science thing doesn't pan out for me, I can always fall back on my natural skills as a music industry marketing consultant.