I have a few massive posts on the way. I am hoping to find the time this weekend and early next week to roll out a few days worth of reading for y'all, but, in the meantime, I need to blow off a little steam.
For more than three years, I have not only been a loyal user of Emusic (link intentionally not provided) for many of my music purchases, but I have often trumpeted it to friends and family and even gotten a few people to sign up. They have offered a wide array of independent pop music and a healthy dose of classic jazz, blues, and fold recordings on a track-by-track basis for (depending on your monthly plan) as little as twenty-four cents a song. They have been able to maintain this price model by dealing exclusively independent (and mostly small independent ones at that) record companies. You had no chance of getting the new Jonas Bros. or even Springsteen record there, but I always found a way to wisely spend my 65 downloads a month (for $14.99!) by using their recommendation section or by reading other customer reviews. Between the prices, the less than flashy site design, and the knowledgeable and discerning customer base, it was really the digital equivalent of going to a local record store.
Alas it appears that even in the digital world of the web, the quick and the dead are getting separated all to quickly. Just a few minutes ago I went on over to my ex-favourite online outpost for new music to see how many downloads I had left this month and found out that things are about to change there. Apparently, Emusic has struck a deal with one of the big bad wolves of the recording industry (Sony) and will be drastically altering its pricing plan, user interface, and (obviously) catalog.
Yes: I get it - I could now have access to MORE music. Now I can get the new album by some obscure Finnish prog-pop band at the same place as the new Michael Jackson or Modest Mouse record... but this all makes me very sad. To be honest: it started out as anger. See: as someone who has been around for a while, I am currently covered under and older plan which has continued to be granted to me via grandfather-clause through a few pricing tier changes. Well, now that's over too. If I continue to download from emusic, I will now get LESS THAN HALF of the downloads I currently get for the same price. (the grammar of the last sentence is so sloppy, but I am too upset to fix it) But after stewing for a minute I realize that the money is an infintessimally small part of the problem. What it's really about is watching the online equivalent of my favourite local record shop get bought out by Borders or Best Buy or whoever else sells physical copies of music these days. It makes me deeply and profoundly sad. Yes, I buy Levi's and Converse and shop at Guitar Center and the Gap sometimes, but anyone who knows me also knows that I have spent a lot of dollars supporing local and small businesses since I have had the dollars to spend. I have also made a point of it to apply this principle more heavily to the world of music. For every $10 I spend at Guitar Center, I spend $50 or more at local independent music retailers. For every two albums I get through iTunes or Amazon MP3, I get 10 from emusic. I am not looking for a soapbox moment here (though this is my blog :) ), I am just looking for a way to deal with the fact that even in the near-imaginary world of the internet a "small local business" can't survive without selling out to the big boys.
I understand that there is a certain conceit here. I also am fully aware of the indie-elitist bullshit I am bringing to the table. That part of me is sad that now the customer album reviews (which I trust and rely on heavily)may read like the non-musical uninformed drivel you can find in the customer ratings and reviews at the iTunes store. Go ahead: call me an elitist, culturalist, classist dick; but if I wanna read the commentary of an 11 year old still suckling at the teet of the faceless douche bags that buy and sell art like it's hunk of tin, I have 500 students in my school that can give me their opinions. And while those kids opinions carry a lot of weight with me, something tells me my tastes are gonna be a little more similar to the guy or gal on emusic who has downloaded all the same shit that I have. I am getting off topic here...
I probably shouldn't click on the "publish post" button just yet, but I have a class coming in in a few minutes and i need to cool down and perk up before they get here. Please console me - or convince me somehow that I should keep my eMusic subscription, 'cos right now I am planning on writing and angry letter, and cancelling as soon I can without them taking any more of my little guy money for just another big box experience.
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rhapsody, dude. $12.99/mo for unlimited streaming music. the catalog is insane. from obscure black metal, to japanese prog, to dub, to idm, to indie rock, the breadth and depth is unbelievable. is it complete? of course not. but it completely satisfies my itch to listen to every fugazi record, then king tubby, then the boredoms, then aphex twin, then steve winwood, then ... the only problem of course is that you can't download the songs. it's streaming only. for $14.99 you get rhapsody to go, but you have to have a rhapsody compatible player. f that. for me, i spend about 10-12 hours a day in front of my laptop (sadly), so streaming works fine for me. rhapsody is probably the most exciting thing i've purchased in the last several years, maybe back to heather's wedding ring. :) it's surprising to, because my brain is stuck in ca. 2000 era thinking of real = shit, real + audio = double shit.
ReplyDeletei realize i probably didn't address your conundrum, but dude, i just love rhapsody. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, you freaked out over instant messenger yesterday, then I read this blog entry. Then I heard your concerns during rehearsal last night.
ReplyDeleteAs a member of emusic for over 2½ years (just 5 months shy of you), I am a little disappointed that they are going more commercial, however, I'm really looking forward to having access to more music. I mean, it's not like they will be no longer carrying all the old school labels, indies, and obscure stuff. They'll just be MORE to DL with a subscription.
Now, my $12/mo subscription which currently gets me 50 DLs will be cut down to 30 DLs. That sucks. But to be honest, if emusic held a vote and asked all the current members if they'd give up a few DLs a month for 20000 or so mainstream albums, I might have voted yes. Of course, they didn't, and also they're out to make money. So this move makes good business sense to them since now they'll be 16000 teenyboppers signing up.
Hey... Just my 2¢
They keep giving me 'loyalty' downloads, I got 40 extra songs last month. I figured everyone gets them, but maybe it's because I write a lot of quick reviews and rate a lot of albums? Maybe if they made their 'loyalty' system more explicit they could foster more participation from subscribers and give us a better sense of owning the experience of shopping with them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, emusic provides the smallest per-track revenue for artists and labels of any of the e-tailers out there (something, so I find it surprising that they're able to keep on adding more mainstream music.