Digital Audio Insider -- blogging the economics of digital music

home

about
Digital Audio Insider is David Harrell's blog about the economics of digital music.

contact
Follow the advice of a certain Scottish band to send an e-mail.

links

music business/tech:
Ad-Supported Music Central
Analog Industries
Ars Technica
Apple 2.0
AppleInsider
Brad Sucks Blog
Broken Record
Byte of the Apple
CNET Music News
Coolfer
Digital Music News
Digital Noise
Duke Listens
Epicenter
Future of Music Coalition Blog
Hypebot
Know the Music Biz
LA Times Technology Blog
The ListeNerd
Medialoper
MP3 Insider
Music Ally
Music Machinery
Music Think Tank
MusicTank
New Music Strategies
Online Fandom
Pampelmoose
Penny Distribution Blog
RAIN
Rough Type
Swindleeeee
TuneTuzer

economics/markets:
The Big Picture
Core Economics
Freakonomics
The Long Tail
Marginal Revolution
Odd Numbers
Partially Unexpected
The Undercover Economist

mp3/music:
17 Dots
3hive
Fingertips
Shake Your Fist

archives
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009

May 15, 2006

Download Arbitrage with eMusic
by David Harrell

Download Arbitrage with eMusic
There's an arbitrage opportunity available to eMusic subscribers, albeit one that violates the subscription agreement (and is probably illegal to boot). After a lunchtime conversation with co-workers that concluded with memories of a bad cover band with a repertoire of exactly three songs, my friend Randy remarked that he would like to download one third of the band's set -- "The Girl From Ipanema" as sung by Astrud Gilberto on the Getz/Gilberto album.

I told him the track was probably available from eMusic. Randy, who just canceled his eMusic subscription, then speculated that I probably had a few unused downloads for the month that I might be willing to, uh, share. No problem, I said, provided he was willing to pay a slight markup over my cost...

In theory, a 40-downloads-a-month eMusic subscriber is paying just under 25 cents a track, so selling one of those downloads to a non-subscriber for 75 cents yields a healthy return. For the buyer, it's cheaper than a single download from iTunes, plus the eMusic download is an mp3 that can be played on virtually any portable player, with no DRM to hamper the file. And you can get your eMusic cost-per-track down to around 22 cents by opting for a 90-a-month plan or pre-paying for a year with eMusic.

I'd bet there are at least a few folks out there who are informally "sharing" an eMusic subscription with a friend, though I doubt anyone's gone so far as to follow the plan outlined above. If you want really cheap downloads you've always got the option of the different file sharing systems and it seems like a lot of hassle to make a half a buck a song by setting up your own download service to sell tracks to your friends.

Still, this scheme would give artists and record companies the same revenue they're currently receiving via eMusic sales and it would provide customers who might want the occasional eMusic track access to service without having to pay for an ongoing subscription. And unlike an all-you-can-eat restaurant, where the restaurant's bottom line would be destroyed by diners "sharing" a meal, from an accounting standpoint eMusic is indifferent to whether or not a subscriber maxes out each month. That's because eMusic pays a set percentage of its subscription revenue each month, so the amount paid to record companies artists is the same no matter now many tracks each subscriber downloads in a given month. (More details here.) Though it would hurt the bottom line of everyone involved if it ultimately resulted in fewer eMusic subscriptions.

tags: eMusic iTunes

link 0 comments e-mail this post Digg this post follow DAI on Twitter

Subscribe:

RSS Feed

Add this blog to Del.icio.us, Digg or Furl

The Digital Audio Insider Twitter feed:

Looking to hire? Looking for a job? Check out the digital audio insider job board.

The Layaways (my band)

New album: "The Space Between" is now available from eMusic.

"It can't be easy to make something this basically simple sound so fulfilling; it if were, everyone would do it." -- Fingertips

"The Layaways have a unique sound with great drum fills and airy vocals that will make you tap your feet and sing along." -- VIC Radio

Keep It to Yourself - free mp3
All Around the World - free mp3
Come Back Home - free mp3

Download from eMusic, iTunes, Amazon MP3, Lala.com, or CD Baby, listen to free streams at Last.fm and Napster.

"The Layaways make fine indie pop. Hushed vocals interweave with understated buzzing guitars. The whole LP is a revelation from the start." -- Lost Music

"A wonderfully crafted recording built around tasteful songwriting and musicianship..." -- PopMatters

Silence - free mp3
The Long Night - free mp3

Download from eMusic, Amazon MP3, or iTunes, listen to free streams at Last.fm, Napster, or Rhapsody.

"These are songs that you want to take home with you, curl up with, hold them close -- and pray that they are still with you when you wake up." -- The Big Takeover

Let Me In - free mp3
Ocean Blue - free mp3

Download from eMusic, Amazon MP3, or iTunes, listen to free streams at Last.fm, Napster, or Rhapsody.

More Layaways downloads:

the layaways website

Current/Recent Reading and Listening:

Music Supervision: The Complete Guide to Selecting Music for Movies, TV, Games and New Media by Ramsay Adams, David Hnatiuk, and David Weiss

It's written as a how-to guide for those looking to become music supervisors, but I found it to be a good resource for musicians (like me) who are trying to get their music used in movies, TV, etc.