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Digital Audio Insider is David Harrell's blog about the economics of music and other digital content. I write from the perspective of a musican who has self-released four albums with the indie rock band the Layaways.
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December 14, 2006
Album Downloads at Insoundby David Harrell
Album Downloads at Insound
I visited the Insound site yesterday (not to buy anything, you know, but to fill up on some of those free mp3 files...) and noticed that the online retailer is now selling mp3 album downloads, most of them priced at $8.99 or $9.99.
Details are here, but the most notable features are:
1. 192k mp3 files -- no DRM!
2. Full albums only -- you can't buy individual tracks.
As far as I can tell, it's mostly indie stuff, much which you could buy for less via an eMusic subscription, though Insound might make sense if you're only looking for single album, not an ongoing subscription. And Insound does have a few things that eMusic doesn't, like the Death Cab for Cutie releases on Barsuk. For those releases, the DRM-free Insound files seem a much better option than iTunes.
As for the album-only approach, I just found this mp3.com article from October, where Insound's Matt Wishnow decries the single-song option:
"Digital distribution implicitly has the potential to devalue music as a product," Wishnow told MP3.com today. "Most artists don't record individual tracks just to be released that way. Once you start pricing songs at 99 cents apiece, it's a slippery slope from there for music fans to start looking for places to get music for free."As a tie-in to this approach, Insound is sponsoring a Save the Album ad campaign.
Wishnow said he is fully aware of some fans' argument that the album has been devalued in recent years by the heavy emphasis on singles that ended up including "a bunch of filler" on full-length albums.
"But in the indie world, that hasn't been the case," Wishnow said. "Artists are still focusing on making quality albums. As long as artists record albums, that's what we want to sell."
I love the album format -- as a teenager I'd feel slightly guilty for skipping a song when taping (or even when listening to) an album, that it was disrespectful of the original intent of the recording artist. And I agree with Wishnow somewhat in that the detachment of music from a physical delivery system (and the accompanying artwork, liner note, etc.) makes everything less tangible, at least to me. Maybe that leads to a devaluing of music by some consumers. But I'm not sure if I follow some of his logic here -- iTunes and the 99 cent per-song pricing model came fairly late in the game, well after the original Napster and the growth of the peer-to-peer "market."
tags: Insound digital downloads mp3 DRM eMusic iTunes
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Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four
THE LAYAWAYS
Out Now -- "Maybe Next Year" -- The New Holiday Album:
"This is a sweet treat, deliciously musical without being overbaked for mass media consumption." -- Hyperbolium
"Perfect listening to accompany whatever holiday preparations you may be making today." -- Bag of Songs
O Christmas Tree - free mp3 lyrics and song details
Away In A Manger - free mp3
Download from eMusic, iTunes, Amazon MP3, or Bandcamp. Listen to free streams at Last.fm.
"...about as melodic and hooky as indie pop can get." -- Absolute Powerpop
"Their laid-back, '60s era sounds are absolutely delightening." -- 3hive
"...melodic, garage-influenced shoegaze." -- RCRD LBL
Where The Conversation Ends - free mp3
January - free mp3
Keep It To Yourself - free mp3
Download from eMusic, iTunes, Amazon MP3, or CD Baby, stream it at Last.fm or 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
"Catchy Guided by Voices-like rockers who lay it on sweetly and sincerely, just like Lionel Richie." -- WRUV Radio
Silence - free mp3 lyrics and song details
The Long Night - free mp3
Download from eMusic, Amazon MP3, or iTunes, stream it 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, stream it at Last.fm, Napster, or Rhapsody.
More Layaways downloads:
the layaways website