Digital Audio Insider -- the economics of music and other digital content

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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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March 20, 2007

Echospinning
by David Harrell

Snocap, which enables bands/labels to sell tracks directly from MySpace (and other websites), has a received a ton of attention over the past few months, but there's a competing service, one that I hadn't heard about it before I received a note from a reader (Ben) a couple of weeks back.

Echospin has already picked up some business from some well-known artists -- Morrissey, Iron Maiden, and Widespread Panic, and indie labels such as Polyvinyl and Drive-Thru Records.

From the end-user standpoint, Ben likes it:

As a consumer, I was pretty damn impressed with the system. It installed flawlessly in Firefox (only tried under Window). I downloaded the album at 600kps and it came with an m3u and 500x500 album art. I didn't bother burning it or sending it to my portable [hell, I have the mp3s, I can do it later]. For the album I bought (hellogoodbye's zombies aliens vampires dinosaurs), the tracks were high quality VBR mp3s. I payed 9 bucks and couldn't be happier.

He also asked if I thought the fees ($50 setup per album and $2 per transaction) made sense for indie artists and labels.

I think they do -- Snocap charges bands $30 a year and indie labels pay $100 a year, though those fees are waved for the first year. And there's a per-download charge of 39 cents a track (that's for bands, the per-download charge for labels isn't listed on Snocap's FAQ page.)

Selling a 10-track album for $9.99 in Myspace via Snocap would net a band $6.00, while the same transaction via Echospin would leave the band with $7.99.

The biggest difference, of course, is that Echospin appears to be built around the idea of full-album downloads, not individual tracks. There is an option for selling a single or EP, but the $1 transaction fee effectively kills the idea of a 99-cent single-song download.

There's also the credit card issue -- while Snocap touts the fact that it allows PayPal transactions, I just tried to buy an album via Echospin and you have to use a credit card.

related: Snocap, CD Baby, and Myspace

tags: digital downloads Echospin Snocap MySpace

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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