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May 16, 2008
Bargains and Widgets from Amazon MP3by David Harrell
Excuse me if I sound like a total Amazon MP3 fanboy, but -- for a small number of albums -- Amazon is getting very aggressive with its pricing. In addition to its weekly $5 specials (this week's bargains include Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy and the Postal Service's Give Up), Amazon is actually selling a few select mp3 ALBUMS for $1.99! (That's what I just paid for Van Morrison's Astral Weeks.)
My guess is that these ultra-bargain albums are essentially functioning as loss leaders to prime the pump for the MP3 store -- I can't see how Amazon's making money on a $1.99 album download, unless the involved labels are forgoing the usual payout rates. (While the nominal per-track prices at eMusic are similar to Amazon's bargain prices, those figures are somewhat deceiving because eMusic subscribers -- on average -- only use around 50% of their allotted downloads each month. Hence, this "digital breakage" allows eMusic to pay labels, via its revenue sharing agreement, a per-track amount for each download that approaches -- or even exceeds -- the average per-track price that the subscription plans suggest, while keeping a similar amount for itself...)
Amazon also rolled out some mp3 widgets this week that allow web publishers and bloggers to embed any track from Amazon's mp3 catalog on any web page and receive a 10% commission on click-through mp3 purchases:
This could be huge, as it seems like many websites and most blogs already have associate links to Amazon products. If the mp3 widgets are similarly embraced, it means that millions of web pages could soon feature music samples that readers can easily purchase as mp3 files.
After the NPD report came out last month, much was made over the fact that Amazon's initial share of the digital music market hadn't come at the expense of Apple's iTunes store. Some commentators seemed to think that this failure to capture iTunes customers was somehow a major negative for Amazon. But market share is market share, and the existing digital music market is still relatively small. So it doesn't matter if Amazon never poaches a single iTunes customer -- the biggest growth potential for digital downloads comes from consumers who aren't yet purchasing downloads. And it seems like Amazon.com is better positioning itself to capture those consumers by converting its current CD buyers into purchasers of downloads and giving bloggers an incentive (and easy way) to link to Amazon's mp3 catalog.
Apple, of course, has an affiliate program for iTunes and provides a few iTunes widgets. But as far as I can see, the widgets aren't designed for affiliates and are limited to displaying music and video content you've already purchased or reviewed. They're billed as ways to share information with friends and appear to be separate from the affiliates program.
tags: digital music Amazon MP3 AMZN iTunes Apple AAPL eMusic
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The Digital Pricing Conundrum series:
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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
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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.