about/contact
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.
My
personal website has links to my LinkedIn and Google+ pages and you can send e-mail to david [at] thelayaways [dot] com.
Support
If you enjoy this site, please consider downloading a Layaways track or album from iTunes,
Amazon MP3, Bandcamp, or eMusic.
CDs are available from CD Baby and Amazon.
Back during Radiohead's "name your own price" experiment for the download of "In Rainbows," I opted for a cheapskate price. I paid $2.50 for the album (plus the service fee), the equivalent of the "eMusic price," based on my 40 downloads for $9.99 subscription. Guess what showed up today in eMusic?
While my initial instinct was to write that anyone who paid more than the eMusic price overpaid, that logic ignores the six-month wait for the budget price.
Perhaps eMusic will become -- in part -- an online music version of the second-run movie theatre. It seems to be a form of price discrimination that could help labels and artists maximize "full price" sales while also picking up business from the casual fan who is unlikely to pay as much.
"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
"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