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 11, 2009

Pitchfork Goes LaLa
by David Harrell

This might have predated the new site design, but I just noticed that Pitchfork has embraced Lala.com: In the "best new tracks" section, songs are streamed with Lala widgets and the buy links at the top of each album review now include Lala.com. (Previously, there were only links to Insound and eMusic.)

Lala.com's an interesting case. As with Rhapsody, Napster, and Last.fm, it offers limited free streams of the songs in its catalog. And you can share songs or albums by embedding a music widget on a blog or website. (In theory, you only get a single Lala stream of any individual song, but if a song appears on multiple albums you can stream the different "versions," even if they're the exact same track. You could also embed a track or album on a web page and then clean your browser's cache after each listen to hear individual songs multiple times.) As is the case with the other sites, the streaming of a song results in a small payment to the artist or record company. But unlike the others, the revenue share isn't coming from ad revenue, as there are no ads within the Lala.com widgets or on Lala.com itself.

So where is the money coming from? While there are no ads on the site, Lala.com sells 10-cent "web songs" as well as 89-cent single-song mp3 downloads, mp3 albums, and CDs (which come with free web songs). Evidently, Lala.com is subsidizing the free streams in hopes that they will lead to increased site traffic and music sales. Given the margins on recorded music, it seems like an ambitious goal to compete with services that use ad revenue to pay (or at least partially pay) the artist compensation costs associated with free music streams.

As a music fan, I hope it's a viable business model. Lala.com is now my first online destination when I want to hear something that I don't own or have easy access to, and it's also becoming my first choice for embedding my own music.

related: The Latest from Lala: The Return of the Dime Store, The New Dime Store, Part 2

tags: digital music free music streams Lala.com Pitchfork

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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