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.

My personal website has links to my LinkedIn and Google+ pages and you can send e-mail to david [at] thelayaways [dot] com.

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December 15, 2010

The Christmas Club
by David Harrell

I used to be amazed by holiday releases from what I thought were the most unlikely artists to embrace Christmas music. Examples from last year include holiday-themed albums by Bob Dylan, Sting, and Rob Halford from Judas Priest!

But at this point, it seems like almost every mainstream music artist has released a holiday album. (You can play "Christmas Roulette" by setting your iTunes library on shuffle and checking to whether or not each artist has released a holiday song or album.) And while it seems less of trend among younger/indie acts, Sufjan Stevens, Weezer, the Killers, Low, and the Raveonettes have all joined the Christmas club. This year's big-name holiday releases include albums from Indigo Girls, Shelby Lynne, Pink Martini, the cast of Glee, Annie Lennox, Brian Setzer (his THIRD holiday album, believe it or not), and -- this one was inevitable -- Susan Boyle.

My own band the Layaways jumped onto the holiday bandwagon back in 2006 with a Christmas EP, and expanded it last year for the "Maybe Next Year" album. While it hasn't brought us fame and fortune, it was fun to re-arrange some holiday classics and we get a spike in Last.fm listeners at the end of each year.

We have some unused free download credits from Bandcamp, so until they run out, you download the entire album free in your choice of file formats -- 320k mp3, AAC, FLAC, Apple Lossless, etc. And there's no need to give e-mail address or register, just click through to Bandcamp to download.

Labels: holiday music, The Layaways

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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