In between reviews I plan to do some topical roundups of relevant links and the occasional essay.
It's been a hell of a couple of weeks for the major labels. EMI's new moneyman owner notices his newly acquired industry has been getting run into the ground by fat cat executives with no vision. The music guy for the last relevant internet portal business tells said fat cat executives "your business model sucks, so I'm not going to use it anymore." But the big news is without question the artists. Radiohead. Trent Reznor. Jamiriquoi and Oasis. The currently unsigned and soon-to-be-released are making news with announcements and rumors of taking to the heady waters of self-distribution.
Even download-hating, "what the fuck do you think you're doing" label queen Madonna is said to be in negotiations to ditch Warner Bros. for a decidedly unconventional relationship with a concert promoter, though that particular deal sounds more like "I reject you, Satan, in favor of you, Satan Prime!" It's still an industry, after all. Nevertheless, as far as the business of music is concerned, we do seem to be blessed with the curse of living in interesting times. Let's observe a moment of silence together and imagine a record company executive shitting a brick.
See previous reviews and submit sites for review at that Index Page
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Okay... Computer? Radiohead imitates some dude in a basement
As Radiohead's "historic" offer is now defunct and they show little interest in continuing as a download provider I'm decommissioning this review, so to speak. Read more here. I'm also downgrading my assessment to "shrugs" out of pure spite.
Of course I'm pushing two weeks behind the curve of the hype on the Radiohead "pay what you like" digital download of their latest album, In Rainbows.
And I'll admit: a part of me is a little annoyed by the degree of swooning, "this changes everything" coverage Radiohead's payment-optional experiment has received. I covered Jane Siberry doing this very thing in March of '06, and it was old news then (what Siberry calls "self-determined pricing" is still the standard at her site and it is still well worth checking out, incidentally). From "try it for free, buy if you feel it" presentations like Harvey Danger to every unsigned solo with free MP3s and a virtual tip jar, "payment optional" is hardly a new deal.
Even so, the distinction here is obvious. Radiohead is a major international act that has demonstrated its ability to debut an album at the top of the charts and sell a million copies in the U.S. alone. After wrapping up their contract with EMI in 2003 they could have rung up any of the major or major-minor labels and entered serious negotiations for a big money record deal. Not selling out is a different kind of decision when there are plenty of interested buyers with deep pockets.
And like a lot of people, I'm happy to see anything that motivates more public dialog about getting past the absurdly counterproductive artificial restrictions of the conventional market for music (and indeed for information in general).
So much for philosophy: on to the commerce experience.
I'll lead with the negatives. If Radiohead deserves bigger kudos for risking an unconventional distribution strategy as a big ticket act, then I give them worse marks for delivering a somewhat clunky, confusing sales experience. When I used it the website was very slow, and the actual transaction was not straightforward.
There are only two products for sale on the site - a costly (around $80 U.S.) discbox that includes vinyl LPs and CDs in premium packaging, and the price-unspecified digital download. Since a download is included in the price of the discbox, there is no reason to purchase more than one of these items. So the fact that the purchaser is forced to go through an "add item to cart/proceed to checkout" sales process is pointless and particularly irritating when each redundant click initiates another glacially slow page load (to add insult to injury, you have to click through two pointless front pages to get to the point where you can actually elect to purchase. I could have saved you the trouble by linking directly to the order page, but I'd hate for you to miss out on the complete Radiohead experience).
Now I could be accused of nitpicking, so I want to reiterate: to the extent that Radiohead made a statement about the roll affordable digital downloads can and should play in commercial music, they diluted this statement by delivering a poorly executed and tedious commerce experience.
Other cons included the fact that the site failed to deliver specifics about the download - format, number of tracks, or overall length - details I considered important to setting a price for the download (I eventually found these facts reported by third parties), some glitches in the checkout process resulting in getting kicked back to blank forms, and the fact that the download delivered only the MP3 tracks, no artwork or lyrics (I know I'm bucking established trends but damn it, delivering data is cheap. If you've got more, give it! Particularly when the purchaser's only options are a very expensive premium physical product versus a bare-bones digital download). Finally, I'm never thrilled when a purchase form requires I enter a mobile phone number. What if Radiohead won't stop texting me?
Moving on to the positives: I'd say that purchasing the album was not a terrible experience, merely substandard. Once I made it to the actual payment screen things went smoothly enough, and I quickly ended up with a link to a reasonably speedy download. The price was right - I elected to pay what I consider a very reasonable $3 (I'll tell you right now that my opinion that the general cost of music online is inflated is going to be an ongoing theme here) - which came out to £1.47. They tacked on a £0.45 service fee for a total £1.92 or about $3.92 U.S. For this I received a 48.4 MB zip archive of 10 160kbps MP3s. The tracks had correctly encoded metadata (mangled or absent track metadata is a HUGE pet peeve) so firing it up in iTunes was a cinch. I had successfully purchased my first Radiohead album. I liked it.
The bottom line: while I wouldn't tolerate this sort of technical incompetence from a website dedicated to selling digital music, I'm going to give Radiohead the benefit of the doubt in assuming that inexperience in the digital market and underestimating the volume of response the offer would receive were more at work in what was wrong with this transaction than actual indifference to the purchaser experience. So on the three point scale I just this moment invented of Props, Shrugs or Hate, I give Radiohead Props. Congratulations, Radiohead, you can now proudly display "the Phree Musique Blog gave the In Rainbows purchase site props!" on your website. Note: not anymore, as noted above. You mopey Limey bastards.
See previous reviews and submit sites for review at the Index Page
Of course I'm pushing two weeks behind the curve of the hype on the Radiohead "pay what you like" digital download of their latest album, In Rainbows.
And I'll admit: a part of me is a little annoyed by the degree of swooning, "this changes everything" coverage Radiohead's payment-optional experiment has received. I covered Jane Siberry doing this very thing in March of '06, and it was old news then (what Siberry calls "self-determined pricing" is still the standard at her site and it is still well worth checking out, incidentally). From "try it for free, buy if you feel it" presentations like Harvey Danger to every unsigned solo with free MP3s and a virtual tip jar, "payment optional" is hardly a new deal.
Even so, the distinction here is obvious. Radiohead is a major international act that has demonstrated its ability to debut an album at the top of the charts and sell a million copies in the U.S. alone. After wrapping up their contract with EMI in 2003 they could have rung up any of the major or major-minor labels and entered serious negotiations for a big money record deal. Not selling out is a different kind of decision when there are plenty of interested buyers with deep pockets.
And like a lot of people, I'm happy to see anything that motivates more public dialog about getting past the absurdly counterproductive artificial restrictions of the conventional market for music (and indeed for information in general).
So much for philosophy: on to the commerce experience.
I'll lead with the negatives. If Radiohead deserves bigger kudos for risking an unconventional distribution strategy as a big ticket act, then I give them worse marks for delivering a somewhat clunky, confusing sales experience. When I used it the website was very slow, and the actual transaction was not straightforward.
There are only two products for sale on the site - a costly (around $80 U.S.) discbox that includes vinyl LPs and CDs in premium packaging, and the price-unspecified digital download. Since a download is included in the price of the discbox, there is no reason to purchase more than one of these items. So the fact that the purchaser is forced to go through an "add item to cart/proceed to checkout" sales process is pointless and particularly irritating when each redundant click initiates another glacially slow page load (to add insult to injury, you have to click through two pointless front pages to get to the point where you can actually elect to purchase. I could have saved you the trouble by linking directly to the order page, but I'd hate for you to miss out on the complete Radiohead experience).
Now I could be accused of nitpicking, so I want to reiterate: to the extent that Radiohead made a statement about the roll affordable digital downloads can and should play in commercial music, they diluted this statement by delivering a poorly executed and tedious commerce experience.
Other cons included the fact that the site failed to deliver specifics about the download - format, number of tracks, or overall length - details I considered important to setting a price for the download (I eventually found these facts reported by third parties), some glitches in the checkout process resulting in getting kicked back to blank forms, and the fact that the download delivered only the MP3 tracks, no artwork or lyrics (I know I'm bucking established trends but damn it, delivering data is cheap. If you've got more, give it! Particularly when the purchaser's only options are a very expensive premium physical product versus a bare-bones digital download). Finally, I'm never thrilled when a purchase form requires I enter a mobile phone number. What if Radiohead won't stop texting me?
Moving on to the positives: I'd say that purchasing the album was not a terrible experience, merely substandard. Once I made it to the actual payment screen things went smoothly enough, and I quickly ended up with a link to a reasonably speedy download. The price was right - I elected to pay what I consider a very reasonable $3 (I'll tell you right now that my opinion that the general cost of music online is inflated is going to be an ongoing theme here) - which came out to £1.47. They tacked on a £0.45 service fee for a total £1.92 or about $3.92 U.S. For this I received a 48.4 MB zip archive of 10 160kbps MP3s. The tracks had correctly encoded metadata (mangled or absent track metadata is a HUGE pet peeve) so firing it up in iTunes was a cinch. I had successfully purchased my first Radiohead album. I liked it.
The bottom line: while I wouldn't tolerate this sort of technical incompetence from a website dedicated to selling digital music, I'm going to give Radiohead the benefit of the doubt in assuming that inexperience in the digital market and underestimating the volume of response the offer would receive were more at work in what was wrong with this transaction than actual indifference to the purchaser experience. So on the three point scale I just this moment invented of Props, Shrugs or Hate, I give Radiohead Props. Congratulations, Radiohead, you can now proudly display "the Phree Musique Blog gave the In Rainbows purchase site props!" on your website. Note: not anymore, as noted above. You mopey Limey bastards.
See previous reviews and submit sites for review at the Index Page
Digital Music Sellers Review Index
Note, January 17 2010: I won't be updating the index any longer. The way I've got it set up is just too tedious to modify for the nominal utility it offers.
Index of Digital Music Sellers reviewed on the Phree Musique blog. Updated as reviews are added. To submit a site for review or note a change, mistake or disappearance of any previously reviewed link please leave a comment on this entry.
Multiple Artist Sites
Site Link : Review Link : Site Notes and Genre Info : Bottom Line*
1. Amazon.com : Review : Eclectic catalog of mostly mainstream downloads, all genres : Props
2. eMusic : Review : One of the originals with a huge indie catalog : Props
3. iTunes Music Store : Review : Apple's original Big Box digital infotainment megastore : Shrugs
4. Rhapsody MP3 Downloads : Review : Routine retail with the bonus of full streaming previews : Props
Single Artist Sites
Site Link : Review Link : Site Notes and Genre Info : Bottom Line*
1. Radiohead DOWNLOAD SITE CLOSED : Review : Download site for single album, Alt Rock : Shrugs
2. Brad Sucks : Review : Two solid alt-rock albums with lots of diverse freebies on the site : Props
*Sites judged on 3 point scale from Hate to Shrugs to Props where Hate is bad and Props are good.
Index of Digital Music Sellers reviewed on the Phree Musique blog. Updated as reviews are added. To submit a site for review or note a change, mistake or disappearance of any previously reviewed link please leave a comment on this entry.
Multiple Artist Sites
Site Link : Review Link : Site Notes and Genre Info : Bottom Line*
1. Amazon.com : Review : Eclectic catalog of mostly mainstream downloads, all genres : Props
2. eMusic : Review : One of the originals with a huge indie catalog : Props
3. iTunes Music Store : Review : Apple's original Big Box digital infotainment megastore : Shrugs
4. Rhapsody MP3 Downloads : Review : Routine retail with the bonus of full streaming previews : Props
Single Artist Sites
Site Link : Review Link : Site Notes and Genre Info : Bottom Line*
1. Radiohead DOWNLOAD SITE CLOSED : Review : Download site for single album, Alt Rock : Shrugs
2. Brad Sucks : Review : Two solid alt-rock albums with lots of diverse freebies on the site : Props
*Sites judged on 3 point scale from Hate to Shrugs to Props where Hate is bad and Props are good.
We'll Get a New Deal for Christmas This Year
Previously on the Phree Musique blog...
I'd been posting links to free, available-for-the-download MP3s that were, to the best of my ability to determine, pretty much legal. Which equivocating phrase indicates that, even eschewing the gang of plainly illegal MP3 blogs which infest the Tubes, there was an awful lot of ambiguity in the free music biz.
Well, no more. We turn our attention now to music which is free as in, well, as in not free. While Apple, Amazon, EMI and Yahoo! have been making news lately by offering or at least talking about selling digital music without digital rights management (DRM) technology in place, many independent labels have been doing it for years. I'm going to try them all out and report back on the new digital music shopping experience.
My rules for inclusion:
1. You must be able to purchase digital files outright.
2. The files must be totally free of DRM. I'm not going to get into issues some have raised like dodgy, personally identifying metadata in the files (iTunes Plus) or overzealous terms of use (Amazon).
And that's about it. If you want to submit a site for review please leave a comment on the Index Page
I'd been posting links to free, available-for-the-download MP3s that were, to the best of my ability to determine, pretty much legal. Which equivocating phrase indicates that, even eschewing the gang of plainly illegal MP3 blogs which infest the Tubes, there was an awful lot of ambiguity in the free music biz.
Well, no more. We turn our attention now to music which is free as in, well, as in not free. While Apple, Amazon, EMI and Yahoo! have been making news lately by offering or at least talking about selling digital music without digital rights management (DRM) technology in place, many independent labels have been doing it for years. I'm going to try them all out and report back on the new digital music shopping experience.
My rules for inclusion:
1. You must be able to purchase digital files outright.
2. The files must be totally free of DRM. I'm not going to get into issues some have raised like dodgy, personally identifying metadata in the files (iTunes Plus) or overzealous terms of use (Amazon).
And that's about it. If you want to submit a site for review please leave a comment on the Index Page
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)