Entertainment For Lively Minds
New: The Word Download Store
We're extremely excited here at Word Towers to announce the launch of the Word Magazine Download Store.
Not only is it a Word-friendly destination for all your digital music needs, but it features a nifty little widget that allows you to recommend albums to other Word readers. For example, if I wanted to share George Harrison's classic All Things Must Pass with you, there's a YouTube-style option to embed the code within a blog entry and have it display it like this:
So what's on offer?
There's 3.5 million tracks, 80% of which comes with no DRM attached. Indeed, by the end of the summer our partners at 7digital hope to have their entire catalogue available in DRM-free format. The files are encoded at 192kbps or 320kbps, CD-quality mp3.
Is every record ever made available?
No, but there's more being added every day, and the catalogue is pretty extensive. We do have plenty of Richard Thompson, and lots of Supertramp.
Aha! But you don't have [insert item here]!
This will be either because the label haven't sent it to 7digital yet, or because they're on a label that 7digital don't yet have a deal with. Rest assured they'll be working on it.
But you don't even have the Beatles!
They don't allow downloads yet. When they do, you'll find them here.
Can I download all of the tracks I buy in a single click?
Not at the moment, but a download manager is in the works.
How do get the files I download into my iTunes?
Save them somewhere sensible, open iTunes, choose 'Add to Library' and import the folder.
What happens if my computer crashes and dies?
No problem. You can re-download everything by logging in and selecting the 'My Downloads' option.
How do I use the Widget to display music on the Word blog?
On each album page you'll find a 'Get the [album name] widget. Click this, then select 'Other sites'. Copy the code you're given and post it into your blog entry or comment.
Ooh, I see the Download Store features a selection from a Word reader. Can I have a go?
Yes, of course you can. Just choose an album from the catalogue, write 80-100 words on why you think other Word readers might enjoy it, and send it to Fraser. We'll be changing this recommendation every week.
I have another question.
There's a Store FAQ which will probably help.
And that's pretty much it. Other questions will probably arise as time passes, and we'll do our best to answer them, but in the mean time enjoy The Store and have fun with the Widget.
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Just a tip. . .
which is probably obvious to many, but put quotation marks around your search terms, like this: "John Martyn". If you search on John Martyn, without quotes, you'll get everything from John Cougar Mellencamp to Jilted John as well.
In general, a very welcome development - and a very canny move by Word Towers to launch it at the beginning of the month while salaries are still largely intact and iPods need feeding for the holidays.
Hmmm
All power to you and all that, you're a business and you're trying to make money, fair enough.
But is there not a teeny weeny conflict of interest here? I mean a magazine which purports to offer objective music criticism is then selling the same records on their website. What happens if this starts making lots of money and you twig that giving an album a positive review results in more moolah from the download store?
Just a thought.
Well...
Apart from the fact that you'd see through it very quickly, thus negating any value the reviews have in the first place, you can listen to samples from the tracks before deciding to buy them or otherwise. If you don't like what you hear, I would have thought that no amount of positive spin is going to change that.
(Sings) Give me just a little mo' time-a
The clips seem to be only ten seconds long. Is there any way they could give us a microtaster rather than such a nano one?
Length
I've not found that - the ones I've tried are all 30 seconds or thereabouts. Got an example?
George Harrison
"Let It Down" from All Things Must Pass.
Odd
That plays for exactly 30 seconds for me.
most of the previews are 30 seconds
the ones that aren't, are longer (usually 60 seconds).
If you find any that don't work properly - then let me know. We'll fix them.
Hmm. For me too now
My bryzer must have been having a Flash Down The Pan moment the first time I tried it.
As you were.
But what about the fact...
...that the site will no doubt sell millions of records that we don't give positive reviews to?
That just shows. . .
that nobody ever listens.
I think this at number 8 proves Mr H right
http://www.7digital.com/stores/productDetail.aspx?shop=34&pid=269945
Fair points
Maybe I'm being cynical, just wondering if it was a debate you chaps had in the office before you decided to do it?
Is this a pioneering move in the magazine industry or is the way the tide is turning?
Debate
Of course we talk about ways to monetize the things we do digitally - but no-one has ever suggested that we compromise the reviews to help out. And I think if someone did they'd get pretty short shrift.
“monetize”
Ouch. I’m all for The Word using its brand to make money out of online activities; but have to draw the line at such ugly use of language.
Sorry about that
I went all New Media 2.0 for a moment.
Millions?
Are you overestimating how many records even us sadsacks each can buy?
Yes
I think he probably is.
Not just the Word website users
I think he means 7Digital as a whole, not the Word contribution to its sales.
There's nothing truely new here. They're just pointing out the widget option. It's been there for a long time on 7Digital so we could have been inserting these album links for years. And they've put a Word front page onto 7Digital if you use the new link at the top of the page from this website. Otherwise nothing has changed. The 300 or so people who frequent this website are not going to become a major new revenue stream for 7Digital.
Thanks for clearing that up, LOUD
what would we do etc etc
;-)
You're right...
It's nothing truly new, and I'm sure the investors at 7digital aren't going to be buying yachts on the proceeds of Word-generated sales... the only real difference is that The Word gets a small percentage of any sales that take place via our version of the site, and for a company our size, any kind of income is obviously very welcome.
what about my old 78's?
does it have dobly and rubble filters...
So 20% are DRMed...
...and I can't see anything to indicate which tracks are DRM-shackled and which are not. Don't think I'll be using this service until it's 100% DRM-free. And 79p is a bit steep, to anyone accustomed to a 90-tracks-for-15-quid eMusic account. Nice to have the option, though, so thanks for this.
DRM tracks are WMA
DRM is only applied to the WMA tracks. All of the MP3 tracks are DRM free.
Thanks
...for the speedy answer!
no ..
problem
Which means, gentle reader,
that you can (cough, splutter) anyway. Hurrah!
Same price as iTunes
And from what I've seen, the average bitrate is higher.
bitrates / Free tracks
Yes. We are higher than our competitors, where our agreements permit.
We also have a number of free tracks:
http://www.7digital.com/stores/productDetail.aspx?shop=34&pid=169797&par...
http://www.7digital.com/stores/productDetail.aspx?shop=34&pid=165478&par...
http://www.7digital.com/stores/productDetail.aspx?shop=34&pid=171092&par...
and many others.
And waht happened to sticking it
to Uncle Bulgaria?
I thought everyone round here was signed up to Provisonal wing of copyright liberation league (wimbledon common branch) sticking it to the man by not buying stuff. I found the debate confusing but it's something about paying Madam Cholet's for her cakes or something...
I thought I'd signed up to the
arsed off with people in the music industry who lump me in with a bunch of thieving nogoodniks. Gonna have to work on the acronym, obviously.
Buying stuff (just not his stuff) proves him wrong and doesn't line his pockets. And his stuff is surprisingly easy to ignore.
But
Weren't the Wombles actually Steeleye Span in big furry costumes? Ignore the Span and the minnions of folk rock will surely hunt you down and morris dance on ye until ye be dead.
The Folk Rock Minnions have not found me yet!
Yes we have...
one of them
is now a senior lecture in geography at Cambridge univesity. At least the ones who appeared on top of the pops
I'm safe from him then
on a number of levels - geography was never my strongest subject.
I think he might just find
leedsboy.....!
Not if he started in Leeds...
Cough for the Pain Au Chocolat,
or the bunny rabbit gets it.
Signed, the PFSB(WDC)
Popular Front for Sticking it to Batt (Watership Down Cadre)
New albums for £5
7Digital do some good deals on some new album downloads, £5 for a week or two after the release date (it's The Cool Kids this week). It seems you can get the same price through the Word website but there's no way of knowing until you click through to the album page.
Can you mark the sale albums somehow on the front page - like the 7Digital site - or have a sale section that lists all the new cheapo downloads.
I like to get good value from my £50...
Here's the £5 or less list
http://www.7digital.com/cms/mp3Warner/midprice.aspx
£5
£5 for this is pretty good:
£5 for this as a 256kbps MP3 is not so good. I can buy the CD for that price and rip it at 320kbps:
But if you rip a CD at 320kps
surely your ripping from a 192kps compressed file. What's the point?
If you buy the CD
......it will be in the original uncompressed format. You can rip it to whatever bitrate you like.
I thought CD's
were compressed at 192kps but a little reading suggests its 256kps. Even so, it would be pointless ripping them above that wouldn't it?
CDs are not compressed at all.
Not in the sense we talk about anyway. As a general rule, a 4 minute track on a cd will be 40Mb in size. This is the original format. Obviously if each song was that size, we wouldn't be able to fit so many on our mp3 players or download them so quickly from music stores. That's why we make them into mp3; and the higher the bitrate, the better quality of the song but the larger the file size.
Here's a copy and paste which explains it technically.
The current standard for CD audio requires a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz and a sample size of 16 bits (2 bytes per sample). As a result, you need to store 2 x 44,100= 88,200 bytes of data every second to record in mono. Recording in stereo would require twice that much storage. That extrapolates to about 10 MB of data for every minute of stereo sound! It is for this reason that compression schemes such as MP3 are so important
Download Managers
Anyone know of any good download managers? I'm using Reget Junior
which seems to work OK. But if there are any better, and free, ones out there I'd like to know.
If you use Firefox...
The DownThemAll add-on does most things you'd want.
Just testing
Check out track 3 for crazy trumpets.
Ace
Cheers, sounds great.
My go now,
Let Ethiopia's finest jazzman Mulatu Astake take you to another dimension...
Mulatu
That's very good, that is. Thanks for the tip.
Can that really be...
..."Electric Bath" by Don Ellis? Cripes!
I slagged off jazz before
but this is one of about two jazz albums I do recommend without reservations.
Trivia: Ellis also did the music for "The French Connection" film.
I have to try this too..
It is a great idea, I'm genuinely excited about this but more as a means of recommending music (and hearing what other Word readers recommend) rather than using it to buy stuff.
This is my all time favourite record of all time (as Smashy and Nicey would say)...I think it would appeal to the majority of Word readers too. "Behind The Music" from Swedish Psychedelic rockers The Soundtrack of Our Lives"
World class that
I bought it unknown and didn't stop playing it all year (2002?). Sounds like loads of everything but a fantastic album for anyone who loves guitar rock and melody.
Spot on!
One of those bands you think "why aren't they huge?!" with the quality of their songwriting. They did get some great support from the music press (and national papers too) but I think they just missed the boat somewhat, which is a big shame.
Live, they are the best band I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot of the "greats") so that's saying something.
There's also not many bands that can put out a B-Sides & Unreleased tracks album with the quality of this...sorry I do love this "widget" thing!
Good game, good game!
I'm in a Chumba frame of mind today. And don't get stuck in all the agitprop nonsense, delightful nonsense tho' it can be, get stuck into the tunes. Yes, that's right, T-U-N-E-S, old fashioned idea, melody and some such. This group can sing tunes to blow aside all memory of John Prescotts soaking. This album is the best of old 8 piece Chumbawamba, but the Chumba accoustic show are keeping the ideal alive: all the harmonies and tunes remain intact, many indeed much of the polemic, but the self proclaimed shouty bits left with the electricity. Surprise yourself, go seek. At a small venue or folk festival near you, soon. Maybe.
Does it influence the The Word Magazine content?
I totally trust the independence of album reviews whilst we have the integrity of the current Word Team. Are'nt all the reviewers freelance anyway so the less honourable ones - not that Word has any - could have been encouraging us to buy crap for a nice backhander for years...download technology does'nt alter that.
My point? Oh yes> Sorry if i have missed this in above comments but I wondered whether our buying habits are shared with Word Towers in a way that might influence features, news and other content of the Magazine in future? That would be a good thing surely?
To be honest...
It's not something we've given any thought to. But I guess it's certainly possible - opinion on the blog already influences choices made about editorial content.
I second commoner
Sounds like a good idea indeed.
BTW, I've been using 7digital for a while now, and I'm pretty happy with them - the only niggle is the stuff I've bought which is DRM'ed, which is a complete hassle (I can't sync it to my MP3 player with Media Monkey). If 7digital goes 100% DRM-free then I'll be an entirely happy camper.
Awkward workaround
It has been said that you can burn your music to CD, then rip the music from the CD as unprotected MP3s. I assume some audio quality will be lost.
It is true....
.....and your assumption is correct.
Thanks for the tip
In the end, I configured Windows Media Player and used that to sync. Annoying because I much prefer Media Monkey, but not the end of the world...
Not a good idea
I don't know about you but I look to Word's writers to use their own taste and knowledge to introduce me to new things, or shed new light on old things I hadn't appreciated before. Slavishly following some kind of market data created demographic surely paves the way to mediocrity.
And would the Word writers really be able to muster the same passion and enthusiasm when being told what they had to write about by someone reading figures off a spreadsheet?
Slavishly Following
I'm not sure anyone's suggesting anything like that. But if it turns out that Word readers are all buying an album the magazine has ignored, we should probably pay attention.
US Block
Seems to blocked to the US.
Thought this might be a good way to get UK only releases - of course- thats probably the reason for the block
Probably....
controlling access to quality music to people in the US is a good thing. Too much too soon could depress american talent...joke! Only kidding (as I avoid hurled bud cans)
I'm tempted by this
I appreciate
some have questioned the ethics of Word reviewing and promoting records but now I am concerned about peer pressure! I dont have a problem with this but I am however aware of the risk of peer pressure from fellow bloggers....ooh i like it too!
Subscription Pricing?
This is very welcome, good luck with it.
Would you consider a subscription pricing model like eMusic?
I'm sure
7digital have considered it, and I'll ask them about it.
sure, we have...
and can set something up, but it's a difficult one to get to work to everyone's taste on such a fragile business model. eMusic, for example, don't have any major label repertoire.
How much would you pay per month (as a consumer) for indies and all 4 major labels, download for keeps, no DRM?
a big bowl of
Mcwombles nettle porridge.....
*get's coat and digs out vinyl copy of "hall of the mountain womble"*......
hmmmm
depends how many downloads we were talking about.
I was very happy with emusic's pricing model (was a member for a year plus), although after a while I started wishing my subscription plan had a bit more flexibility (some months I didn't want to download 30 tracks, other months I'd find a great album with 50 tracks and have to wait two months to download it all...).
I'd be prepared to pay a bit more than I paid for emusic for DRM-free, major label stuff. but it all depends... again, if it's a choice between a download and buying a CD for £2 more, I'll buy the CD.
anyway, as I mentioned above, I'm already a happy 7digital customer, my biggest problem is the 20% of DRM content. I've bought DRM before, more hassle than it was worth with syncing, won't buy again.
100 tracks a month
...for 25 quid per month. That equates to about 10 CDs at £2.50 per CD, which is cheap enough to wean me off CDs, and to encourage experimentation, but still enough to let you turn a tidy profit. If it was an "all you can eat" subscription, I'd still only go as high as, oh, 35 quid per month, since I probably couldn't mentally assimilate more than about 150 tracks a month anyway, on a regular basis.
50 for 15
Thats £15 for 50 tracks, so a bit more "generous" than PV; I can't keep up to his level of purchase, and however much I like emusic downloads, if I really really like something, I have to have the CD. I pay about $10 for 30 emusic downloads a month, their old scheme, which is very good value but sometimes an effort to fulfil with quality.
I download 75 tracks a month off emusic
And have never found a problem finding good stuff to download, in fact I usually use all my credits before I have got everything I want. They keep adding stuff all the time and it's worth doing a bit of browsing through the charts and stuff each month as it always throws up some gems.
However I'm not a fan of the new layout at all, the old one was more more comfortable and intuitive to use.
How long have you been subscribing, Niks?
I'm in year 4 (or even 5) which may explain my relative and occasional struggle. Having said that, I have never failed to find something of interest, even if not necessarily top notch worth. And, like the proverbial London bus, you can have a slow month, followed by a rush all arriving in together, usually as a result of a small record label making their entire roster, or an entire back catalogue of one artist available. There was a good discussion some months back and many of us, perhaps even you, listed the calibre and range of acts uncovered. One for the "search" option. Here's one lot I discovered thru e.
Ummm, about two years?
I think. Memory is not so hot.
There is a whole load of great Afrobeat on emusic from Fela and Tony Allen to Manu dibango the excellent Antibalas and several good comps. Since Afrobeat tracks are generally about ten minutes long but still use up just one emusic credit they make a great bargain
Both
£25 for 100 and £15 for 50 sound good to me. Sometimes this model makes downloads expensive (20 track albums versus 5 track classical stuff for example) but I'd be tempted for either and would probably go for the 100 eventually. I would cancel my eMusic which is currently £15 for 75 tracks. I normally have no trouble using it up in a week but I have downloaded one or two duffers. Having said that, I have a few duff cd's so that's probably a fact of life.
Subscription price
I was on eMusic for about 6 months for 100 downloads at £20 (20p a track). I never struggled to use all my downloads as there was always something interesting to find, if you had the time to search. I intend to go back to it eventually as I was pretty much satisfied with it.
"How much would you pay per month (as a consumer) for indies and all 4 major labels, download for keeps, no DRM?"
Realistically the ceiling I'm willing to pay would probably be £50 a month for 100 downloads. Expensive, but just about acceptable. 50p a track is borderline okay by me. I wouldn't be willing to take too many risks on unknown albums though at that price.
£5 for a 10 track CD download is not great, but at least it's competitive with HMV and Fopp who usually sell back catalogue CDs for between £5 to £7. And of course since you can avoid the filler you can cut it down to a £3 six track download.
Avoid avoiding the filler
Am I alone in feeling rather uneasy whenever I do this? If you edit a film down to only the action sequences - cutting out all the plot exposition and characters getting from A to B, what you're left with may be a lot more spectacular but it's somehow not quite as satisfying, is it?
Filler can be good, but never worth spending extra to get
Yes, I'm not happy leaving tracks behind, but my wallet/limited allocation of downloads demand it. It's a sad, tragic waste of a good album and everytime I play my six tracks I can't help but wonder what I'm missing without those other four. It's something I've come to terms with as just being the way it is. If the 30 second clip was any good I would have downloaded the track anyway, so it's not like I'm leaving behind anything that I strongly believe will be good. Consistent albums are a rarity anyway.
As for selective downloading of major label pop bands, leaving out the chaff can only enhance your listening experience.
It depends what you are chasing
I agree, Archie, if it is a particular artist or album you seek, but if it is the missing tracks in your collection, culled from a best of, that you don't have already, or the bonus tracks on the re-release when you already have the original, where's the harm. Or, in my particular case, an arcane cover that is worthy by dint of being a cover, that being my pleasure, where I don't necessarily need or want the rest of their material. Jazzy chantoozies particularly hit that bill, whether Christine Tobin, Stacey Kent, Gwyneth Herbert, Holly Cole or Cassandra Wilson, the list is endless and I don't necessarily take to their own material, tho' I do have whole LPs of all of the mentioned, augmented by cherry picked other songs. I then "add" them to the CD, if the original was an e music or download, which requires such "backing up" anyway. Which is no different from how record companies repackage, but with my choice rather than theirs.
Yes, I meant weeding . . .
rather than compiling a "best of". For example, Rory Gallagher is an artist made for compilations because taken singly his albums are in the main quite weak. But what I meant was if you like six tracks from a particular album, isn't it safer to shell out an extra couple of quid and grab all nine?
I'm also uneasy about snippet culture. For example, would someone unfamiliar with Van Morrison's work who hears the 30-second extracts of "Madame George" or "Cyprus Avenue" here even think they were worth downloading?
"Nah. Not much happening there. Next!"
"Nah. Not much happening there. Next!"
A problem, but outweighed by the positive aspects?
Downloading culture has its plus points and its negatives. If some music gets lost in the avalanche then so be it. If the music is really good, in theory there should be plenty of reviews beside the download button testifying to its qualities so reducing the risk of quality material being overlooked. In theory.
Maybe it's the death of the album as a concept. . .
and not just the concept album. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, since albums, as their name implies, did start out as just a scooped-up group of songs all collected in one place for convenience.
That said, I still feel that stripping Blood on the Tracks of "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts", extremely tempting though it may be, is fundamentally wrong on every level. You can skip the pesky little devil if you want, but it has to be there.
Repetition, re-iteration and (no) relocation
Clearly.
Cos it's the stand out track on the album!
I've told you this before, pay attention.
but weren't lp's
a construct of physical format ie designed to fill 12 inch of vinyl if Mr RCA or Philips had chosen 9 inches they would have been different or if a drum had take their place. I sequence of songs by the same artist is nice idea but never caught on radio to any major effect or the tv. Not downloading filler removes the chance of any track ever growing on you.
And CDs are 74 minutes because...
... Sony's vice-president wanted to fit Beethoven’s 9th Symphony onto a single disc. Apparently the original spec was to fit 60 minutes onto a 10cm diameter disc, but they had to add 2cm to fit on the extra 14 minutes!
If we (as a species) were completely opposed to listening to more than one track at a time, albums wouldn't have caught on in the first place. As has always been the case, there will be albums-artists and singles-artists, even if the concepts of "the single" and "the album" become more nebulous as the digital era gathers pace.
If anything, quality should hopefully improve as artists realise that it's so easy for listeners to cherry-pick the good tracks, that "filler" tracks just aren't worth releasing when you can't bundle them up into a solid format. Still, it would be a shame if the multi-song journey of the album were to end...
Beethoven
And Columbia chose 12 inches (22.5 minutes each side) to accommodate Beethoven's Eroica.
Arguably Beethoven has had more influence on contemporary music than any other individual.
how narrow can these boxes get?
just testing...
Oh, there's a fair way to go yet
Couldn't resist
Me
Neither
Will it bleed. . .
over beyond the dividing line, like YouTube windows do?
Here Goes
I living right on the edge.
Don't stop
We're nearly there lads...
I'm
going in.
We have bleeding!
Yuk!
Wow
I can see dead people from here...
Come over to the Dark Side
The water's lovely!
Ooo
tight
Head back to the light!
See ya
I reckon
We're going to emerge in the Mojo forum...
You people
are silly.
I'd never engage in such daft behaviour.
I wonder
If when it reaches the right-hand edge, it'll wrap back onto the left? Keep going, folks! (Why do I feel I'm in a Goon Show script?).
This is starting..
.. to look like a collection of ee cummings poems
So
Farewell
Then
Central Dividing Line.
Divide
And
Rule.
That
Was
Your
Catchphrase.
Where's the reply button gone?
We've crossed the Event Horizon.
They think it's all over.
It is now. My surname's quite long.
I'm
so
to
the
right
What happens...
... if I try to write supercallifragilisticexpiallidocious?
it works
l
i
k
e
t
h
i
s
To
g
o
b
o
l
d
l
y
.
.
.
Where
now?
Instant Market Research
If I am a typical potential subscriber.
I currently pay £11.99 at eMusic for 50 tracks (£0.24/ track) and buy on average 1 CD online at say £10 for 12 tracks (£0.83/track. I am currently getting an equivalent of 5 albums for £22.99 but limited choice.
The attraction of a subscription is that it pegs my music buying to a budget- in my case I want to stick to £20/month.
If I spent £20 on your current pricing structure I buy 2 albums @£7.99 each plus 4 tracks @ £0.99
For my £20 subscription I would want to buy 3 albums (saving me £4)for which I would be prepared to accept a 6 month lock in period.
Well - you did ask!
Is it just me? Pinky 'n' Perky.
When I previewed an artist just now (was Toots & the Maytals) I got Pinky 'n' Perky* versions of the songs on preview.
* ie speeded-up versions, like playing a 33 on the 45 setting.
Which
album?
let me know and I'll get our crack team onto it
sometimes older versions of flash can give us what we call the "chipmunk" effect. please let us know, as we can fix it.
Sorry for the delay
Toots & The Maytals - Pressure Drop - The Best Of - on the track Pressure Drop.
Also, Toots & The Maytals - Reggae Got Soul - on the title track.
Cripes
That's a great song. Really, proper, truly great.
Nic Jones
No Nic Jones! Boo. Mind you I've got loads, but so should everyone else have.
Err as someone who has never downloaded anything
what is DRM?
Now, where are my acetate rolls.....?
If you want a DRW. . .
You gotta be a DRM.
Digital Rights Management
It's sneaky stuff which is embedded in a music file which restricts what you can do with it. It means you can't copy it or burn it to a CD more than once or twice.
Unsigned bands' albums
Are self-financed (ie unsigned) bands able to upload their albums?
not yet
watch this space. But unsigned bands can use our indiestore service: www.indiestore.com
The price of mp3s
Two questions
Why are mp3s so expensive? Typical price on iTunes and 7 digital is 79p per track. But if I buy a 12 track CD for £7.99 (and many CDs are cheaper these days) that's 66p a track, with a ready made backup (the CD itself) and I get the album cover and sleevenotes. Considering the digital stores don't have the costs of staff, premises etc, are we being ripped off?
Second - what is the legal status of Russian download sites like www.gomusic.ru? Downloads are about 10-15p each, the site is well organised and reliable, it carries statements that it conforms to copyright law and - contrary to popular belief - it's not a credit card scam. Is it really any different than buying an album from the US where it is $5.99 as opposed to £5.99 here?
Digital music
First off, retailers set the price and labels are not allowed to set RRP. I personally don't think £0.79 is that much. Labels want flexible pricing (especially for catalogue as if it's cheaper it'll sell), but Apple is not moving on this issue. But it does do promotions on certain albums. Also, of that £0.79 around 12% had to go to the publisher and then there's tax on top of that. Which means labels, artists and the store have to share the rest. There is the argument that if you only like one song, you can download it for £0.79 and not pay for the full album (which works out at £7.99 per track if you only like ONE track). It's still early days and pricing WILL come down. Trust me. And digital stores don't run on a shoestring. Sure there's no manufacturing cost for MP3s per se, but they still have to pay to host the music, have people upload it, market their services, pay their staff, pay for server space, pay for their building etc. They are businesses after all.
As for gomusic, it's basically AllOfMP3 all over again (which was closed down). The truth is that the copyright holders (the labels and the publishers) do not get paid by these sites. Hence artists don't get paid. It claims to pay 'copyright holders'. What this means is that it pays a 'token fee' (a fraction of a pence per song) to a collection society in Russia that was de-recognised years ago and which does not pass on the money to artists/labels/publishers. So it might look cheap, but none of the money is going to the creators/owners of the copyright. They call sell stuff so cheaply as it's ALL profit as no royalties are paid.
Look on these sites. They have The Beatles on there. The Beatles have never licensed their music for download. That tells you all you need to know about the legality of these sites.
Thanks for posting that
I had no idea that's how gomusic worked. Certainly won't be downloading from them.
Any chance..
..of dropping the cover CD and replacing it with a downloadable "album" and lowering the magazine price? It costs me a fortune to buy it over here and I don't really listen to the CD.
DRM
I registered and bought one track as a test purchase but the trouble it's DRM protected (Jimmy Mack by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas) and I can't save it in iTunes. I'm sure it wasn't described as a DRM track before I purchased. Any chance that you could make this idiot proof because I could have bought it from the iTunes store? I decided to give this new service a try because I support The Word.
Is this it?
On the left side of the album screen in 7Digital is a blue box saying that it is in the WMA format. This codex will not play on an iPod. If the box instead states that it's an MP3 then it will not have any DRM (MP3 is technically incapable of having DRM attached to it).
So only download MP3 songs and albums.
That's the one
Idiot-proof to protect idiots like me...
Cheers LOUDspeaker.
Interesting reading but
Interesting reading the views here, but I still like something tangeble. Albums go down to a fiver on play.com or FOPP within a couple of months now anyway, and clearly sound better through a home system. Why pay more to download an album, stick it on a cdr with a sub-standard home-printed in-sleeve?
I genuinely don't see an mp3 as having monatary value. You don't find JPEGs of film posters or artwork for sale if you are left to print them yourself. This may be an old-fashioned view but I can't be alone.