Posted by FatKat on 12/27/06 18:10

Humpty Dumpty wrote:
> Id like to see just about all artists sell their music via their own website
> via a format a bit like allofmp3, so you can choose bitrate, format and pay
> per MB. Say I download an album at ogg128 and pay $5, im far more likley to
> pay the $5 and give it a listen, then if i really like the album I can
> download the full 600mb wav or FLAC for around 80-90% the cost I could
> pickup the same CD in the store. also an automatic refund of the $5 I payed
> for the initial for 128 copy.

Maybe. Honestly I wouldn't know. I'm not so much of an audiophile
that I'm looking for alternatives to iTunes. Just finding out about
new music is enough work for me, espcially since radio in the NYC area
is a graveyard for new music. When I manage to hear a totally new song
from a band I've never heard of, I try and find the band's website.
Typically, they've got streaming audio. If I'm interested enough, I
may buy the album. However, with the end of Tower Records and
everything going on-line, your suggestion is probably the direction
that retail is going.

Getting these artists recognized however may be the big trick. I only
learn of new unsigned bands because of some specialty radio shows like
"Out of the Box" and "The Underground Garage" (played back-to-back on
WAXQ, ironically a classic-rock station), or on internet stations I
stream on my PC. With so many bands out there, artists and consumers
may need more than allofmp3-type companies just to get buyers'
attention.

BTW, does anybody know just what sort of music made up allofmp3's
business? Was it established acts? How much? How much was for new or
even unsigned bands? I'm guessing not very much, but that's just a
guess.
>
> Also if there was a website like www.allmusic.com that linked to the artists
> homepage where one could download their music from, it would be a format
> MUCH MUCH more powerful than allofmp3 could ever be. It really could be that
> easy!

Has Yahoo tried that with "Launch"? For obscure bands, there are many
resources -"garagebands.com comes to mind. And ofcourse, we can count
on many bands to have a myspace.com site these days.

Now Playing: SOS (by Earl Greyhound)

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