Why isn't every metal label out on EMUSIC?

[Jasonic]

Many years ago, I was a subscriber to EMUSIC.
At the time, they only had a handful of metal releases on there.

I recently re-did a 50 Download trial subscription, and was VERY pleasantly surprised at the number of smaller metal labels who have their releases available for download.

Aside from Nuclear Blast, labels such as Cruz Del Sur, Napalm, and even Shadow Kingdom have many of their releases available.

So, in this day and age of declining CD sales, I seriously wonder why EVERY indie metal label is not putting their stuff out on EMUSIC.

Subscribers have a certain number of allowable downloads per month, based on package. Therefore, there is a very good chance of someone downloading an album that they otherwise would not purchase on disc.

Also, if you search for one band, they are very good at listing the proper "similar artists" or "influenced by", for those which are also available.

Any EMUSIC subscribers?

 

[Diabolik]

I love buying CD's. I like going to the store and looking through stuff. It is like being a kid on Christmas morning for me every saturday when I go CD shopping. I discover so many bands by just browsing. I know the future of CD's is going the way of the dinosaurs but I will still be buying till the day they stop making them.

 

[Jasonic]

Bob - I totally hear you on that one!!!
Though for me who spends 2+ hours a day in the car driving to and from work, and having kids at home, most of my music listening is on my IPOD in my car.

I have found that over the past couple of years, the amount of physical CDs I have purchased has declined immensely. Not living in the city anymore, near stores that actually carry underground metal, is certainly a factor as well. Add to that for me personally having less expendable income to purchasing music, whether online or at stores.

Though, with these download sites, they are pretty good with the "If you like this, check out this"

Just saying that a lot of the smaller labels would sell more of their music if they were on such sites as EMUSIC as opposed to relying solely on physical CD sales.

 

[Cheiron]

I stream Rhapsody, and have Rhapsody on the Go, so I can listen to it on my iPhone while driving around. Some labels hold out because what they earn back is really miniscule per play, and lets say a person would have bought one of your albums previously, but now just listens to 6 of them, you are now losing money. I think some lables are essentially selling what they can, then putting albums on there, but even some holdouts now seem to be putting their albums on there (*cough* LaserCD *cough* thanks Ken!).

So now I pay $14 a month to listen to lots and lots of music. But this has kept me from buying much music, because its always just there. Though I still prefer a hard copy for my favorites as its much easier to throw in the car or lend to somebody else.

 

[TychoCelchu]

I have thoughts on the whole digital-versus-physical thing, but I think this thread's particular point is outside of that more common issue. As far as Emusic itself goes, the business model is an interesting one and I think it's going to take more time to bear out how successful it is. I myself am not a subscriber, but I've considered it for a while now. One thing I don't know is how hard it would be to cancel if I decided to cancel. Also, I don't know what the quality of files available is.

Print publication is also not doing as well as it used to, but the magazine model has a few similarities with the Emusic model because it's subscription-based. I subscribe to a few magazines, and it's paid for whether or not I choose to read all of the articles. I don't get to pay less if I only read half of an issue. But I understand this implicitly so I'm OK with it. Maybe this mentality is easily transferrable to something like Emusic.

 

[Jasonic]

There are all sorts of trial options available.
Go to www.emusic.com and check it out.

Do a google search for specials too. I always see adds for them, like 50 free downloads with subscription, etc.

I never had an issue with quality personally, though I can't say I am the most discriminating listener to music.

This would be different than Rhapsody though, as I assume EMUSIC must give the labels a certain set amount for each track downloaded.

Just saying that in this day and age ANY label better be thinking beyond simple physical CD sales to survive. Sites like EMUSIC cater to more underground music than ITUNES, though ITUNES has some good stuff too.

 

[skyrefuge]

I've been a member for three and a half years, and for the last couple years I've probably gotten 90% of my music through them.

And I totally agree with your post. Over the years there has been a huge increase in the number of metal labels and albums available, but that just increases the mystery of why *everyone* isn't on there. When it was only 40% of metal labels, you could think, "ok, it's just because those 40% are stupid and the other 60% are smart enough to know it's a bad deal for them." But that argument doesn't hold up anymore, so I'm completely baffled why the last 10% hold out.

Some of it might be just bands/labels that still aren't advanced enough to get hooked up with digital distribution at all (and so they don't appear on iTunes either). But even that blows my mind. It's 2010!

These days, if it's not on emusic, I simply don't buy it. I know Redemption and Diablo Swing Orchestra aren't going to be crying over my lost sale, but in this century it just seems like bad business to pass up *anyone* who is willing to give you money for your music.

Neil

 

[skyrefuge]

As far as Emusic itself goes, the business model is an interesting one and I think it's going to take more time to bear out how successful it is.

They've been around since 1998, an eternity in Internet Time...I think they've proven themselves! Sure the model has been tweaked over time, but the last major change (going from all-you-can-eat to limited downloads) was in 2004, which is still an eternity ago.

One thing I don't know is how hard it would be to cancel if I decided to cancel. Also, I don't know what the quality of files available is.

"eMusic utilizes LAME encoder, version 3.98.2 at VBR (Variable Bit Rate), alt preset extreme. VBR preset extreme uses an average bit rate of 256kbps, which offers quality comparable to 320 CBR (Constant Bit Rate). Older tracks are encoded at VBR standard (averaging around 192kbps)" In other words, indistinguishable from CD. I've never tried canceling, but haven't come across any horror stories.

I don't get to pay less if I only read half of an issue. But I understand this implicitly so I'm OK with it. Maybe this mentality is easily transferrable to something like Emusic.

Probably, but not for me. I get mad at myself if I don't download my full allotment each month. Though then I just tell myself I'm still helping out artists...see below.

This would be different than Rhapsody though, as I assume EMUSIC must give the labels a certain set amount for each track downloaded.

No, actually eMusic works on a profit-sharing model. Each label/artist gets paid a percentage of that month's profit, based on what proportion their downloads constituted of all the eMusic downloads. This means that if you don't use up your allotted downloads, your subscription fee still goes to other artists. And this is why eMusic tends to pay artists more than *you* pay per track, if you use up all your downloads...because they also get money from people who *don't* use them all.

Sites like EMUSIC cater to more underground music than ITUNES

Is this really true? Sure, I know it's how eMusic markets themselves, and of course eMusic has a higher *percentage* of underground music than iTunes, but that's because they (until recently) hadn't been able to land any major-labels. I feel like if it's on eMusic, it's also on iTunes, but admittedly I haven't really done a study.

Neil

 

[Jasonic]

Neil,
There is plenty of stuff I have seen on EMUSIC that I have not seen on ITUNES.

 

[Diamond45]

So, in this day and age of declining CD sales, I seriously wonder why EVERY indie metal label is not putting their stuff out on EMUSIC.

+1

I'm an eMusic subscriber and would obtain all my music that I did not buy on CD on eMusic if they had all major labels represented and available on the service.

 

[lasercd]

We make virtually nothing from subscription services. All of our digital distribution is handled by ADA, they are also our physical distributor as well. I believe there are certain subscription services like EMusic that they are working out deals with. I basically have given them the thumbs up to opt in for whatever deals they are able to make. In other words...its out of my control - I leave it all to ADA.

Ken Golden

 

[skyrefuge]

There is plenty of stuff I have seen on EMUSIC that I have not seen on ITUNES.

I'm trying hard not to reflexively doubt you, but that would be a lot easier if you'd just provided one example!

Neil

 

[MEGALOUD]

I agree with Ken on this one, Originally I did emusic on all Nightmare releases, then stopped (since about 100 streams, downloads or whatever you want to call it there.. equaled to about a penny to us, virtually no sales ever happened, it just didn't make sense to me at the time, recently I've re-thought this, and have been trying new releases again more for promotion, thinking of it more as radio play for a band.

Just so you know, 80% of all digital revenue made out there for the artist/label, is made on itunes, few of these sites are putting any real money back in the artists pocket, I like CDbaby and Amazon too and a few select others. So if you want to support the artists and the labels that love and help bring there music to you, purchase the downloads on those sites as well when you find something worthy of listening to for more than a month.

 

[SkiBumMSP]

I've been on eMusic myself for about 3 years now.

I've gotta ALOT of stuff from eMusic. And yes, they have added quite a bit of material over the past couple of years.

As for the quality of the tracks, overall, they are actually quite good. In fact, I am play them through a music server into my Klipsch rig, and to be honost, I found they sound really good through this setup. Unfortunately, once in a blue moon, I'll get a track that is corrupted (i.e, seems to be a bad rip on their end). I do bitch at them about it and they often re-credit me for the download. Also, they seem slow in fixing the bad rips (reported something that was corrupted, only several months later, attempt to re-download and it was STILL corrupted).

Overall, I really like eMusic, (although still pissed about getting reduced from 90 downloads per month to the current 50/month for my $20). At the time, it was the cheapest legitimate source for music on the internet (came to around 22 cents per track, not counting these sites that allows free downloads, like the old MP3.com site was back in the day).

And look at this - my downloads renewed for the month. Time to go grab some new music to listen to!

 

[Locust0311]

I've been on eMusic for over a year now and am generally pleased with the service, though I too wish more of our labels/distros would buy in. I would say I do more experimentation on eMusic than I have done on CD too since downloads expire after a month, I'd rather try something unknown than get nothing.

In fact I just did my latest downloads today and got:

Coronatus - Lux Noctis
Coronatus - Porta Obscura
Elysion - Silent Scream
Karmakanic - Who's the Boss in the Factory?
Necronomicon - Revenge of the Beast
Solitaire - Invasion Metropolis

I'd note that most of these fall into the experimentation category since there haven't been any big name releases in the last month. The only band I have any other albums by from those is Karmakanic.

 

[Jasonic]

I'm trying hard not to reflexively doubt you, but that would be a lot easier if you'd just provided one example!

Neil

I am at work right now, so don't have ITUNES on this PC.
I am pretty sure that ITUNES doesn't have every SLOUGH FEG disc, and I doubt that ITUNES has any of the releases from the SHADOW KINGDOM label, like Stygian Shore.

 

[Jasonic]

To the label reps here:
Even if you don't make a lot of $$$, what is the harm of having it out there?
It's advertising nonetheless right?
The cost I imagine is next to nothing, correct?
Even if the # of downloads are minimal, it would still VASTLY increase the # people who see the label name and band names, as I am sure some would pop up as "related artists"

I dunno. It is the future, whether we all like it or not.
Why be late to the party?

 

[skyrefuge]

I am pretty sure that ITUNES doesn't have every SLOUGH FEG disc, and I doubt that ITUNES has any of the releases from the SHADOW KINGDOM label, like Stygian Shore.

iTunes actually has 7 Slough Feg albums, while eMusic only has 5. iTunes also has Stygian Shore, and it looks like all the other Shadow Kingdom releases that eMusic has too.

The reason is because almost all labels work with a digital distributor; they don't work directly with the retailers themselves. And the distributors will blast the albums out to as many retailers as possible. So usually if an album appears at one retailer, it will be at all the rest of them too. Unless of course the label specifically doesn't want the album to be sold at a specific retailer, such as the majors at eMusic.

So the interesting question is actually why doesn't eMusic have the two extra Slough Feg albums ("Twilight of the Idols" and the demo-comp from Shadow Kingdom)?

Neil

 

[skyrefuge]

Unfortunately, once in a blue moon, I'll get a track that is corrupted (i.e, seems to be a bad rip on their end). I do bitch at them about it and they often re-credit me for the download. Also, they seem slow in fixing the bad rips (reported something that was corrupted, only several months later, attempt to re-download and it was STILL corrupted).

That can often be a problem due to the distribution layers. I just had a problem with an eMusic track where it was 6 minutes of silence. I checked the other retailers (iTunes, amazon, etc.) and found that it was the exact same thing there. So instead of even bothering with eMusic, I just went straight to the digital distributor, Metalhit, got excellent service from them, who got the fixed track for me to download a week or two later. It seemed like Metalhit still had to go back to the label to get the corrected track.

So I think in a lot of cases, eMusic or whoever doesn't have an actual CD that they can re-rip from. They have to go back through 2 or 3 layers of various levels of professionalism to get back to the original source, so it doesn't surprise me that sometimes it never happens (maybe the original label has since gone out of business, doesn't give a shit, etc.)

In general, I really like what Metalhit seems to be doing, it looks like they're distributing a lot of really underground bands and tiny labels who wouldn't otherwise have the motivation or interest to sell their stuff electronically. Essentially they're doing their best to solve the problem described in the original post.

Neil

 

[arnavut]

Just so you know, 80% of all digital revenue made out there for the artist/label, is made on itunes, few of these sites are putting any real money back in the artists pocket, I like CDbaby and Amazon too and a few select others. So if you want to support the artists and the labels that love and help bring there music to you, purchase the downloads on those sites as well when you find something worthy of listening to for more than a month.

Here is the problem with itunes, amazon mp3 etc in terms of fans of our genre progpower. Our little demographics, prefers downloading/buying/listening album instead of single track unlike a regular Joe. $1 a track means on average $10 (most albums having 8-12 tracks) album. That price is close to a regular CD price why pay 10 buck to download when couple bucks more will get you the CD, so it does not make much sense to most prog power fan.
Emusic make sense in a way, album download cost much less than the actual CD. Less risk to consumers. If album is not good, you did not lose much, if you love the album and want to get the actual CD at the end CD plus download cost is not ridiculous versus itunes album download plus CD cost.