Demand Driven
The artwork to the left is a bit of verité: it's your hostess in a graphic representation of her workspace, as she assays an epistle...this very one, in fact. Oh, and in the frame to my right? That is you, dear reader. You preppy roué.
Much has been written on these pages about on-demand or 'cloud' music streaming services. This speaks to history shared by Main Figurehead and myself: we were both passengers on the music industry Hindenburg. Yet even after our respective landings and dousings with fire retardants we still subscribe to 'Modern Dirigible' magazine.
Not long after Mr. Fig wrote of his dabblings with Mog and Rdio, Lifehacker came with a compare-and-contrast of the nine leading streaming services. Have a look; it's a pretty good view of today's landscape. Rather than parrot its findings, I'd like to take the discussion in a different direction. But first, I wanted to respond to a couple of Main's points:
While I would agree that the iTunes store is the gold standard for digital music selection, let's remember that their service is retail sales only: no streaming. Some labels and artists will not allow on-demand streaming of their content. This is likely due to some combination of the services' miniscule per-play payments and other more philosophical differences. One notable example: the Drag City label. Their releases are all available on iTunes, while not a one of them can be found on Rhapsody, say. Very frustrating for the explorer who prefers one-stop aggregators.
One reason for my continued Rhapsody loyalty is an ongoing test I do. Every month I come up with several dozen possible album auditions, most of them indie obscurities. I then do searches in the on-demand streamers' databases to determine hit rates. Rhapsody and Napster always beat Spotify, and they cream Rdio and Mog. To be fair, Spotify is Europe-centric and the latter two are new. But these gaps can also make the difference between the availability of twelve Harry Belafonte albums as opposed to seven, say. So until a competitor comes along that can meet more of my needs, I'm happy where I am.
(With age and a bulging medicine cabinet come unexpected side trips:
Q. What weights five tons and sings? A. Harry Elafonte.
I thought of this because of the recent death of Mitch Miller. If you aren't old enough to remember him, feel free to skip on down to whatever following paragraph looks interesting, or the next website on your itinerary, whichever comes first.
Q. What is the result when you cross bee venom with a mosquito bite? A. Sting along with itch.)
Also, in fairness, I should point out that while Rhapsody's software and look-and-feel are indeed somewhat primitive, I am a Sonos user who has been spoiled by that partnership. Using a combination of Rhapsody's library, an iPod Touch for navigation, and Sonos for delivery, I have the best on-demand home music system available that I know of.
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I really liked Main Figurehead's closing paragraph:
'And finally, I'll say this about the sensation of suddenly having access to virtually all music: it is both exhilerating and debilitating. It's great that I'm essentially always just a few keystrokes away from listening to anything at all, no matter the whim... but when I don't have any specific thoughts and I go to put some music on, I find that I'm spending more time staring into space with my mouth hanging open, brain numb and muscles seemingly paralyzed!'
The advancements in music listening options over the last ten years' time have been staggering. I've chosen conquest via compartmentalization: For the familiar, I set my own library to random. For a a passive exploration of the unfamiliar, I turn to custom-crafted Pandora radio stations. For active exploration, I rely on Rhapsody. And if I wanna share something with you, I'll link to Grooveshark. Speaking of which:
A few weeks back I began an alphabetical dig of my music library, seeking hidden treasures to put on display here. Three of those initial six are available for full listening on Grooveshark. Here they are:
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As long as we're pounding the digital music subject into an amorphous mass, a thought or two about buying songs and albums:
While the iTunes store is dominant because of its "oh I guess we're supposed to shop here" reputation among casual music buyers, price should be considered by more serious shoppers.
I've become a fan of eMusic where, if you buy a lot of music and are regular about checking in and using your monthly allotment, you will find the best overall price among reputable resellers. My subscription works out to about 40 cents a song. I'm not crazy about the bitrate of their rips, but then I don't buy classics or Miles Davis remasters there anyway.
Here's a tip. The smartest eMusic buys are often in older music: pre-psychedelic era, say. 40s and 50s R&B and country, or early rock & roll and old-school soul are generally found in mono, where a low bitrate really doesn't matter. (An obvious example: is Robert Johnson gonna sound any different in a lossless file versus a 128kbps rip? In fact, the lower rate might sound more authentic.) Further, many such albums are offered at a significant discount from eMusic's already low rate. Here are three examples.
John Lee Hooker: The Legendary Modern Recordings. Probably the best pure Hooker material of all. 20 tracks.
iTunes: 99 cents per song, with no full-album discount.
Amazon: 99 cents per song. $8.99 for the full album: prorating to 45 cents apiece.
eMusic: 40 cents (or one eMusic 'credit') per song. 12 credits for the full album, or $4.80: 24 cents apiece.
Bob Wills: The Tiffany Transcriptions Vol. 1. All ten volumes are cornerstones in a good Western Swing collection. 14 tracks.
iTunes: 69 cents per song, except two tracks that are 99 cents. Works out to 10.26 if all songs are purchased individually. Full album price: 9.99, a 27-cent discount.
Amazon: Exactly the same as iTunes.
eMusic: 40 cents (one 'credit') per song. 12 credits for the full album, or $4.80: about 34 cents apiece.
The Complete Stax/Volt Singles Vol. 5. (Includes three of Otis Redding's greatest sides and Sam & Dave's 'Hold On I'm Coming'). 27 tracks.
iTunes: 99 cents per song, except $1.29 for each of the above four tracks. Full album: $14.99 or about 55 cents apiece. Note: six of the nine individual volumes are not available with a full-album discount.
Amazon: 99 cents per song, with no surcharge for any of the above four. Full album: $10.99, or about 41 cents apiece. Note: all nine individual albums available at full-album discount, either 10.99 or 11.99.
eMusic: 40 cents (one 'credit') per song. 12 credits for the full album, or $4.80: about 18 cents apiece.
This is admittedly a small sample size. However, it also took very little time to compile, meaning other such disparities surely abound. iTunes customers beware: you are paying a premium for selection and reputation. Just like you did at Tower Records.
