AAJ launches new download store

[GA Russell]

Mike Ricci announced today that AAJ is starting a new download store. All the songs are DRM free.

It appears that the albums go for $12.00, while each song goes for $1.20. Obviously, you would want to download the tracks individually when there are fewer than ten tracks, it seems to me.

I haven't heard of most of the labels, but CTI and Cryptogramophone are included.

http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=20945

[Jim Alfredson]

Hmm... kind of a cool idea but... why $1.20? Why not $0.99 like iTunes, which is the standard these days, ain't it?

[sheldonm]

I saw at least one cd that was $0.95 per song and a cti Freddy Hubbard cd with four tunes with the tracks being $2.85 each???

m~

[jazzbo]

iTunes is about to introduce higher quality files. . .for 1.29.

Edited May 1, 2007 by jazzbo

[ejp626]

It appears that the albums go for $12.00, while each song goes for $1.20. Obviously, you would want to download the tracks individually when there are fewer than ten tracks, it seems to me.

http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=20945

Itunes has gotten wise to this and usually you can't download all the tracks if the album is shorter than 10 tracks. I imagine it will be the same here. I think it sucks -- one of many reasons I do almost no business with Itunes and do all my downloading with eMusic.

[medjuck]

It appears that the albums go for $12.00, while each song goes for $1.20. Obviously, you would want to download the tracks individually when there are fewer than ten tracks, it seems to me.

http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=20945

Itunes has gotten wise to this and usually you can't download all the tracks if the album is shorter than 10 tracks. I imagine it will be the same here. I think it sucks -- one of many reasons I do almost no business with Itunes and do all my downloading with eMusic.

I haven't found that on iTunes, and can think of numerous examples where records with less than 10 cuts cost 99 per cut (though you might have to get the whole record). However they often don't allow the download of long cuts unless you buy the whole record. (Though I just bought Prez's longest recorded solo for 99 cents-- all nine minutes of it. )

[medjuck]

iTunes is about to introduce higher quality files. . .for 1.29.

Are they higher quality sound or just DRM free?

[ejp626]

It appears that the albums go for $12.00, while each song goes for $1.20. Obviously, you would want to download the tracks individually when there are fewer than ten tracks, it seems to me.

http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=20945

Itunes has gotten wise to this and usually you can't download all the tracks if the album is shorter than 10 tracks. I imagine it will be the same here. I think it sucks -- one of many reasons I do almost no business with Itunes and do all my downloading with eMusic.

I haven't found that on iTunes, and can think of numerous examples where records with less than 10 cuts cost 99 per cut (though you might have to get the whole record). However they often don't allow the download of long cuts unless you buy the whole record. (Though I just bought Prez's longest recorded solo for 99 cents-- all nine minutes of it. )

It may not always happen, but it definitely does happen, esp. with the Verve Vault recordings, where you have to buy the whole album at $9.99 or whatever, but it only has 4 tracks.

[7/4]

Other Music just opened their download site a few days ago.

[Guest donald petersen]

wow i am sure we have all been clamoring for some late 80s (or early 90s) CTI stuff!

[Guest donald petersen]

which is not to say it isn't good music. i'm sure the stuff is fine...

just that it seems weird.

[Shawn]

The higher price for improved quality sample rates are written into the contracts with the record labels.

[Jim Alfredson]

I did not realize it was higher sample rates. That is cool. I still think it should be $0.99. It doesn't take any more work to encode something at 320kbps than it does 128kbps.

[Shawn]

I did not realize it was higher sample rates. That is cool. I still think it should be $0.99. It doesn't take any more work to encode something at 320kbps than it does 128kbps.

That's true...unless you have a 1,500,000 track library all encoded at 128k and now need it in another format...

[Guy Berger]

I did not realize it was higher sample rates. That is cool. I still think it should be $0.99. It doesn't take any more work to encode something at 320kbps than it does 128kbps.

Let's be honest -- it doesn't cost 99 cents to encode an MP3 file. Nobody's pricing to marginal cost here.

I think it's quite legit for them to charge more for a higher-quality product. Hopefully they'll succeed, at least as a niche.

Guy

Edited May 1, 2007 by Guy

[Stefan Wood]

Guy, it might be a niche market now...........

Seriously, it is a good move for them in terms of selling music.

[RDK]

For DRM-free, I think I'll stick with emusic... for about a quarter of the price...

[Jim Alfredson]

See, that's the thing. When CDs first came out, what were vinyl albums generally selling at? (I ask this as a honest question). I know CDs were a lot more expensive and the industry kept saying, "Hey, that's because it's new... the price will go down..." and it never did, really.

So now we're at another turning point for audio media and people are pricing it at generally the same level, even though the physical nature of it has been taken completely out of the equation. Sure, you still have to have the infrastructure to sell it, which includes servers, harddrives, backups, high-speed T3 lines or whatever they are using these days, etc. But it seems to me an entire album of mp3s should be $4 to $5 instead of $10 to $12. What are you paying for?

I've already decided that the next organissimo record will be available via download on our site, both in mp3 format (for around $5) and a lossless format like FLAC or even just zipped wav files (for maybe $6). I just have to figure out the software end of it.

[Claude]

I've already decided that the next organissimo record will be available via download on our site, both in mp3 format (for around $5) and a lossless format like FLAC or even just zipped wav files (for maybe $6). I just have to figure out the software end of it.

That's a great idea, Jim. Why not go a step further and release an optional hi-rez download version (24bit/96kHz FLAC files), as the recording and mixing will probably be made in 24/96? I would pay $20 for that.

Some hi-rez FLAC files are available on archive.org:

http://www.archive.org/details/charliehunt...03-07-20.flac24

[Aggie87]

I've already decided that the next organissimo record will be available via download on our site, both in mp3 format (for around $5) and a lossless format like FLAC or even just zipped wav files (for maybe $6). I just have to figure out the software end of it.

You mean in addition to an autographed CD, like my other two, right?

[Jim Alfredson]

Yeah, hi-res would be cool, too. And yes, we're still doing a physical disc. I just need to figure out the software end of it (shopping cart, download area, etc.)

Fun!

[RDK]

Cool Jim - I'd be all for the Flacs or waves.

To add to your other comments, another advantage of buying a physical disc at a certain price is that it has some resale value should you decide you don't like it or don't want it anymore. If you pay even $15 for a disc, you can recoup at least some of your money if you sell it. But if you buy digital downloads, that's it - you can't legally sell those files even though you've legally purchased them.

[Quincy]

You mean in addition to an autographed CD, like my other two, right?

The only autographs I collect are organissimo ones.

[JSngry]

See, that's the thing. When CDs first came out, what were vinyl albums generally selling at? (I ask this as a honest question).

List price in the early-mid 80s was generally $8.99-$9.99. In the dieing days, $10.98 list was not uncommon.

I saw the 70s start at $3.99-$4.99 list price and gradually go up from there.

I also remember "label sales" at the Denton Sound Town ca. 1974 where they'd bring in an entire label's currentcatalog, but it in big bins in the middle of the floor for about a month, and sell 'em for $2.98-$3.99 a pop. They did this with Blue Note, Impulse!, &, iirc, Prestige.