A decade of digital music

January 2, 2010 5:30 AM

A decade of digital music Vaguely styled as a timeline, this end-of-the-decade blog post (from UK digital music news source Music Ally) could prove valuable to anyone studying the music business or the intersection between entertainment and technology. The piece links to ten years of stories on digital music - from Napster through to Spotify - allowing us to look back on the issues without the 20/20 vision of hindsight. Gems include the Bluematter scheme from Universal Records in 2000, which comprised 60 non-transferrable, non-burnable tracks for $1.99 each.
posted by skylar (4 comments total)

Two major digital music debacles that weren't mentioned are the 2006 PlaysForSure screw job and the 2008 Walmart DRM server shutdown. These two, above almost every other DRM failure, show why encumbered formats are such a bad idea for both customers and vendors.
posted by autopilot at 7:12 AM on January 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

No mention of Dance music sites that are all doing well as far as I know:

Beatport -- The main site in the US.
Track It Down (UK site, started by hard house DJ, BK)
Audiojelly Site that focuses on progressive house and trance
DJ Download Another UK site
Juno Records Used to be a vinyl store, but now sells mp3s as well.

There are lots more. Generally the model is to sell high bitrate mp3s and wave files at $2-$3. As far as I know, they do pretty well, and the royalties for the producers are not bad at all.
posted by empath at 8:02 AM on January 2, 2010

Interesting article-thanks for posting, skylar.
posted by njbradburn at 8:02 AM on January 2, 2010

encumbered formats

you encumber my format?
lissen up Walmart, I don't like that!
my format's all encumbered?
ya muthafukkin days are numbered!
Bluematter uh-uh, instead,
I'm-a knock tha grey matter out'cha head!
DRM and Jam Master Jaaaaaaaaaaay!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:08 AM on January 2, 2010 [2 favorites]