It looks like Sony's stuff on Amie includes more current releases and not just back catalog. The Ting Ting's album from last year is already available there and it is not on eMu.
So Sony's titles at Aime Street are, on average, more expensive than Sony's titles at eMusic. And indie titles at Aime Street are more or less expensive than indie titles at eMusic, depending on demand.
It's that depending on demand that you need to get past, Daniel. Amie Street is just another tool in the box for getting good music at a good price.
Examples: A couple weeks ago I got Wild Beasts and A Camp's first album for free (in fact I'm getting paid almost $9.00 right now for Wild Beasts due to recs), and I got the new Yo La Tengo for $4.00. Today I got the new The Big Pink for $3.00. That's $7.00 (or -$2.00) for four albums I wanted and would have been 47 nps on Emu. At the same time I didn't get to the site in time to get some albums like the most recent Camera Obscura, but instead of paying the full price I waited it out on eMu and got it for my 11 nps.
Neither Amie or eMu are perfect, but when used together you can get a lot of great music for a great price.
So Sony's titles at Aime Street are, on average, more expensive than Sony's titles at eMusic. And indie titles at Aime Street are more or less expensive than indie titles at eMusic, depending on demand.
My $20 a month at emusic would now buy me 50 tracks; 4 albums, plus two tracks, (on average; for everything not on the 12 cap that's less than 12, there's something else interesting that's more than 12.)
Before I was getting 90 tracks and averaging 10 albums per month.
Between Amazon, Amie Street, and my local used record store ($5 per disc) I can meet, on average, the 4 albums per month that emusic's offering me.
And sometimes with Amazon deals and Amie Street deals and good catches I can beat the 4 albums by quite a bit.
And I can always get exactly what I want - like if I want to blow my whole $20 for the month on a used copy of an Arthur Verocai album that I read about, (totally worth it) I can do that where it's not an option at emusic.
emusic's sacrifices - subscription, waiting for things, giving up certain things because certain labels don't play with emusic - were worth it to me at 10+ albums per month. They're not worth it at 4 albums per month.
And as far as Amie Street v emusic from a label perspective; the labels can dictate their own price point on Amie Street, so I see nothing stopping them from eventually getting every label, whereas emusic either has to convince the labels to sell at half price, or it has to jack up prices again (or go multi-tiered pricing)
I hear you. My feeling is (a) I'm on the 100 DL/month plan, so I'm getting roughly 8 -- 9 albums a month at roughly $5.00 an album, which I can't match elsewhere for the things I want, and (b) I don't want to work as hard as it would be to comparison shop at Amazon, my local used disc store (where, BTW, the used discs range in price from 7 -- 10 dollars) and Aime Street, where I have to download at the right time to get a good price.
Also, I download to an external hard-drive, which I keep at home. And being on restricted-hours with Aime Street, when price is set by demand (like a stock-exchange), would be an especially frustrating experience. For instance, when you suggest above that I should refresh at Aime Street every 15 minutes on a Tuesday morning, it's just a tease. I can't download until, say, 8 or even 10 PM. So seeing the price steadily rise through the day would be discouraging.
Just a quick note, Daniel, you don't have to d/l from Amie when you buy something. I have regularly bought things from them and then not bothered d/ling them for days (assuming you can at least go to the website at that time).
But to be fair I've barely ever recommended Amie Street to anyone because it can be a pain. But there are still a lot of great albums on there for a good price - some that aren't even over yonder. And if you do the 50% sales it really expands what's still a good deal in the back catalog. Not trying to push the site on you, just thought you might like to know alternative uses
1. You wouldn't have to watch the prices rise. You can buy right away and then download later.
2. Try shopping around next time they have a 50% off sale (that's the only thing that worries me about Sony's arrival; I hope those don't happen less).
3. Even when I have to pay the highest price, I am still getting a better deal than eMusic. For every real dollar I spend, I get $3.30 in credit, because I only buy when it's 50% off and because of how much I make on RECs. I use the site quite a lot, so most people will get less than than that (you could probably expect to get $2.00 to $2.50). For me, an album that's peaked at $10 only costs me $3.33.
4. Whoever said that once you get one free album, you will be hooked, was totally right. I've gotten SUCH amazing music for free that I would've paid full priced for--Camera Obscura, God Help the Girl, These United States, St. Vincent, and more.
5. It also helps that they have my favorite label, with all their albums still at less than $3.00, Amble Down Records (home of The Daredevil Christopher Wright, Cranes & Crows, Meridene, The Cloud Cult, and more). I've bought every single album on their roster for what equals about $4.00 in real money.
6. I recently counted and saw that, on average, I pay $1 in real money per album--and that's only counting the music that I like and would consider buying elsewhere (this is a bit hard to judge because I have downloaded numerous albums just because they were free, only to delete them later).
All that to say, I totally hear what you're saying. It's not for everyone and it doesn't have to be for you. Amie Street is definitely more work (but I would say that is more than half the fun). Also, for now, the selection is more limited than eMusic. But, I can now say that in EVERY other way, it is the BEST music site on the internet with the BEST deals.
The "buy now, download later" thing helps. I take it that RECs means your recommendations, and you get credit when someone buys a disc based on your recommendation?
the psychedelic furs' stuff on emu would be cheaper than amie.
some things that emu has that i would like to get: yanase miho > futatso no kotori + jah wobble > chinese dub...not on amie.
still the same, i've dl'd 4 rekkids (natacha atlas, Gayathri Vadivel, Boris, goto izumi) for all of $6.50 which i'm exceedingly thrilled to have.
d,ont be tied to the d,esk, d,esq...grab an amie account when they offer discounted balances and join in the exploration. then link to someone like cafreema to let him do the research for you...he's gonna do it anyway.
It really is easy to sign up on Amie Street. I got those 2 free without even putting in any credit card details.
That's good to know about the DLing later.
edit - The Miles Davis one, I just used the zip file. The Aerosmith, I used the Amie DL program. Both worked really easily.
@ Katrina - you can buy credit through an amazon account too, so I've never given amie street any credit card info, even though I have bought credits.
and this is interesting - instead of making the big hit tracks (Beat It, Billie Jean) "album only" - amie street just jacks up the price to $1.29 - meaning this may be a good way to fill in album only tracks from emu for those who are still there. (Although some albums do still have album only tracks)
and check out Bitches Brew - 2 discs, $6.93, no album onlys...
For those that want to surf the Sony drop on Amie, start at this page. Very odd, outside of the Aerosmith I've found Tony Bennet's Duets and Miles Davis's In a Silent Way for free and My Funny Valentine for 99 cents
In A Silent Way is now $10.00.
I guess it would be less if you applied toward the price some credits that you had previously accumulated by recommending discs to other Aime Street subscribers, maybe? Of if there was a sale that included this title among the discounted items? Or if demand for the disc is stagnant, and under Aime Street's pricing system, the price drops accordingly?
Another thing I've noticed is that Amie appears to only have 1 version of albums that eMu had multiples of. It's hard to tell for certain if they are the remasters, explicits, etc., so one type of confusion has been replaced with another.
"The songs in the Sony catalog will be priced at $.69, $.99 and $1.29, not dynamically...." (Sony Open Letter)
Looks like we got a few before they could change the pricing. For a moment I was wondering if $ony had somehow become enlightened and embraced dynamic pricing.
Haha, crossposted there. I do like that Big 10 Inch!
edit- there was something weird with track 6, Sweet Emotion. It showed up as read-only and iTunes couldn't change its tags until I fixed the containing folder.
Another thing I've noticed is that Amie appears to only have 1 version of albums that eMu had multiples of. It's hard to tell for certain if they are the remasters, explicits, etc., so one type of confusion has been replaced with another.
The Columbia Legacy all seem to be well marked as far as their issue sequence. The "In a Silent Way" I picked up (free!) was pulled from the original, and the deluxe edition only had one issue to begin with. I haven't yet taken a more indepth look at them, yet, so I'll report back if I find anything.
then link to someone like cafreema to let him do the research for you...he's gonna do it anyway.
Hey! Wait...no, you're right. I do love me some research.
I also must admit that I've done something similar. I downloaded The Rifles from Amie solely because both frogkopf and thom had rec'd it and I was notified of the recs because they are in my network. Worth it.
Well, apparently Amie Street is now unusable on IE6. I'll probably get chewed out, but that means that Firefox is now on my work computer. Prefer it to IE anyway.
that blows the "50% sales won't fly with Sony" theory out of the water.
Sony won't probably complain about sales or sales pricing, only regular pricing that pushes down the cost of all downloads all the time. I think of it as the German consumer system: why would you have a store that always discounted all product, as Walmart does.
Walmart doesn't discount all product. They actually have higher prices than other stores on many everyday items.
edit - but I get your point about the Sony 1/2 price sale1
Comments
Now it's $8.98. This is why -- along with selection, navigation, editorial content issues -- I'll never be an Aime Street fan.
For anyone who missed the 52 track Dylan comp for 12 credits at eMu, it's $9.99 on Amie. Get it before they realized they screwed the pooch.
Examples: A couple weeks ago I got Wild Beasts and A Camp's first album for free (in fact I'm getting paid almost $9.00 right now for Wild Beasts due to recs), and I got the new Yo La Tengo for $4.00. Today I got the new The Big Pink for $3.00. That's $7.00 (or -$2.00) for four albums I wanted and would have been 47 nps on Emu. At the same time I didn't get to the site in time to get some albums like the most recent Camera Obscura, but instead of paying the full price I waited it out on eMu and got it for my 11 nps.
Neither Amie or eMu are perfect, but when used together you can get a lot of great music for a great price.
Craig
My $20 a month at emusic would now buy me 50 tracks; 4 albums, plus two tracks, (on average; for everything not on the 12 cap that's less than 12, there's something else interesting that's more than 12.)
Before I was getting 90 tracks and averaging 10 albums per month.
Between Amazon, Amie Street, and my local used record store ($5 per disc) I can meet, on average, the 4 albums per month that emusic's offering me.
And sometimes with Amazon deals and Amie Street deals and good catches I can beat the 4 albums by quite a bit.
And I can always get exactly what I want - like if I want to blow my whole $20 for the month on a used copy of an Arthur Verocai album that I read about, (totally worth it) I can do that where it's not an option at emusic.
emusic's sacrifices - subscription, waiting for things, giving up certain things because certain labels don't play with emusic - were worth it to me at 10+ albums per month. They're not worth it at 4 albums per month.
And as far as Amie Street v emusic from a label perspective; the labels can dictate their own price point on Amie Street, so I see nothing stopping them from eventually getting every label, whereas emusic either has to convince the labels to sell at half price, or it has to jack up prices again (or go multi-tiered pricing)
Also, I download to an external hard-drive, which I keep at home. And being on restricted-hours with Aime Street, when price is set by demand (like a stock-exchange), would be an especially frustrating experience. For instance, when you suggest above that I should refresh at Aime Street every 15 minutes on a Tuesday morning, it's just a tease. I can't download until, say, 8 or even 10 PM. So seeing the price steadily rise through the day would be discouraging.
But to be fair I've barely ever recommended Amie Street to anyone because it can be a pain. But there are still a lot of great albums on there for a good price - some that aren't even over yonder. And if you do the 50% sales it really expands what's still a good deal in the back catalog. Not trying to push the site on you, just thought you might like to know alternative uses
As an aside, I'm on my second listen to The Big Pink. Totally freakin' worth the hype. VERY possible this will be in my year end top ten.
Craig
2. Try shopping around next time they have a 50% off sale (that's the only thing that worries me about Sony's arrival; I hope those don't happen less).
3. Even when I have to pay the highest price, I am still getting a better deal than eMusic. For every real dollar I spend, I get $3.30 in credit, because I only buy when it's 50% off and because of how much I make on RECs. I use the site quite a lot, so most people will get less than than that (you could probably expect to get $2.00 to $2.50). For me, an album that's peaked at $10 only costs me $3.33.
4. Whoever said that once you get one free album, you will be hooked, was totally right. I've gotten SUCH amazing music for free that I would've paid full priced for--Camera Obscura, God Help the Girl, These United States, St. Vincent, and more.
5. It also helps that they have my favorite label, with all their albums still at less than $3.00, Amble Down Records (home of The Daredevil Christopher Wright, Cranes & Crows, Meridene, The Cloud Cult, and more). I've bought every single album on their roster for what equals about $4.00 in real money.
6. I recently counted and saw that, on average, I pay $1 in real money per album--and that's only counting the music that I like and would consider buying elsewhere (this is a bit hard to judge because I have downloaded numerous albums just because they were free, only to delete them later).
All that to say, I totally hear what you're saying. It's not for everyone and it doesn't have to be for you. Amie Street is definitely more work (but I would say that is more than half the fun). Also, for now, the selection is more limited than eMusic. But, I can now say that in EVERY other way, it is the BEST music site on the internet with the BEST deals.
some things that emu has that i would like to get: yanase miho > futatso no kotori + jah wobble > chinese dub...not on amie.
still the same, i've dl'd 4 rekkids (natacha atlas, Gayathri Vadivel, Boris, goto izumi) for all of $6.50 which i'm exceedingly thrilled to have.
d,ont be tied to the d,esk, d,esq...grab an amie account when they offer discounted balances and join in the exploration. then link to someone like cafreema to let him do the research for you...he's gonna do it anyway.
68
caveat II > i have 0 street cred.
That's good to know about the DLing later.
edit - The Miles Davis one, I just used the zip file. The Aerosmith, I used the Amie DL program. Both worked really easily.
and this is interesting - instead of making the big hit tracks (Beat It, Billie Jean) "album only" - amie street just jacks up the price to $1.29 - meaning this may be a good way to fill in album only tracks from emu for those who are still there. (Although some albums do still have album only tracks)
and check out Bitches Brew - 2 discs, $6.93, no album onlys...
In A Silent Way is now $10.00.
I guess it would be less if you applied toward the price some credits that you had previously accumulated by recommending discs to other Aime Street subscribers, maybe? Of if there was a sale that included this title among the discounted items? Or if demand for the disc is stagnant, and under Aime Street's pricing system, the price drops accordingly?
Another thing I've noticed is that Amie appears to only have 1 version of albums that eMu had multiples of. It's hard to tell for certain if they are the remasters, explicits, etc., so one type of confusion has been replaced with another.
Looks like we got a few before they could change the pricing. For a moment I was wondering if $ony had somehow become enlightened and embraced dynamic pricing.
How do you search for price=free plus a certain artist?
edit- there was something weird with track 6, Sweet Emotion. It showed up as read-only and iTunes couldn't change its tags until I fixed the containing folder.
The Columbia Legacy all seem to be well marked as far as their issue sequence. The "In a Silent Way" I picked up (free!) was pulled from the original, and the deluxe edition only had one issue to begin with. I haven't yet taken a more indepth look at them, yet, so I'll report back if I find anything.
Hey! Wait...no, you're right. I do love me some research.
I also must admit that I've done something similar. I downloaded The Rifles from Amie solely because both frogkopf and thom had rec'd it and I was notified of the recs because they are in my network. Worth it.
Craig
Craig
Craig
edit - but I get your point about the Sony 1/2 price sale1