I went ahead and broke my silence on the eMusic message boards. Well, I had to, to acknowledge what I called "by far the single most intelligent, honest, cogent, and customer-friendly post anyone has made" relating to the new eMusic pricing system. Of course the culprit could only be BIS supremo Robert von Bahr, demonstrating yet again why he and his company are held in such high regard.
Here's what he did. He looked at the new pricing system. He looked at the product he is trying to sell on eMusic. He sat down and worked out the best ways of getting each product to customers at a low price while still maintaining a profit. He actually came up with a plan, rather than applying a single pricing system across the board.
Sure, it sounds simple, but as anyone who's browsed on the various download sites will know, this is quite rare. There are far too many examples of "1 CD = a tenner, therefore 3 CDs = 3 tenners" pricing, which can lead to downloads costing twice as much (or more) than the physical CD. And for those of us in Europe, the "album-only" tracks on eMusic in the absence of album capping or the option to download only one album from a multi-disc set can be a real pain in the nuts. (Latest example: complete Bach organic music from Ricercar. Total of 303 tracks, and about a dozen are album-only).
You sometimes get the impression from certain record labels, especially the majors, that people who buy their music are, at best, a nuisance to be tolerated and certainly not, you know, encouraged. So it's refreshing when someone like Robert von Bahr says "I really like when the music and artistry we have worked so hard to present in the best possible recordings, are enjoyed by as many as possible".
So, hats off once again to you, Robert, and thanks.
Here's what he did. He looked at the new pricing system. He looked at the product he is trying to sell on eMusic. He sat down and worked out the best ways of getting each product to customers at a low price while still maintaining a profit. He actually came up with a plan, rather than applying a single pricing system across the board.
Sure, it sounds simple, but as anyone who's browsed on the various download sites will know, this is quite rare. There are far too many examples of "1 CD = a tenner, therefore 3 CDs = 3 tenners" pricing, which can lead to downloads costing twice as much (or more) than the physical CD. And for those of us in Europe, the "album-only" tracks on eMusic in the absence of album capping or the option to download only one album from a multi-disc set can be a real pain in the nuts. (Latest example: complete Bach organic music from Ricercar. Total of 303 tracks, and about a dozen are album-only).
You sometimes get the impression from certain record labels, especially the majors, that people who buy their music are, at best, a nuisance to be tolerated and certainly not, you know, encouraged. So it's refreshing when someone like Robert von Bahr says "I really like when the music and artistry we have worked so hard to present in the best possible recordings, are enjoyed by as many as possible".
So, hats off once again to you, Robert, and thanks.
2 comments:
Thank you very much for your elaboration of your views.
I was just about to ad a link to your blog at my recent post at the eMu Board concerning this.
- But I was uncertain about how you felt about that, so I did´nt.
- Brighternow.
You know, I'm not sure how I do feel about that. I broke cover only because of my respect for RvB. It might be a bit tacky to say "oh, by the way, having cruelly taken away all those classical resources you guys so much enjoyed, I now want you to come read my blog". Sometimes I overthink things!
Post a Comment