News
Mix: Gift cards, Spun, Music collections, Clear Channel
Gift cards for digital music downloads are helping to boost online music sales. “In the U.S. there’s been fantastic gift card download sales,” said Larry Kenswil, President of Universal Music Group’s eLabs unit. “Towards the middle of last year we were wondering if the digital revolution was over. But after the holiday season sales really picked up as a result of gift cards.”
Spun.com has launched a new service that allows customers to trade in their CDs, DVDs and video games for iPods or iTunes Music Store gift cards. “The transaction is fast and easy,” says Spun. “Simply log on to Spun.com, enter the ‘old media’ titles you want to exchange, and get instant credit toward digital gift cards and players. In a few days, you’ll receive your new digital entertainment gear, and a postage-paid box to ship your old CDs, DVDs and games back to Spun.”
Glenn Lovell of Knight Ridder writes about the difference between collecting music digitally compared to having a physical collection. “The idea of not having a tangible music collection—be it CD, cassette or vinyl album—has rattled some ardent collectors. They argue that without something to touch and discuss, you forfeit something fundamental.”
Clear Channel Communications plans to make some of its programming available to rival radio broadcasters. Reuters reports: “The new audio, video and text programming, developed by a community of 200 programmers called Format Lab, is expected to be used for Internet channels, station Web sites, Apple’s iPod, satellite broadcasts, high-definition radio broadcasts and other venues.”
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1
“The idea of not having a tangible music collection… without something to touch…”
My iPod provides me with a very tactile experience. The way it feels in my hand, as well as the browsing experience with the click wheel, is far more satisfying to me than flipping through CD’s or putting on a record. It’s almost like having a pet.
Posted by iDZ on April 24, 2006 at 10:47 AM (PDT)
2
well for me as a classical music lover. iPod is great… But if I want to play my music in High Fidelity… I still prefer playing my music on my stereo and blast it in its full glory. However, while i am driving and travelling… My two iPods (black & white) are the devices to have
Posted by floridante2k on April 24, 2006 at 10:57 AM (PDT)
3
On the concept of touchy-feelie with one’s music: there’s truth to that, at least for me. I still miss LPs, after all. There was something REALLY tangible reading the liner notes off of a vinyl album cover that could never be recaptured with the typical cassette or CD packaging. And how better to admire the skill and creativeness that went into the cover art; no CD-A cover or 500x500 pixel JPG will recapture that. Moreover, I never had to reach for a magnifying glass to pick out the fine print, either (and with some CDs, even WITH a magnifying glass the print is still unintelligible).
With digital downloads, the loss of the ‘complete package’ has gone to extremes of marketing minimalism. Even if the record labels began packaging PDFs of the album art and liner notes, it simply won’t be the same. There’s something to be said for the ability to hold and interact with that hardcopy in my favorite listening chair that just wouldn’t cut it nusing a laptop or sitting prone at the workdesk where the desktop computer is. And certainly no DAP can re-create that feeling on its own.
It may be old-school, but for me there’s something really engaging that connects one to the craft and artistry of making music when listening and using LPs that is so lost in today’s download universe. As easy as it is to download a song, it’s just as easy to erase it from your existence. And on top of that, thanks to DRM, you can’t even go out and re-sell it when you finally tire of it. I’m not thinking that used AAC stores is something we’ll see anytime soon.
Posted by flatline response on April 24, 2006 at 3:39 PM (PDT)