The music industry is going through a massive change right now. They’re having to deal with lossless limitless reproduction of digital music along with instant access by anyone connected to the Internet. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – they’re responding in the wrong way by using such draconian measures as lawsuits against their customers and using DRM to limit their customer’s ability to enjoy their own property. It often seems like nobody out there really gets the whole point of music: community, communication, art and expression.
Today I need to tell you that some people do get it – there is hope! I know most of you have heard of Apple’s iTunes store and perhaps you may think of it as the greatest thing since sliced bread. I’ve previously mentioned that I refuse to shop there due to their use of DRM, so I’ve been unable to really tap into the digital distribution market – until now.
My media player of choice is Rhythmbox. The latest version has quite simply opened up a new world of access to digital media. Just like iTunes, Rhythmbox displays your music collection like a library, allowing you to create playlists from your tracks. iTunes also allows you to browse their online store and make purchases directly within the iTunes interface. This allows you to easily add purchased tracks to your library – seamlessly one might say.
Rhythmbox obviously cannot interface with Apple’s store, but in true Open Source fashion they’ve gone one better: they’ve interfaced with two stores. The latest version now includes access to Magnatune and Jamendo – directly through the interface. Again they one-up Apple by providing you free access to these stores’ complete catalogue: full songs, unlimited listens.
Magnatune allows you to purchase the songs at a price you set (how cool is that?!) and will split the purchase price 50/50 with the artist. Jamendo also allows you to set a price, with the entire amount going directly to the artist. Both offer web interfaces so if you can’t get Rhythmbox installed (Linux only at this point) then I urge you to check out their websites if you’re curious.
But this is all about integration. Within Rhythmbox I have my library, Magnatune’s library, and Jamendo’s library all immediately available. I can listen to whatever I want, whenever I want, however often I want. This is digital music’s next step – it is taking things to a “Hole Nuthu Level“.
At this point none of the big record labels have signed on with either of these stores, so don’t expect to see your top 40 artists in there (yet). But do expect to find good (and bad) independent artists along with some other more open-minded artists who want to leverage these stores for their distribution needs. How large are the collections? Looking at Rhythmbox I see I have access to the following number of tracks:
- Magatunes: 7,290
- Jamendo: 20,957
And to top this selection off, I get to decide how much to pay, knowing full well how much is actually landing in the pockets of the people who created the music! Can you say that about iTunes? CDs?
Someone gets it – Magnatune gets it. Jamendo gets it. Rhythmbox gets it. Thank god someone gets it!
P.S. Just a note that I think the record label Nettwerk gets it too, but are approaching it from a commercial point of view rather thana community point of view.
P.P.S. I almost forgot to mention that Rhythmbox also includes Last.fm integration, meaning I can access their set of playlists and user suggestions as well.
I’ve read a few good things about lala.com where you can trade CDs with other members. Every CD you trade costs you $1.75 (including shipping)which isn’t too bad considering you can keep the CDs you like or trade ’em again. I’m not sure if you get album art or the jewel case but it still sounds like an interesting concept. Supposedly they even have streaming radio stations so you can listen to music while you browse.