Another new survey conducted in the EU argues that music sharers buy less music over the course of a year than those who are classified as online or physical only buyers.
http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/Jupiter_Research_study_on_online_piracy.pdf
Oddly iPod owners aren’t classified as digital music buyers, and it’s not clear how these categories have been delineated or how people have been divided into them, or whether they are mutually exclusive. I wish that when research like this is commissioned it was released in its entirety, to allow us to make our own decisions about it, rather than accepting the opinions of those who publish it based on limited information release. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but it might help us get to the truth if it happened.
Does that hairdo look a bit Phil Spector-y?
Seemingly, being an internationally famous rockstar isn’t fulfilling all of Jack White’s ambitions, as he’s started running a record shop. Perhaps he’s jealous of John Cusack in High Fidelity or something… Man that guy gets all the
too-quirky-to-be-called-good-looking-but-you-still-would 30 something actresses… [Cross film confusion here, I know]
The Fact Blog reports “On Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October, Third Man Records And Novelties will operate out of Shoreditch Church. The store will be selling “releases and miscellany” from The Dead Weather, The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, together with Third Man 45s, T-shirts and other rarities and collectibles. The store will be open 11am-6pm on the Friday, and 11am-9pm on the Saturday.”
London based company Digital Stores Limited has been building online shops for various high profile clients for the best part of a decade (they were incorporated in ’97), and have put up their own record shop, selling both digital and physical releases. Their catalogue seems to include material from all of the majors – indeed, I had to think quite hard before I caught their search function out (they don’t have any Zetan Spore, a trance band from down here in Cornwall). Album prices range between £4.95 (indie mp3 album download) to £12.49 (mainstream CD order).
A nice addition to their retail arsenal is a signed exclusive section, where they list special artist-signed editions of new releases (as I write Biffy Clyro, Athlete, Idlewild and Maps are among the artists listed in this section). Prices don’t seem inflated from regular retail cost, so this seems like a great way of picking up something a bit more special for a fan who’ll appreciate having an artifact rather than just a download. Other than this little bonus, I can’t see much to distinguish Recordstore.co.uk from the competition – prices are reasonably similar, the range is pretty comprehensive, but you could get the same service from Amazon. On the other hand, I support them on the same principle that makes me buy food from the farmers market rather than ASDA, the smaller retailers care more, and I think small businesses are a good thing for keeping a marketplace varied, vibrant and full of innovation. Much as we are a smaller enterprise but provide an alternative digital music distribution solution to the bigger players like the Orchard.
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