What’s up? eMusic is one of those services that we’ve always heavily supported in part because its inexpensive, music-fan-first approach got the experience of downloading music right – even at the cost of major label support. Recently, it convinced one major, Sony, to jump on board. Good for them, right? Well, yes and no. source
What’s up? eMusic is one of those services that we’ve always heavily supported in part because its inexpensive, music-fan-first approach got the experience of downloading music right – even at the cost of major label support. Recently, it convinced one major, Sony, to jump on board. Good for them, right? Well, yes and no.
The cost It appears eMusic had to give up a lot to convince Sony to let them put Simon & Garfunkel on the site. Longtime users used to paying $20 for 90 tracks will be surprised to see their download numbers cut. And while the selection is killer, the company had to restrict some tracks – the hits – to flat-rate album download only. source
What’s up? eMusic is one of those services that we’ve always heavily supported in part because its inexpensive, music-fan-first approach got the experience of downloading music right – even at the cost of major label support. Recently, it convinced one major, Sony, to jump on board. Good for them, right? Well, yes and no.
The cost It appears eMusic had to give up a lot to convince Sony to let them put Simon & Garfunkel on the site. Longtime users used to paying $20 for 90 tracks will be surprised to see their download numbers cut. And while the selection is killer, the company had to restrict some tracks – the hits – to flat-rate album download only.
Our take We won’t lie. In part because of the sheer novelty, we downloaded Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” ’cause we could. Ultimately, even with the changes, the service is still cheaper than most download sites. Our disappointment is that they bent so much for a major at the cost of the indies. We’re not sure if this is a good long-term approach. source
Well, this is really freaking scary. Two large hotels with corporate parents in the U.S. were bombed this morning in Jakarta, Indonesia. The JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels were attacked this morning, causing a huge scene and eight deaths. The bombings are also notable due to the fact that they happened in hotels with heavy security.source
Uh, he’s the guy whose record I broke. Not to be disrespectful or anything, but he was before my time.
Phillies slugger Ryan Howard • On the occasion of hitting homer No. 200, a feat that took him just 658 games, or just a hair above four seasons. He doesn’t know the guy whose record he topped, Ralph Kiner, but he should. Why’s that? It’s the third record he’s stolen from the guy who was before his time. • source
Pope Benedict XVI got ganked in a fall while on vacation. The world’s holiest guy (well, depending on your religion – for example, Rainn Wilson doesn’t swing that way) was injured while hanging out in his chalet in the mountainous Valle d’Aosta region of Italy. Vatican spokesman suggests it’s “nothing serious,” and the dude was able to eat a little breakfast and have mass before he went to the hospital. Though, we just have to wonder: Does el Popearino have killer health insurance? If not, he should. source