Looking for an online music service...
November 16, 2010 12:12 PM Subscribe
Is there a music search service that showcases artists and genres, with links to all the places you can download their music (including individual labels and/or artists) and for how much -- like Kayak.com, but for music instead of travel? I'm no programmer, but somebody needs to be doing this. Does anybody know of anything like this, either current or in development? What does it take to get something like this started? Like so many others, I am missing Amie Street. Emusic, itunes and Amazon do not provide the same level of music discovery and bargain hunting. There is a gap that needs to be filled here.
How much does or doesn't http://allmusic.com/ and last.fm do what you need?
posted by dubitable at 12:20 PM on November 16, 2010
posted by dubitable at 12:20 PM on November 16, 2010
2nding last.fm as it seems to fit most of the criteria you've mentioned. It's kind of a hit-or-miss affair when it comes to certain discographies but the music discovery engine is fairly solid.
posted by Dr-Baa at 12:43 PM on November 16, 2010
posted by Dr-Baa at 12:43 PM on November 16, 2010
I was going to say Last.fm as well, but they can be wonky. Most of the time they just link to iTunes, but even still, sometimes it's not very good.
posted by koolgiy at 12:49 PM on November 16, 2010
posted by koolgiy at 12:49 PM on November 16, 2010
Also, I wonder if what you're talking about is really viable. I don't think there is that much variation in pricing between Justin Timberlake's new single selling on Amazon and the one selling on iTunes, and I think the amount of distributors compared to airlines is pretty small. And smaller artists seem to have their own distribution schemes based on the labels they're on; often times the labels will distribute their songs themselves and that's it, or they'll have some partnership with a particular start-up or something. Either way, I don't think you'll have the range of options—or limitations, since you can copy one mp3 infinitely—that you have compared to, say, trying to get from Miami to NYC—it's a really different system with a different history and market and etc.
I think part of the reason this doesn't exist in the exact form you're thinking is because it's not really viable in the exact form you're thinking of.
posted by dubitable at 12:57 PM on November 16, 2010
I think part of the reason this doesn't exist in the exact form you're thinking is because it's not really viable in the exact form you're thinking of.
posted by dubitable at 12:57 PM on November 16, 2010
While writing something longer, I found MP3 Store Guide.com, which looks to be US-centric, and provides a simplified (or out-dated) view of music stores. It covers majors, indies, and subscription services. There aren't any suggestion features, but you can (sort of) search sites through this one site, though the results are kind of a mess at the moment. It's a start, I guess.
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Differences between Kayak.com and what you want: airline prices fluctuate from day to day, and from carrier to carrier. Digital download prices are pretty fixed, except for occasional sales and deals on albums. Then there's bitrate, if you care about that sort of thing.
If a site were to actively query sites to see if an album was on sale, or if the track you wanted was the free track of the day, that would be more Kayak-like, but generally speaking, pricing breaks down like this (guessing that you're in the US):
eMusic is the cheapest, but it's a subscription service with monthly allotments that don't roll over. Their pricing scheme will change soon, as displayed below:
And if you're OK with Apple's AAC format, tracks cost from $0.69 to $1.29, though I think the majority are on the upper end ($0.99 or $1.29).
Those are the big three, but if you want to browse other places, Wikipedia has a list of online music stores. No price comparison, probably due to prices varying per region.
If you buy some music every month, eMusic will probably be your cheapest option. But if you buy music more sporadically, Amazon is probably your best bet. Also of note: if you subscribe to eMusic or buy music from Amazon, they'll give you suggestions for more music. It may not be spot-on, but it's something.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:18 PM on November 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
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Differences between Kayak.com and what you want: airline prices fluctuate from day to day, and from carrier to carrier. Digital download prices are pretty fixed, except for occasional sales and deals on albums. Then there's bitrate, if you care about that sort of thing.
If a site were to actively query sites to see if an album was on sale, or if the track you wanted was the free track of the day, that would be more Kayak-like, but generally speaking, pricing breaks down like this (guessing that you're in the US):
eMusic is the cheapest, but it's a subscription service with monthly allotments that don't roll over. Their pricing scheme will change soon, as displayed below:
The majority of albums on eMusic will be priced from $5.19 – $8.99. Single track pricing for members will vary as follows:Amazon's pricing is also kind of wacky. Generally pricing tracks at $0.89 per track, some go up to $1.99 per track (yes, you can get American Pie by Don McLean 10 different ways, for three different prices). Some popular songs are $1.29 per track, but not all current top hits.
○ $0.49 for most tracks currently in our catalog
○ $0.69 – $0.79 for more popular content
○ $0.89 for tracks that generally sell for $1.29 at iTunes
Source: Reuters
And if you're OK with Apple's AAC format, tracks cost from $0.69 to $1.29, though I think the majority are on the upper end ($0.99 or $1.29).
Those are the big three, but if you want to browse other places, Wikipedia has a list of online music stores. No price comparison, probably due to prices varying per region.
If you buy some music every month, eMusic will probably be your cheapest option. But if you buy music more sporadically, Amazon is probably your best bet. Also of note: if you subscribe to eMusic or buy music from Amazon, they'll give you suggestions for more music. It may not be spot-on, but it's something.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:18 PM on November 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Filthy light thief - Love your suggestion of being able to search for a band through the plethora of free daily downloads. If this were an option, people would flock to it. Is it doable?
Last Fm doesn't have the eclectic international indie artists I have sourced on Amie Street. It trends toward artists with a broader audience. And it refers buyers to the big three. Wonderful resource, but still limited.
In my opinion, emusic's catalogue doesn't warrant a monthly service fee.
Music lovers, heads up! There was a great music resource/download site some few years back called Epitonic and I just found out it is reformatting and relaunching sometime before the end of the year. Watch out for it.
posted by zagyzebra at 1:55 PM on November 16, 2010
Last Fm doesn't have the eclectic international indie artists I have sourced on Amie Street. It trends toward artists with a broader audience. And it refers buyers to the big three. Wonderful resource, but still limited.
In my opinion, emusic's catalogue doesn't warrant a monthly service fee.
Music lovers, heads up! There was a great music resource/download site some few years back called Epitonic and I just found out it is reformatting and relaunching sometime before the end of the year. Watch out for it.
posted by zagyzebra at 1:55 PM on November 16, 2010
Do you subscribe to the various free MP3 blogs, like RCRD LBL and Winnie Cooper? They are a nice combo of "discovery" and "free".
Also, there is an RSS feed for the free offerings from iTunes and a twitter account about Amazon's MP3s (amazonmp3).
posted by soelo at 2:24 PM on November 16, 2010
Also, there is an RSS feed for the free offerings from iTunes and a twitter account about Amazon's MP3s (amazonmp3).
posted by soelo at 2:24 PM on November 16, 2010
Best answer: zagyzebra - AmieStreet was consumed by Amazon - bought out as "traffic acquisition," not as a way to keep AmieStreet functioning as it was. And as an audiophile, I found a number of my purchases from that site were transcoded to higher bitrates. They looked better by the numbers (ooh, higher bitrate!) but the information was already lost. I miss them a bit, but my use of the site was soured after finding my purchases were not what they claimed to be.
Here's some more info (and links to info) about Epitonic. They have some beta site up, but I'm not sure if anyone can sign up. And they're tied to Audiotube (described elsewhere as "basically YouTube for music videos"). Also also: here's Epitonic's kickstarter project, now completed but with more hype (but not much info) on their imminent rebirth. Sounds like it's good for finding new music, but maybe not so much about being a Kayak.com for music purchases.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:29 PM on November 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Here's some more info (and links to info) about Epitonic. They have some beta site up, but I'm not sure if anyone can sign up. And they're tied to Audiotube (described elsewhere as "basically YouTube for music videos"). Also also: here's Epitonic's kickstarter project, now completed but with more hype (but not much info) on their imminent rebirth. Sounds like it's good for finding new music, but maybe not so much about being a Kayak.com for music purchases.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:29 PM on November 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Tag-along comment: RCRD LBL is a "professional" site, started by a record label and someone already involved with web companies. Not knocking the site, but it's not as diverse as other music blogs. Some music blogs have largely gone legit, getting promos for distribution sent to them by artists and labels. FYI.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:37 PM on November 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by filthy light thief at 2:37 PM on November 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Just found: Vye Music combines YouTube and Last.FM to help you find new music. At least that's what it's supposed to do. The front page seems to be some pretty well known stuff, and I'm guessing once you start listening to something you like, it goes from there.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:50 AM on November 19, 2010
posted by filthy light thief at 7:50 AM on November 19, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kataclysm at 12:19 PM on November 16, 2010