[Sadly, this post is a couple of days late -- Ed.]
Scenario: you hear a song you like on the radio [TV, movie, etc.] from an artist you're not sure about, so you purchase the single track ["single"] from the iTunes Music Store. Maybe later you hear the next "single" from that album and decide to purchase that track as well. Soon, you read on a blog [hear from a friend, etc.] that the whole album is pretty decent, and you decide you'd like to give it a try. You go back to the iTMS, click on "Buy Album", and iTunes pops up a message telling you that you've already purchased one or more singles from the album, and that if you continue with the purchase, you will be charged for those tracks again, and those tracks will be downloaded again. I have been frustrated more than once by this odd behavior from a music store whose raison d'etre is to allow the music consumer to purchase music a la carte.
Well, last Thursday [29 March], the iTunes Music Store rolled out what may be the coolest feature they have ever added. "Complete My Album" ["CMA"] eliminates the problem noted above and allows the consumer to, well, "complete my album" by purchasing only the remaining un-bought tracks. Even cooler, there is no price premium for doing this -- the cost to complete the album is the cost of the album less the cost of the individual tracks already purchased.
Don't worry about this as a privacy issue -- the iTMS must keep track of your purchases [you did know that the iTMS keeps track of all of the music, TV shows, etc., purchased using your user account, didn't you??? -- Ed.] to enable portability of the iTMS library across multiple "authorized" computers. It's a very cool feature that I can assure has saved me frustration and made me a happier iTMS customer in only a couple of days.
CMA is pretty cool, but it's still pretty new, and there seem to be some bugs still to be worked out. One very odd bug involves "pre-ordered" albums. Many "albums" on the iTMS are available for "pre-order", ordering before the official release date of the album. Typically, Apple insists that "pre-order" albums include the immediate availability of the first "single", as well as bonus material, such as extra non-album singles, music videos, etc. -- some of which even disappear from the album when it is officially released. When the customer "pre-orders" the album, the customer is charged for the "single" at the time of purchase [and the single is downloaded immediately]. When the album is officially available, the iTMS sends an email to the customer with a link to download the "rest" of the album, which is charged at the time of download.
I have pre-ordered several albums, because I know I want to buy the album, and I appreciate the bonus materials. And, of course, I have later downloaded the "rest" of those albums. But oddly, CMA still offers me the chance to "complete my album" by purchasing the non-pre-order components.
Other weird behavior I have seen is that CMA duplicates some of my CMA-eligible album choices. Some of my albums appear in my CMA 2 or 3 separate times -- each time indicating the same previously-purchased track.
One last thing that bothers me a bit but is a "feature" and not a "bug" is a time limitation on CMA. Consumers can CMA for up to 180 days after purchasing the first "single", although for 90 days from launch CMA is retroactive for everything the consumer has already bought from the iTMS [got that??? -- Ed.] Ostensibly, the purpose of CMA is to goose sales of full albums on the ITMS, as CD sales in the physical world continue to dive, and consumers have shown some reluctance to purchase albums on the iTMS after paying for a single or two. If this is the case, I don't see how limiting the window to 6 months will capture every last album sale [and I don't see the downside of making it a "permanent" "option"]. But that probably is plenty of time for most people, who will probably know long before that whether they want to shell out for the rest of the album.
So, kudos to Apple and the record companies for making it easier for us to spend a little more money on music we have "discovered".
Apple iTunes offers "Complete My Album" [AP, via seattlepi.com]
iTunes Store Trying To Make Nice With Record Labels [Idolator]
Saturday, March 31, 2007
This Week In The iTunes Music Store [31 March 2007 Edition]
Saturday, March 3, 2007
This Week In The iTunes Music Store [3 March 2007 Edition]
There are a few interesting doings at the iTMS this week. After the jump, we'll talk about new music from Tila Tequila, the Dixie Chicks, and some new Nirvana-inspired playlists.
* Have y'all heard of this Tila Tequila person?
In case you haven't heard of her, Tila Tequila is a "model"-"turned"-"musician" who up-til-now [at least] has been famous more for her racy photos than her music. Tila also is pretty-much the undisputed "most popular" resident of MySpace, with [as of this writing] *1,703,260* "friends".
When she wasn't "practicing celibacy" by "sleeping with" her "sex toy" Jared Leto [insert your own "30 Seconds To Mars" jokes here, please -- Ed.], she was threatening to release a record that would take the world by storm. Unfortunately, she had some trouble getting a record deal -- and I have no idea why, of course -- so there has been a considerable delay.
But on Tuesday, Tila's song finally hit the iTMS. Tila hopes to become the first unsigned artist ever to make it to [presumably] the Billboard Top 20. As Idolator notes, if she quickly can get even 10% of her MySpace "friends" to pony-up $0.99 for the track -- which smartly comes bundled with a free video for the song -- she should make it with plenty of room to spare.
After 24 hours in the store, Tila did crack the iTMS top 100. And as you can see in the graphic above, the iTMS is still pimping her in the masthead. But even though "I Love U" has finally made it past the not-exactly-current "White & Nerdy", she's still languishing at #73, behind such au courant hits as the year-old "Hips Don't Lie" [#71] and "Chasing Cars" [#51] [we're giving Tila a pass on being a full *65 spots* behind "Not Ready To Make Nice"...that whole history-making five-Grammys-in-one-nite thing a few weeks ago, ya know -- Ed.].
So, what do you think? Does Tila Tequila have "the goods" to make it into the Billboard Top 20? Or -- to lower the bar a bit -- the iTMS Top 20?
Do you care?
* And speaking of the Dixie Chicks...
Next to Tila on the masthead is an ad for an "exclusive" Dixie Chicks track, "The Neighbor". Although the track is "new" to the store this week, it was actually written and recorded for the Shut Up & Sing documentary last year.
Striking while the iron is hot is a smart move on the Chicks' part. There's still no word on whether the Chicks plan to break up as previously rumored, but their website still lists only 2006 tour dates -- i.e., no upcoming shows.
Are the Chicks reconsidering in light of their astounding Grammy sweep? Are they waiting to make a decision -- or an announcement -- until after the April 16th CMT [that's "Country Music Television", BTW] Music Awards, where "Not Ready To Make Nice" is a nominee in the categories of Video Of The Year and Group Video Of The Year? The CMT Music Awards are awarded based on fan votes at the CMT website. How the Chicks fare at these awards should give them some idea how "country music fans" feel about them now.
Stay tuned. But in the meantime, pick up "The Neighbor". It's a solid track.
* And finally, "He's the one who likes all our pretty songs..."
I missed this last week, but in a blatant attempt to cash in on on the occasion of the 40th birthday of Kurt Cobain's dead body, the iTMS put together some Nirvana-esque playlists called "Influences", "Contemporaries", and "The Nirvana Legacy".
And apparently, I'm writing copy for the iTMS and didn't even know it!
Here's a description of Everclear's "Santa Monica" from the "Contemporaries" collection:
" "Santa Monica" (Track 2): In many ways the pretty-boy answer to Nirvana was Everclear. What you may find on closer scrutiny is that Art Alexakis was fighting many of the same demons as Mr. Cobain, he just used more bleach. "
"More bleach" -- very clever.
