eMusic CEO David Pakman on the business of music retailing.

By Michael Turro
Published on May 8th, 2007
2 Comments

eMusic :: it kicks ass. Maybe not so much for you major label top 40 types out there, but for those of us who live and breathe mainly for new, innovative, independent artists and labels it is the greatest thing to ever happen to the business of buying and selling music. Which is why I am linking to this post on the “unofficial” eMusic blog 17dots by CEO David Pakman. In it he sets forth eMusic’s philosophy on selling music in the “brave new world” and how they are doing their part to keep music healthy. Bottom line: listen to customers not corporations:

eMusic makes a splendid bargain with our customers: get a better deal on music from us than what you get at iTunes, and we’ll work really hard at helping you discover great music. But in return, you spend more money on music than you normally would. And that’s good for everyone: artists, labels and customers. And here’s the bottom line: the average customer only spends about $12 per year on iTunes; by contrast, the average eMusic customer spends about $168 per year with us. Imagine how different our industry would look if more retailers could serve their customers so fully.

Imagine.


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    Here's a response I posted over at eMusic - -Over here at Pampelmoose.com I have spent the last year documenting the decline of the music biz and it’s been quite the fascinating spectacle. Of most interest has been how everyone points fingers at the music industry as if it could somehow have influenced the outcome. I would posit that it never had a chance. Even taking into account the serious missteps the industry took over Napster we can now see that the writing was on the wall a long time ago.
    As you all know Web 2.0 has recently morphed towards radical transparency as a concept, under this rule companies are encouraged to lay bare their process for all to see and it starts with their web sites. I suspect the record industry will never embrace such openess as there’s nothing in it for them and that attitude will once again be their loss. The music industry is wracked with issues and it is finally dying - Warners announced yesterday that they will ‘restructure’ and lay off 400 workers. What does restructure mean exactly? Deconstruction would be a better term and a welcome process. Meanwhile even companies like eMusic need to understand that “feels free” is the best way to get music to customers. Perhaps the buffet-style all you can eat menu is why eMusic is pulling in more sales on average than iTunes?
    Dave Allen, Pampelmoose.

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[in plain sight]

a collection of digital artifacts and random observations culled from the life and mind of Michael Turro [mturro]