eMusic: Getting What They Wanted, Losing What They Had

eMusic, a subscription download service to which I subscribe, used to be known as a paradise for independent music.

Then last year they started hooking up with major companies. The price went up -- strictly coincidence, they assured the world -- but it was still a good deal.

Now they're adding another major, Universal, supposedly next week. And they're screwing with the price structure. No more credits. Now it's all dollars and cents.

But, the service just announced they're losing lots of independent labels: Matador, Merge and others. "This is as heartbreaking to us as it is to you," says a note on the eMusic Web forum. "Please know we have done everything we could to keep them from leaving."

Hopefully Norton, Bloodshot, Voodoo Rhythm and other favorites won't join the exodus.

I'll stick around to see whether eMusic remains a good deal. But, as Benjamin J. Grimm used to say, "What a revoltin' development."

UPDATE: Pitchfork has a story about this with label responses. Both Merge and Beggar's Group blame the new deals with the majors. Says Merge, "Unfortunately, eMusic’s unilateral changes in effort to bring on the major labels has created a situation where it would be harmful to the interests of Merge and our artists to continue our partnership at this time."

ALL YOU NEED IS HYPE

We hold patents on a few gadgets we confiscated from the visitors. Velcro, microwave ovens, liposuction. This is a fascinating little gadget. It'll replace CDs soon. Guess I'll have to buy the `White Album' again.


Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K in Men in Black, 1997

Yes, I liked The Beatles. Yes, they changed my life and made me want to start a band when I was in 5th grade and saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show. Yes, I cried openly when John Lennon was murdered in 1980.

And yes, I re-purchased several of their albums when they came out on CD -- mostly from the used bin -- though I truly believe almost everything you need can be found on Beatles For Sale (which I first knew as Beatles '65), Revolver and the Past Masters compilations.

So forgive me if I'm cynical about all the hoopla about the "unforgettable news" that Apple Corps finally reached accord with Apple iTunes and The Beatles catalog is available on iTunes.

Honestly, I was more excited when I stumbled across the MP3 of "Frankenstein Meets the Beatles" a few weeks ago. What did The Clash say about "phony Beatlemania"?

If nothing else you have to give credit ot  EMI or the surviving Beatles and their heirs or whoever for their amazing talent in creating publicity and fresh waves of nostalgia for the simple act of accepting technology that most of us accepted years ago.

They did the same thing 20 years ago when they finally agreed to allow The Beatles music to be sold on CD. The secret is simple: Just drag your feet for a few years and you've got the makings of a prefab Fab Four frenzy. It's an old trick, but when you're selling The Beatles, apparently it always works.

But let's get real. Those of you who own Beatles CDs, haven't you already ripped those albums, or at least your favorite songs from those albums, onto your computer? No matter what the RIAA says, you can do that and put 'em on your iPods too.

So no, Agent K, you don't have to buy 'The White Album' again.

Let's let the witty Beatle put this all in perspective:

SOME MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT TO START THE WEEK

This music can't help but make you feel good.

Enjoy some "Spike Driver Blues."

That's Pete Seeger introducing him. Not sure who the woman is. I wonder if Mississippi John ever answered her question at the end: "Why'd he have a big hammer?"

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, November 14, 2010
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Land of the Freak by King Khan & The Shrines
Catastrophe by Mark Sultan
Lovers Moon by The Tandoori Knights
Let Me Bang Your Box by The Toppers
By My Side by The Elois
Beer Time by The Ruiners
Zip My Lip by Pierced Arrows
Graveyard by Dead Moon
Two Bottles of Wine by Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band
I Must Be Dreamin' by The Coasters

Back Off by The Diplomats of Solid Sound
Lovey Dovey by Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
There But For the Grace of God Go I by The Gories
A Natural Man by The Dirtbombs
Muck Muck by Yochanan
Daddy You Lied To Me by The Del Moroccos
Rockin' Man by Richard Berry
Pink Champagne by Don & Dewy
Nervous by Willie Dixon & Memphis Slim

Martin Eden by The Twilight Singers
Sin Eater by Legendary Shack Shakers
Le Mistrail by The Fleshtones
Amazons & Coyotes by Simon Stokes
Take Up The Slack Daddy-O by The A-Bones
Hot Rodding in San Jose by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy
Jungle Fever by Grand Prees
Fattening Frogs For Snakes by Sonny Boy Williamson & The Animals
Pachuco Boogie by Orquesta Don Ramon

Pappa Legba by Pops Staples with The Talking Heads
I Walk on Gilded Splinters by Dr. John
Hoochie Koochie Man by Muddy Waters & The Electrik Mud Kats
Hoodoo Man by Junior Wells
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, November 12, 2010
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Wild, Wild Friday Night by Hasil Adkins
Chuckie Cheese Hell by Tim Wilson
Voodoo Bar-B-Q by Big John Bates
Get a Little Goner by Marti Brom
Baby He's A Wolf by Werly Fairburn
Kitty Car Scratch by Suzette Lawrence & The Neon Angels
Spitfire by Bill Logsdon & The Royal Notes
The Gravy Shake by The Defibulators
Lost to a Geisha Girl by Skeeter Davis
You Always Keep Me in Hot Water by Carolina Cotton with Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys

East Texas Red by James Talley
Hesitation Blues by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Hey Bub by Halden Wofford & The Hi Beams
Magpie Song by Delaney Davidson
Havin' a Ball by Kim Lenz & Her Jaguars
Untamed Love by Hipbone Slim & The Knee-Tremblers
Fort Wayne Zoo by The Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band
Are You Ready for the Country by Southern Culture on the Skids

Kansas City Star by Roger Miller
Talking Bear Mountain Massacre Blues by Bob Dylan
The Fourth Night of My Drinking by Drive-By Truckers
A Man I Hardly Know by Eilen Jewell
High on a Mountain Top by Loretta Lynn
Thirty Days in the Workhouse by Peter Case
You're Going to Love Yourself in the Morning by Brenda Lee & Willie Nelson
Black Wings by Ray Wylie Hubbard

The Big Battle by Johnny Cash
Walking to the End of the World by Amy Allison
A Girl In The Night by Ray Price
The New Bye and Bye by Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez
American Boy by Eleni Mandell
I Belong to the Band by Mavis Staples
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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