A stranger once stopped me on a street in London to comment on my Other Music T-shirt, saying something like, "That's the best record shop in the world" -- pretty impressive for a little store in Manhattan, even one that has become a local institution of sorts.
That guy will soon be able to shop there himself, all the way from England, after Other Music takes its handpicked approach to music sales online with the launch of its own digital music store. Located at digital.othermusic.com, the site will stock high-quality MP3s from Pitchfork-friendly bands, without using digital rights management of any kind. Hallelujah.
I interviewed Other Music co-owner Josh Madell to see what music fans can expect from the store after it goes up in late February. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
Wired News: Other Music has been a strong presence in New York's East Village for years, but the thing that always amazed me was that you guys set up shop right across the street from a massive Tower Records store. Talk about cojones. Were you guys happy when you found out Tower was shutting down? Did Other Music "win"?
Josh Madell: Funny, a friend of mine said that to me last night, how it gave him hope for the little guy with our triumph over Tower. Sadly, I think Tower's passing is more accurately a sign of how tough record retailing has become. It was always a difficult business, but all stores are suffering these days, and while Tower had definitely fallen off in quality over the past several years, they were once a really good store, a good chain overall, and I don't take any hope from their going bankrupt. There will be a lot more closings to follow, I'm certain.
WN: Why is Other Music launching a digital music store next month?
Madell: We are trying to stay current, and to continue our "mission" of spreading great music. I personally prefer vinyl to CDs and CDs to MP3s, but in the end I'm just glad people are listening to music, and the convenience factor of MP3s is undeniable. Our weekly e-mail update, where we review the week's interesting new releases, has been one of the most popular aspects of the store. Our new site will be an extension of that, with recommendations and reviews of great music and a simple click-to-buy option.
WN: I read an article from late last year that included a quote from you about the notorious "Pitchfork effect," in which albums recommended by that site start flying off the shelves. Have you noticed a "MySpace effect," or is that something you'll be going after with Other Music's digital music store?
Madell: Sure, it's undeniable that these days the influence of traditional print magazines has been overshadowed by websites and blogs; they're quick and convenient, and have their ears a bit closer to the ground than traditional media. As for MySpace and the like, I guess I feel like the biggest drawback of these types of social-networking sites is that there is just too much information. If you don't have the time or energy to listen to every band in existence, but you love interesting new music, a place like Other Music can be great, because our staff is paid to sort through all the crap. We can feature the best stuff out there, and hopefully present a convenient, well-maintained site where you can listen, learn and buy.
WN: Shopping at Other Music, I've often had the sense that you guys only stock music that you rate as at least somewhat decent. Is the digital version of Other Music going to have the same handpicked sort of feel? And are you going to keep using your home-grown genre categories (In, Out, Electronica, La Decadanse, Krautrock, Groove, Psychedelia and Then)?
Madell: Some of the genre names will change a little, but we have changed them several times over the years. The basic strategy will be the same as at the shop. We sort through everything and present a wide array of the best stuff that we can find, from oddball reissues to great new music across a variety of genres.
The nice thing about selling digitally is that the space limitations are much less restrictive than at the physical store, where we constantly have to delete items for space reasons, and also you are never out of stock of an MP3. The thing about iTunes, which is by far the most successful digital store so far, is that despite the cool factor they have been able to hold onto, they are really closer to Best Buy than Other Music in terms of the shopping experience. That's great for some people, but we feel there is a real need for great indie download shops with a curated selection.
WN: How are labels and distributors reacting to Other Music's plans to sell music online in the unprotected MP3 format?
Madell: This business is growing faster than it can be controlled, and there are a lot of complicated legal issues, copy protection being just one of them, and without a doubt everyone has their own ideas about how things should be done. But overall, the response from labels has been overwhelmingly good. We are very lucky to have a 10-plus-year relationship selling a lot of music for these labels and artists, and everyone is really excited to help us get this new business going.
WN: Do you get the sense that bands and labels are frustrated by the online dominance of the iTunes Store?
Madell: I'd guess they are very happy for the revenue stream, and also troubled that iTunes can pretty much set the ground rules for how digital music is sold. A lot of this business has grown around the iTunes model, and in the end that may not be the best for artists and labels.
Apple makes their real money selling iPods, not music; the music is almost a loss leader to get folks to buy the players, and that can't be ideal for artists' concerns. But nobody wants to bite the hand that feeds. EMusic is complicated too. They are perhaps the biggest force distributing indie music online, but with their subscription model, the labels are paid a fraction of what they make for a sale on iTunes or at a shop like ours.
WN: Other Music is known for booking some pretty great bands for in-store performances. Is that going to be an aspect of digital.othermusic.com?
Madell: We hope to have video, live streams, a cool radio player, guest curators, interviews. We definitely intend to make the most of who we are and our history, but we are in the initial stages. Right now, I just want to sell an MP3.
WN: How does Other Music plan to price the MP3s? And how will the revenue from digital sales be split among the store, labels and bands?
Madell: We will be selling high-quality files without DRM copy protection (our music is encoded at 320 Kbps rather than 192, the iTunes model, so the sound will be much better). All our pricing is not set yet, but we will definitely have to be a little more expensive than iTunes -- probably $10.99 per album rather than $9.99. I hope we can more than make up for the price with our selection, service, knowledge, features and, of course, the quality files. As for the label deals, this business works on percentages; you split revenue with the label for sales, and typically labels make 65 to 70 percent of the retail price.
(Editor's Note: ITunes sells music in the 128 Kbps AAC format; Other Music will sell it in 320 Kbps MP3.)
WN: Do you get the sense that you'll start dealing more with bands directly, or are labels still going to be important?
Madell: (It'll work) all different ways. We will deal with whoever controls the copyright on a recording -- band, label or distributor. Most bigger bands work with labels on some level, so that's who we would deal with, or their distributor, but it varies.
WN: How many songs or albums will be available on the Other Music store at launch? How about in a year or so?
Madell: Maybe just a few thousand albums at launch, but it's hard to say. Everything takes longer than it should, starting a new business. We have many contracts finished, and now we're ingesting the music onto the site. Check back in a year. Already, as word starts to leak out that we are launching this, we are being swamped by interested labels. E-mail us at [email protected] if you are interested in coming onboard.
WN: Do you think CDs and MP3s can co-exist peacefully, sort of like the way vinyl and CDs live in harmony at your store?
Madell: Hard to say. CDs in some ways seem outdated next to MP3s. But as hard drives and players become more powerful and smaller, and internet connections improve, I could imagine CDs becoming of less interest. I think the time is not too far off where some releases come out on vinyl and MP3 only -- no CD. But who knows.
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- Eliot Van Buskirk has covered digital music since 1998, after seeing the world's first MP3 player sitting on a colleague's desk. He plays bass and rides a bicycle.*
