an epitaph for epitaph

13Sep07

It is with regret that I write today to inform our loyal customers that the much-admired Epitaph record label — including the Anti and Hellcat labels — has chosen to no longer sell their catalogue on eMusic in the U.S. It sucks for all of us who have been great fans of Epitaph’s amazing artist roster, including Rancid, Bad Religion, Tom Waits, Neko Case, the Frames, Dropkick Murphys, and countless other key punk and alt-rock staples. For more than 20 years, Brett Gurewitz has built a fantastic, artist-friendly home.

As many of you know, Epitaph has been a notable supporter of eMusic for many years, back to when eMusic was just beginning. Unfortunately for all of us, they have decided that we can only continue to sell their music to you if they receive the same amount per track that they receive from iTunes. This would require us to charge you 99 cents (or more) a song in order to pay for things like our editors and curators, bandwidth and the other costs necessary to run our business. Obviously, charging you a dollar a song is not something we’re comfortable doing.

At a time when the music industry is in such steep decline, our research and experience shows us that consumers are still willing to buy music, provided the value is right. And 99 cents a song is not an acceptable price point for all consumers. That’s one reason why eMusic exists and has been so successful; those consumers who are willing to spend more on music (provided the price is right) do so with us. You spend more than 14 times as much as the average iTunes customer at a time when per capita spending on all music and audio is under $24. You buy twenty times more music than the average iTunes customer.

We know that consumers seeking good value don’t have to buy CDs for $16 or buy downloads for $1 each. They simply go to Amazon and eBay and buy used Epitaph CDs for $3 each. When consumers buy used CDs, as you know, the artist and label don’t get paid at all. Some analysts have estimated that as much as 30% of Amazon’s music business comes from selling used CDs. With facts like these, it’s hard to argue that we, as an industry, can control the price of music. You, the consumers, make that decision and you are telling us what we need to know — you’ll buy more if you can pay less.

On the digital side, those of us trying to build successful retail business have to compete not just with the incredibly successful used CD market, but with the free pirate market as well, where every one of the 2.8 million tracks we carry are a click away from being downloaded for free as DRM-free MP3s any day of the week. Artists and labels don’t make any money on those, either. And the piracy “market” dwarfs the legit market by more than twenty to one in downloads, every day.

So, we are terribly sad to see Epitaph go, not just for our customers, but for their artists as well, who will no longer have a chance to sell their music to our more than 300,000 loyal customers, many of whom represent some of the most prolific music consumers left in America and Europe. With the industry’s declines continuing, we think any retailer showing signs of success should probably be a place where all artists want their music sold.

We will miss Epitaph and their ground-breaking artists. And so will our customers. We would welcome them back any time, and are hopeful they will have a change of heart. In the meantime, if you want them to know your thoughts, feel free to contact them here. We’re always happy to read your thoughts as well, so feel free to post them below. And if you’re in a letter-writing mood, be sure to let your favorite labels among the 20,000 we carry know that you like buying their music on eMusic.

Thank you for your continued support,

David Pakman
President & CEO, eMusic

david.

Filed under: business, eMusic |

45 Responses to “an epitaph for epitaph”

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1 m13b on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

This is a real shame. I never would have thought Mr. Brett would be so close minded about something like this.

I hope it doesn’t indicate major financial trouble over there. Would hate to see BR have to go to a major again, or worse, break up.

Either way, thanks for holding your ground and not swaying on the terms of service.

Your annual subscriber,
John
2 Thomas Bohmbach, Jr. on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

My letter to Epitaph:
—

Although I understand your desire to make more money, your ill-advised move to leave eMusic (or any music retailer, for that matter) makes me sad. You’ve always seemed to be one of the more enlightened labels.

As others have discussed, I will not not be buying your music off of iTunes (due not only to the price, but also the DRM/watermarking of files). Instead, I will start purchasing music by your artists on used CDs which, unfortunately, benefits neither the label nor the artists. But, I also believe that bad business decisions should not be rewarded.

I sincerely hope the label’s downfall will come swiftly and painlessly and that your artists will then be free to sell their wares in any location that their fans are willing to spend their money.

Thanks For Your Time,
-Thomas
3 eieio on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

When is there last days with us?
They are still on emusic… will they be there tomorrow?
4 Russell on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

One wonders when the music industry will realize what the market is trying to tell them. Anywhere else, if I agree to buy in bulk I get a discount. I can buy economy sized groceries, wholesale lots of blank cd’s, and many other things cheaper than I could buy them one at a time.

That is what eMusic is for me. I agree to buy a lot of tracks each month, and in return I get a discount over people that buy one or two tracks on iTunes or other services. It’s one of the best deals in music, and I often find myself buying the music I really like again on CD, for the liner notes and other things. But I can discover things here I would never seek out otherwise.

Neko Case and The Frames are two of the artists I would never have discovered with eMusic. It’s not like I get to hear them on the radio to see if I would like them.
5 puppymeat on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

To request that eMusic charge 99 cents per song for many punk rock albums is ridiculous. At that rate, Bad Religion’s How Could Hell Be Any Worse? costs $27.72. Gee, thanks, Epitaph!

I will particularly miss Anti- and Fat Possum being here, but I know I can find them elsewhere. Too bad.
6 Captain Wrong on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

This may not be Mr. Brett. The report I read said Epitaph was changing distributors to ADA. The blurb in Billboard I saw connected that to this.

Not that I really know. Just a theory. Sucks.

And yeah, I’ll be buying my Epitaph stuff used for $3 on Amazon from now on.
7 liam665 on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

Here’s my letter to epitaph:

I have bought a grand total of three tracks on iTunes and have no intention of buying anymore. Nor do I buy new CDs anymore–if I can’t find it used, I don’t buy it. However, I have bought literally hundreds of tracks from the Frames, Dropkick Murphys, and other Epitaph artists through Emusic.

Your decision to pull your music from Emusic is foolish and short-sighted. I will not go tracking down Neko Case at iTunes even though I like her stuff–which I discovered through Emusic. The point is: I have more music than I can listen to already, so I can be very choosy about purchasing more. I hope for your artists’ sake that there are few music fans like me, but I suspect there are a lot of us.

As for breaking new artists on your roster, Emusic allowed me to sample people I had never heard of or had heard good things about. I’m not going to spend $0.99/track for someone I’ve never heard of, but I’d happily burn a couple of downloads on them at Emusic. Those often lead to more downloads and then concert attendance. That’s money that you are throwing away and will not make up elsewhere.

I hope you will reconsider your decision and continue to sell through Emusic.
8 Shawn on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

Well maybe it’s just me but with digital distribution there is no added cost to a label to distribute a single cd to a million people let alone to one person. Once the music is ripped to a digital format and can be downloaded, all of the cost to produce a cd or an lp or any other physical form is completely cut out. In the days of old we were actually paying for a physical product that cost money to produce, not anymore, just ones and zeroes that reside on a server until downloaded. I think the fact that consumers aren’t receiving the equivalent of a physical cd anymore, including the artwork, liner notes, photos, etc that came along with cd’s and such means that since the product is less, so should the price be. This is something I never hear labels or distributors discuss. Not only that but sonically, an mp3 does not recreate the sound of a physical cd, the quality isn’t as good. I’m still crossing my fingers for the day when emusic sells me the artwork, etc. that should rightly come with all downloads. I’ve been a supporter of emusic since the beginning. It’s sad to see good labels leave, I’m sure they struggle with what’s a good price point. I agree with Pakman though. I definitely, 100% without a doubt buy 10X’s more music through emusic then I’ve ever purchased before. I spend a pretty penny on itunes also. For once I just wish the “industry” would consider the points I just discussed. Why should I pay $.99 a track for a lesser product? If I’m going to do that, I might as well stick to cd’s which completely defeats the purpose of plunking down all the money on my wonderful ipod. Emusic in my opinion is by far the best digital outlet around. I like it better then itunes. It sucks that so much stuff comes and goes so quickly. Geez, Neko Case gone? Better get it quick!
9 Kevin on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

That is sad news. I’m glad Joe Henry was released here before they went away. Funny thing was, I was probably going to buy that on CD (more preferably vinyl) as well as that download from eMusic. I would never have thought about buying a physical copy had I purchased it from iTunes.

Epitaph is making a huge mistake.
10 Mr B on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

Well it’s obviously a business move they feel that they have to make. Shame really as I think it the wrong one.

I’ve have my own records label (Pop Gun Records), been in bands and I DON’T EVEN BUY VINYL/CDs NOW! What’s the point when all I do is listen to it on my computer and iPod? And I’m not one of these young folk with all the disposable cash to spend too. Kids today seem to be only listening to music on mobile phones!

Wake up record labels!

It seems being in the UK that for once I can still get hold of their tracks for now. Personally, I am still sad Thrill Jockey left eMusic. I had about 10 albums in the save for later file and to be honest am in no hurry to go out and buy any of those records as I am finding more and more new music via eMusic which I am loving.

PS; any advise on actually getting my labels music onto your catalogue would be appreciated!
11 Chris on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

Of course we’re not privy to how many singles vs. albums that Apple sells on its iTunes Store, but puppymeat’s example above and Epitah’s argument are just plain misleading.

That Bad Religion album will be available on iTunes (I couldn’t get the exact figure as it’s playing up on me right now, gah) as yes, individual 79 pence, 99 euros, 99 cents and however many yen, but also as a complete album for (probably) £7.99, a lot less than 79 pence per track after all… Add the album completion offer too, and it’d be interesting to find out just how many 79p and 99c purchases are made.
12 Shawn on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

Audio Lunchbox has a bunch of Epitaph/Anti/Hellcat/Fat Possum stuff for now at least also. Prices are comparable to emusic. Wonder how long it will be there? Also some of Alias’ stuff that was here but is gone now is there too.
13 Nick on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

I’m getting more and more frustrated with my eMusic subscription. First, albums like Challengers get held from the site for an undetermined period of time, and now this. What is eMusic going to do to keep customers?
14 miamatio on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

>> I might as well stick to cd’s which completely defeats the purpose of plunking down all the money on my wonderful ipod

Why? You can’t rip the CDs into iTunes?
15 Jeff on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

Seems like a strange move and I’m sure Epitaph has clear reasoning. Yet for all the complaints about an industry in supposed free fall, there are a lot of a lot of hustlers making a lot of money. This is another strategic play. Unfortunately the fans get the shaft, again. Face it, music fans are treated like sheep, or in the eyes of the RIAA, something much worse.
16 MiDoJo on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

David, First please note that most, if not all, e-music subscribers will be very sad to see the wonderful catalog of Epitaph/Anti leave our wonderful world. I makes me sad to see that this label, which has been such a strong source of the independent spirit, would cower to the GREED of their new distribution (wasn’t he at the spearhead of the new independent distributors only a year ago?). Please if you and e-music can show him the outpour of anger and sadness that this has inspired in 17dots readership (AND THAT’S JUST US HARDCORE EMUSIC DENIZENS (maybe 10% of the actual population I’ll bet)

Maybe, also, bring it to the artists themselves (Tom Waites and many of the punk bands who must realize that many of us cannot and will not buy from itunes as they don’t pay the artists (at least as much as they pay the hardcopy publishers).

We are disgusted by Brett’s pull out and hope that there is still time for him to do the right thing and reverse his decision.
17 Daniel, Esq. on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

“I’m getting more and more frustrated with my eMusic subscription. First, albums like Challengers get held from the site for an undetermined period of time, and now this. What is eMusic going to do to keep customers?”

I’m sure eMusic is doing everything it can. iTunes is almost omnipotent; it can afford to take its customer base for granted (though it may not do so). EMusic, by contrast, relies on keeping its base of rabid music fans happy and hooked on eMusic’s content, recommendations, and club atmosphere. I’m sure eMusic is pained every time a quality label leaves the site. I think eMusic is “fighting the good fight,” so to speak, and deserves our support.

I am interested in knowing what alternatives eMusic has or is considering to keep or acquire new indie labels. I’ve heard many suggestions — some on this blog, some on other message boards — which deserve consideration.

I’m sort of breaking religious tradition to write this, but (a) I’m reformed, and (b) regrettably, other work calls, anyway. L’shanah tovah (”Happy New Year”) to my fellow Jewish eMusic subscribers/17Dots readers out there.
18 Mikey on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

It’s been said above, but I’ll just add my voice and say that I think Epitaph’s decision is short-sighted, and emusic’s decision to stand by their pricing is admirable.

I have bought thousands of downloads from emusic over the past few years, and literally hundreds of those have been experiments - music I was willing to give a shot because the price was right.

Hopefully the market will speak loud and clear, and we will welcome Epitaph back to our little (?) community.

–Mike
19 Gavin Scope on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

Though not a fan of Epitath label, it is sad to see this happening to a few of labels i do like. I spend less than i used to on music but download slightly more- i actually was spending way beyond my means, now i can listen to music without the guilt and potential neglect of my family’s needs!
If emusic was to give labels the option of charging more Eg: two download credits for one track, rather than have them leave, i would support it. You know sometimes i feel guilty they are so cheap. Except i agree that mP3’s should definately be cheaper due to the lower production cost, and in particular transport, which being in Australia is a MAJOR part of the cost of a cd. Really, it was getting so difficult to justify, i would pay $33- for an album with a knot in my stomach.
A couple of weeks ago, i dropped into the shop where i used to spend all my money, still spend some, and chatted to the owner about what has been out. I pointed to Caribou’s Andorra and asked if he’d listened yet- he said no time yet, it just came in and he went to reach for it for me to listen to. i said nah, already got it this morning, cost me $2.70. You can imagine his expression, shaking his head etc… a complicated and sad fact of this digital age. He has seen it coming and is making his way out. However, he stated that most of his sales are now coming from $10- discounted cd’s.

I am so resistant now to paying $30- for a cd, i either buy second hand or from other digital stores if i can’t get it on emusic. A new thing is that i download a torrent and then buy that album from itunes as i want to see the artist get something. $17- an album is almost reasonable. i reckon $13 Aud for an album would be fair.
Anyway, just some thoughts….
20 MiDoJo on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

“I have bought thousands of downloads from emusic over the past few years, and literally hundreds of those have been experiments - music I was willing to give a shot because the price was right.”

Mikey I am on the same page as you (and have been with Emusic since 2003 when it was unlimited downloads)
21 semtex on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

I’ve taken Epitaph’s presence on emusic for granted, not rushing to download stuff I’ll get eventually, so I am really very pleased that we found out before the albums disappeared this time. Epitaph’s just sold me ten albums today that I wasn’t likely to buy on CD (and forget itunes) because I’m not that obsessive about the artists, but at emusic’s prices, they were worth checking out. How many Bad Religion albums does one person need, anyway? But I just grabbed yet another one, and a Greg Graffin solo album, and that new Porter Wagoner album, Sage Francis, The Coup, Danger Doom, Nick Cave, Elliott Smith, and Marianne Faithfull — the kind of stuff I like but have enough of already that I don’t rush out to pay full CD prices for more. I’ll miss Epitaph but I won’t be following them to itunes.
22 NankerPhledge on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

Can we get any official confirmation or denial that the withdrawal includes Fat Possum titles?
23 Televiper on Sep 13th, 2007 said:

Personally, I think there will always be something worthwhile happening at Emusic. Weather top labels come back, or every single one of them leaves. We’re all about discovery here. It’s sad to see them go, but in all honesty I’m just directed to another section of my overflowing save for later list. I do still buy a lot of CDs and most of them directly from a small record store in town. They’ll be my ultimate music preference for a long time to come. I guess there’s a point where I’d run on only one subscription. I’m sorry to see Epitaph, Anti-, and Fat Possum go. I found some great stuff by them here. I’ll get to the bottom my save for later list one way or another.
24 bbanzai on Sep 14th, 2007 said:

Simply disappointing. Epitaph has and continues being a great label loaded with great artists. That is not what makes them unique though, what I feel has defined Epitaph, one of the best small labels, is the way it helps to connect these great artists and their great fans. The exact same thing that makes eMusic unique and great. This makes it hard to believe that such a perfect match, a great synergy won’t able to continue.

I am truly not here to criticize or point fingers only to say it as I see it. It just seems like someone has missed something here. Forgotten or lost something somewhere along the way. I know the music industry is a tough place and the realities can’t be ignored. Money matters, and the bottom line is called the bottom line for a reason, but I sincerely hope that those who are involved in these decisions can find a way to manage these these realities is ways that are better for the community of music makers and music lovers. It’s about the community, it’s about the music.
25 aphexbr on Sep 14th, 2007 said:

While I’m not a particular fan of Epitaph or the kind of music they carry, this is a great example of short-term greed trumping long-term strategy. This is something that is plaguing the music industry at the moment and I hope it stops, for the sake of labels and their artists.

As had been mentioned above, eMusic is not simply a retailer. It is a music discovery platform. I had never heard of Neko Case, for example, before becoming an eMusic subscriber. Reading about Case’s music on eMusic led me to listen to the samples. It wasn’t to my taste, but if the samples had appealed to me, I would have spent the downloads to get the album. That’s how eMusic works - people are less afraid to try out new music and so discover new artists, buy their albums, attend concerts and buy the t-shirts.

In fact, eMusic works so well on this front that since joining 18 months ago, I have bought 2 CDs (second hand) and 0 downloads from iTunes. Labels please take notice - I will not buy from iTunes. The DRM, watermarking, pricing, AAC format and propietary software means that I will not buy from them. You move your music from eMusic/iTunes shared to iTunes-only LOSES you money as I will no longer buy that music. You do NOT stand to profit from me via this move - your revenue from me changes from a relatively small amount to ZERO. I pity the artists on your roster who will suffer and lose many fans due to your shortsighted greed.
26 Charbarred on Sep 14th, 2007 said:

I’m not sure I understand…so Epitaph was trying to get eMusic to charge variable prices for songs and when they didn’t agree they left? So in the end of the day it sounds like Epitaph was trying to drive prices up and eMusic didn’t cave. I know it’s spun the other way around, but I somehow doubt that was the case.
27 object88 on Sep 14th, 2007 said:

I’m glad that I happened to check on 17dots last night, which gave me the chance to grab Sage Francis’ latest album before everything went away… which seems to be today. Anti records is a much bigger loss to me than Epitaph; there was some Tom Waits that I hadn’t heard yet. Luckily, it seems that Fat Possum is still around.

I noticed that Hydrahead records happened to appear and disappear really quickly a few weeks ago. I was lucky enough to have downloads at the time, and grabbed the Jesu album. I’m a huge fan of Godflesh, but never got around to checking out Jesu, because I don’t have the dollars to spend on new CDs. I wish that Hydrahead had decided to add more albums, instead of pulling out. Now, I will have to scour the used CD bins for Jesu when I have the spare dollars (hah!), because I still can’t afford new CDs.

I’d like to echo so many comments about eMusic being a truely awesome experiment platform. I’ve picked up a few clunkers, but I’ve become a fan of so many bands that I never would have heard 2 years ago, because dropping $13-16 USD on a recommendation is something that I’ve been burned by too many times. Because of eMusic, I got to hear and become a fan of Jesu, Art Brut, the Infadels, J.U.F., Opium Jukebox, the Dirtbombs… the list goes on.

There were artists on Epitaph that I was interested to check out some day, to maybe become a fan of. Epitaph’s leaving is a loss for me, the label, and the bands.
28 Randy FX on Sep 16th, 2007 said:

Hate to see all the Epitaph bashing. A record label is entitled to set prices for its music. Amazon and Ebay sell merchandise and let the sellers or manufacturers set the prices. Why should Emusic be different? The only explanation is that people disrespect copyright owners, and feel they are entitled to disregard the wishes of the record label.
29 Frosty Edge on Sep 16th, 2007 said:

Epitaph is definitley all about the almighty dollar, the people that run the day to day business are out of touch, and scrambling to make more money.
It’s routine every five years for them to jump ship to a new distributor.

Mr. Brett needs to wise up and get somone with a clue to run that place and make business decisions not based primarily on GREED.

Think about your fans who have supported the label for years.

Punks Dead…
30 Swen on Sep 16th, 2007 said:

I feel sorry for artists on Epitaph, since this will eliminate & piss off a huge portion of their fans trying to legally purchase their music at a fair price.

I love eMusic and have purchased many Epitaph related albums in the past year from the eMusic site. I simply will not purchase any new music from Epitaph related artists on iTunes based on this money grab. So goodbye Bad Religion, Pennywise, NOFX, Tom Waits, Grinderman, Death By Stereo, Rancid, Elliot Smith, and Bouncing Souls.
31 Compulsive on Sep 16th, 2007 said:

RandyFX, I want songwriters to make money. That’s why I download so much from eMusic. But Epitaph competed with a whole lotta labels at a great price on eMusic. What I would have bought on eMusic, I probably won’t buy from iTunes. I only buy CDs or iTunes for “sure things,” things I know I want and what I really have to pay top price for. For most music, I’m not going to plunk $20 at the register or a buck a tune. There’s more than enough small labels interested in selling (yes, selling, not giving away) their product to me at a better price.

So what would Epitaph prefer — a fraction of my $20, or none of it? That’s the dilemma it no doubt wrestles with. I guess it thinks it can do better with none of it, in the hopes it will make it back somewhere else.
32 Hamstring on Sep 17th, 2007 said:

A lot of artists and small labels are not happy with eMusic. they say it pays on a sliding scale and that iTunes actually pays the artist more.

I have no idea if this is completely true, but there should be a compromise in the middle with eMusic and some of the largie “indies”.

eMusic is the best retailer for fans, but if labels keep leaving it won’t be. I’ll cros my fingers.

The iTunes thing is bs, I can’t believe they would ask for the same model.
33 Kyle on Sep 18th, 2007 said:

After being a lifelong fan of many of Epitaph’s and it’s subsidiaries’ artists, I am sorry and dismayed to see the direction your corporation is moving by leaving eMusic. It is both unfortunate for you as a corporation and for the many fans of your label. It took great courage and innovation to be a part of eMusic. However, it seems just as foolhardy and financially irresponsible to leave such a burgeoning interface. It’s especially concerning that a corporation that has handled as prolific, innovative, and important artists as Tom Waits, Elliot Smith, and Joe Strummer would eventually succumb to the almighty dollar. It’s a sad day, but then again, with all of the tremendous talent that Epitaph has put forth, it has always shown it’s ability to sell out. Lest we forget the exploitation and torturous sounds of a band called The Offspring. Even as a sixth grader I knew better. Thus, Epitaph will again flounder in the midlevel doldrums. Not enough money to garner top level distribution of a major, and not enough courage to deliver truly inspiring and innovative new music to the masses. Way to alienate fans and strive for mediocrity. Congratulations Epitaph, welcome to the middle.
34 Howard on Sep 19th, 2007 said:

I realized this issue yesterday when I was looking for a record by Solomon Burke on eMusic and couldn’t find it. I had known that other records from the label had been available on eMusic in the past, so I was surprised that I couldn’t download it. Now I know why. I continued to look around online for a place where I could buy a DRM free digital copy of the album, no such luck. It is available on iTunes, but I refuse to buy copy protected songs. So I did what I usually do when I can’t legitimately purchase digital music, I stole the record by illegally downloading it. Very punk rock. Just like Epitaph is supposed to be.
35 Tyson on Sep 19th, 2007 said:

Here’s my letter to epitaph:

“I was very sad to hear today that you have removed your entire catalog
of great albums from eMusic. I have been a strong supporter of many of
the artists on your roster for more than 15 years and this leaves a
very sour taste in my mouth.

Due in large part to eMusic I have NOT ONCE illegally downloaded any
epitaph release…in fact I’ve actually re-purchased several Epitaph
releases thru eMusic that I had lost over the years; but I’ll be
damned if this short sighted move on your part doesn’t make me want to
go download the new Weakerthans album off P2P instead of paying for it
as I originally planned.

Do you really think that 99 cents per track with bullshit DRM is a
fair price for your customers??

I have/will never download a track from the iTunes Music Store until
they give their heads a shake and realize:

(1) their prices are too high and
(2) that selling me a track with DRM is unacceptable.

Last time I checked you still sell CDs don’t you??

Well let’s examine what a CD gets me…..

For about 99 cents per track (or less) I get:

> fancy printed artwork that costs you a fortune to manufacture

> a jewel case/shrinkwarp

> and oh ya…..DRM FREE MUSIC!! on a shiny disk that I can keep on my shelf as a backup until the day I die and rip onto my computer as many times as I feel like it!!

….and I’m not even counting the distribution/shelving/etc costs that
I’m saving you by purchasing the album online.

When production/distribution costs go down don’t you usually pass at
least some part of that savings onto the customer??

At any rate, all I’m trying to say is that I feel the price per song
on eMusic is fair for the consumer and last time I checked WE make the
rules by voting with our pocketbooks. I can only hope other eMusic
subscribers will feel as strongly as I do and convince you to come
back.”
36 whataslacker on Sep 19th, 2007 said:

I had a lot of songs/albums I was going to buy. Now gone from my saved for later list. Shame, as I refuse to buy an iPod or download from iTunes. emusic.com was my answer for corporate crap [isn't that what bands on epitaph rage against?] Sorry to see them go.
37 Elijah M on Sep 20th, 2007 said:

I think it’s disingenuous to imply that you can get a used CD of a recent release for $3, especially now, since fewer and fewer people are actually buying CDs in the first place. When you factor in shipping (which averages around–ahem–$3), they tend to cost the same, if not more, than buying the album on iTunes.

A few examples…

Grinderman:
Lowest used price: 8.99 2.98 shipping = $11.97 total

Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood:
Lowest used price: 9.21 2.98 shipping = $12.19 total

Joe Henry - Civilians:
Lowest used price: 12.99 2.98 shipping = $15.97 total

These are all based on Amazon used prices at the time I posted this comment. With some exceptions, older catalog releases tend to be cheaper, but not by much. This article contains some salient points, but they’re obscured by this flagrant exaggeration.
38 Joey Jo Jo on Sep 22nd, 2007 said:

To Elijah M, on half.com, the lowest price (without shipping) as of this post for the albums you mentioned: Grinderman $4.95, Neko Case $8.00, and Joe Henry $10.50. Even at the total prices you quoted, I would probably buy those before using iTunes (well not the Joe Henry, I’d wait a few weeks). I see your point, and it does seem that Pakman searched for a highly discounted example. But most of the albums I bought from Epitaph on eMusic were not new releases, and I could have likely gotten the used cd’s for $3-$5 (ok $6-$8 with shipping). I think the more important point is that eMusic subscribers probably won’t buy from iTunes. They’ll look in the used market first. And even though Grinderman and Neko Case is $9.99 on iTunes, I would still probably buy the $11.97 and $12.19 used cd’s you quoted since I’m only $2 away from physical backup, whatever ripping quality I want, and artwork. No DRM either. Of course I don’t like to do that very often (pay more than for digital), but I usually don’t have to. I’ve never bought a song from iTunes.
39 Jefe de Zorros on Oct 1st, 2007 said:

Well like others, I’m extremely disappointed with this move by Epitaph. I’m sure they feel they have a viable business reason for doing this, but I hope it turns out to flop. What awful timing, as a new Weakerthans album just came out last Tuesday, and that only happens every 3 years or so.

I took the libery of writing the Weakerthans to ask them how they would prefer I acquired their new album. I explained the situation and how I would not buy it off of iTunes as I didn’t want to reinforce Epitaph’s decision. They responded “Our record is in stores.. support your local indie record shop.”

I was a bit disappointed in this response from a band who is so rooted in anti-capitalism. I responded that I’d prefer to stick to digital downloads as they don’t rely on foreign oil to get into my hands.

It makes me sick because I really want this album. I pull it up on iTunes occasionally to listen to the samples, but I refuse to purchase it. Same goes for Motion City Soundtrack.

Does anyone know what’s going on with New West? I noticed they aren’t adding their newest stuff either, but they haven’t pulled their old stuff.
40 BobO on Oct 5th, 2007 said:

Hopefully everyone who has an eMusic account and has ever downloaded a song from Epitaph label and it’s affiliates will write Epitaph (retail@epitaph.com) Maybe with a big enough response they will reconsider their decision.

My letter to Epitaph:

Having been a long time fan of Epitaph records and their many great artists, I am writing to express my disappointment with your decision to no longer sell your catalogue on eMusic in the U.S. I have always considered Epitaph to be an independent label that would never conform to the ideology of the crappy corporate major labels. Unfortunately, I am now forced to wonder if Epitaph is trying to become just like those major labels where the bottom line means more than fans or the artists. I hope that in the future Epitaph Records and it’s affiliates will return to eMusic.
41 FriendlyFascism on Nov 1st, 2007 said:

I was (am?) disappointed to see the Epitaph/Anti- titles go from eMusic. From the price point discussion, it seems that Mr. Gurewitz is becoming just as uncompromising as the major labels, and as foolish as Greg Ginn’s SST Records attitude toward Negativland. My backup has always been used CDs and I see no reason to stop that now.
42 MiDoJo on May 19th, 2008 said:

STOPPPPPPPPP!!!! The Last Link at the Bottom of this Thread (oi oi oi dropkick murphys) open’s a webpage that opens multiple pop-up fake AntiVirus warning messages and scans. I deem this link unsafe for all 17Dots users. If you disagree (and remember I am a security zealot so I know that nothing else caused these to occur) than pm me in emuser (if you are a real emusic/17dots fan)
43 Scotty on Aug 14th, 2008 said:

Go to google and search Bad Religion discography torrent. Enjoy. Shoulda stayed on Emusic.

an epitaph for epitaph

45 Responses to “an epitaph for epitaph”

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