the eMusic taste
There has been an interesting discussion happening on the message boards led by Nereffid under the heading “What Is eMusic’s Taste in Music?” It’s a great question, and one I’ve been thinking quite a bit about as a result.
Clearly myself, Joe and Todd have quite a bit to do with defining “the eMusic Taste.” We are among the folks who decide what records you see on the homepage and what gets covered from an editorial perspective, and we have this 17 Dots megaphone to push and advocate records that we think are interesting/important. There are biases among us, of course. Todd loves electronic music and out-there sounds, Joe really digs soul, R&B, hip-hop and dream-pop and I definitely err more towards indie rock and generally obtuse sounds across a few genres. While we are but three people, we certainly carry weight.
Ultimately, though, I think the eMusic Taste is best defined by you: the people who are actually downloading records. And, taken as an aggregate, that taste is very heavy in indie rock, light on hip-hop and electronic music (with some exceptions) and with a definite hunger for reggae, jazz and classical. The other genres fill in the gaps with small pockets of devotees to blues, world music, comedy, metal and countless others.
But here’s the thing: the eMusic Taste changes all the time. When I first started here back in June of 2004, the charts were dominated by (in this order) country-rock, punk and reggae. And now? None of those really do much of anything. Whether it was our marketing, catalogue additions, the site redesign or something else entirely, in about one year, what was getting downloaded shifted pretty dramatically to indie rock.
And, as an aggregate, that’s pretty much where we still are. But is eMusic really an aggregate? Certainly the strengths and limitations of the catalogue point very clearly towards an indie rock focus — it’s the sound of the day (on the web, anyway), and we have attracted a demographic that absolutely loves it, and is always searching for The Next New Thing, regardless of age, creed or geographic location. But, by the same token, our classical and jazz catalogues are just as strong and varied (some recent label additions have definitely aided this), and yet don’t get as much traction. What gives?
Well, there are some obvious factors here: a) there isn’t as much jazz and classical press/advertising/hype in the real world to drive people to eMusic in search of those particular records and b) while we do pay quite a bit of attention to those genres, we pay more to indie rock. It’s not complicated.
Nereffid’s original post was a response to an email we recently sent out inviting everyone to participate in our year-end album poll. The examples listed in the text were indie-rock records (chosen for pun-worthiness as much as relevance), and so yes, there was a bias there. But the albums most people downloaded this year were indie-rock. (In response to all of this, I am going to be putting together a page very soon listing the 25 best-selling albums of the year, which I think everyone will find interesting.) Maybe a jazz or classical album will place in the Top 20, but I doubt it: from my memory, there has yet to be a year where one has.
Ultimately, though, in my mind that has nothing to do with what eMusic’s taste is. Most of the cultural world is devoted to summarization, to glossing over the nooks and crannies where things too confusing or intricate or challenging to describe in a thought bubble are just ignored altogether. But eMusic is not like that. That’s our wheelhouse, that’s what we get most hyped about. And I don’t think there’s any doubt that that’s true of the vast majority of our subscribers, too. The eMusic Taste isn’t one defined by music, but by the search for music. What we uncover in the end is simply a matter of individual aesthetics; it’s the drive that we all have that defines us — and eMusic — most honestly.
Great post. I am looking forward to seeing the most downloaded albums of the year. Some of us can probably guess quite a few of them just by what is constantly on the “Today’s Top Albums” list on the front page (Taylor Swift & Plain White T’s, anyone?).
Along those lines, I would like a way to search for the albums that have received the most ratings by subscribers. I can search for albums that have been given 5 stars, 4 stars, etc., but that could be a 5-star rating by only a few members (or big fans of the band). But seeing an album with many ratings (Arcade Fire’s Funeral currently has 1115 ratings) gets my attention more. Not that popularity equals quality music (Itunes Music Store, anyone?), but many ratings on eMusic are at least worthy of a listen.
I haven’t read the Message Board thread, but it’s an interesting topic. As I await a telephone Status Conference, I had a few thoughts about some things you mention:
“Ultimately, though, in my mind that has nothing to do with what eMusic’s taste is. Most of the cultural world is devoted to summarization, to glossing over the nooks and crannies where things too confusing or intricate or challenging to describe in a thought bubble are just ignored altogether. But eMusic is not like that. That’s our wheelhouse, that’s what we get most hyped about. And I don’t think there’s any doubt that that’s true of the vast majority of our subscribers, too. The eMusic Taste isn’t one defined by music, but by the search for music. What we uncover in the end is simply a matter of individual aesthetics; it’s the drive that we all have that defines us — and eMusic — most honestly.”
This is true (and I like this view, since it reflects so favorably on eMusic subscribers). In addition, though, I wonder about the significance of the Pitchfork and/or (until recently) Stylus effect: are there spikes in the downloading of certain discs around the time they received high-marks from either online journal? For best results, I’d isolate well-reviewed discs by new artists or those coming totally from left-field (thereby eliminating the possibility that the acts had already developed a substantial fan base). As just a few examples, I’d use A Place to Bury Strangers’ self-titled debut disc, White Williams “Smoke,” Blitzen Trapper’s “Wild Mountain Nation,” and Dan Deacon’s “Spiderman.”
“[O]ur classical and jazz catalogues are just as strong and varied (some recent label additions have definitely aided this), and yet don’t get as much traction. What gives?”
Aside from the points you mention, it’s also the case that – in these genres especially – it’s hard to separate the wheat from the chafe, given (a) the uneven nature of live recordings and (b) multiple versions of the same pieces by different performers.
Again, it’s a facsinating discussion (especially for people like me, who like meta-analysis).
I think the truth just boils down to that rock based music is more popular with the general public than classical or jazz. Most people really don’t know what they are missing because they simply have not been exposed to it.
That’s why I try to get the word out on the albums I love, in my limited way. Because one of eMusic’s great strengths is that it lowers the entry point for trying new things, so if people get exposed to great music from less ‘popular’ genres they are more likely to give it a chance and grow their musical perspective. Which is great for them as well as everyone else.
As the initiator of this debate I have to throw my two cents in here. My complaint was a very specific one and it’s really just about targeted marketing, or rather the absence of it. I listen to hardly any indie rock myself, but I acknowledge that’s a personal preference and I have no quarrel with the idea that this is the most popular form of music. And the homepage and editorial of eMusic reflect a broad range.
What got my goat was simply that the best-of-the-year email didn’t reflect that range, and there just didn’t (and still doesn’t) seem to be any good justification for this. Yes, a majority of recipients of the email have downloaded mostly indie rock, but if eMusic is about more than indie rock, why not reflect that in this little marketing tool? Now, I’m not saying that I should have received an email that specifically reflected my tastes, and I think we can agree that any attempt to punningly refer to, say, Stephane Deneve’s recording of Albert Roussel’s ballet Bacchus et Ariane is going to end in tears. But it would have been nice for an acknowledgement of a world outside indie rock… “punk, acid-house, bebop, baroque and every genre in between” as a magazine ad for eMusic put it. Hilariously, of course, the ad was pushing The Raconteurs as the epitome of eMusic’s offerings and was published in BBC Music Magazine, self-styled “world’s best-selling classical music magazine”.
Yancey, great post!
I’m glad to hear we’ll get to see the best-selling albums of the year but is there any chance of another chart showing the best selling albums by region (e.g. eMusic and eMusic Europe)? Being in the Europe area, I can’t help but think that the charts we see on eMusic do not reflect the tastes of the people around me, especially with electronic and dance music being so much more popular here generally. I’m sure that if Americans downloaded mainly indie rock and Europeans downloaded mainly dance, the dance wouldn’t show on a worldwide chart due to the former’s strength in numbers.
I could be wrong of course, which is partly why such information would be so interesting…
Paul that is a great idea — I will work on that with Anna.
And Neriffid, I don’t disagree at all. I’ll talk to Joe about this. BTW, your classical guides are some of the absolute best things on eMusic.
I’d just like to know why I never received this email asking for my opinion about the best albums of the year. I guess my opinion doesn’t count. . . .
Obviously eMusic has to cater for it’s main market, the USA.If the current trend is indie rock then the sight will reflect this.
“back in June of 2004, the charts were dominated by (in this order) country-rock, punk and reggae. And now? None of those really do much of anything”
Wasn’t the number 1 album in 06 Neko Case?
I like Paul’s idea to show the widely differing tastes between America and Europe.Living in Australia(the home of not available in your country) we are still,in an independent sense,very insular.Many bands sign to labels that are under the broader umbrella of the majors and will never be seen on eMusic,which is a pity considering the quality of Australian music.
Just a quick comment on the polls for the best of 07.We are required to put in the url of the specific album but what if it’s no longer on eMusic,such as The Twilight Sad-Fourteen Summers and Fifteen Winters (my pick for album of the year).
Many thanks to the die hards who push their acquired tastes to the masses.I for one have started to download a few classical albums, a bit of metal,and the electronica catalogue gets bigger every day.
Well we have charts don’t we? I think we know what people are digging on the site. Seems to be a very broad question, “What do people like?” Seems rather ominous eMusic taste is made up of many different things that the site offers. Emusic taste is whatever the people are hungry for at the moment.