2007 showdown: iTunes vs. eMusic
11Dec07
So iTunes today posted their year-end lists for their best-selling titles, as well as their editorial picks. While we will have to wait until next week to look at eMusic’s editorial choices, we thought it might be fun to do a title-by-title comparison of the best-sellers between the two services, with edges being handled out to each. Tomorrow Thursday we’ll take a look at the singles. (Note: for a full, and slightly out of date, list of the best-sellers on eMusic, head here. EDIT: Also note that, because I am assuming iTunes did the same on their list, I removed catalogue titles from our list, which mainly meant no Creedence or Johnny Cash (those were around 7 and 15 or so, I think).)
| Rank | iTunes | eMusic | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maroon 5, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long | Arcade Fire, Neon Bible | Arcade Fire. As much as we were skeptical of Neon Bible, we just can’t get behind Adam Levine… except with a bludgeon. |
| 2 | Kanye West, Graduation | Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga | Draw. There’s a lot to love and hate in both of these records, and we’ll be damned to choose between them. Can we settle for a “The Ghost of You Lingers”/”Flashing Lights” remix? |
| 3 | Amy Winehouse, Back to Black | The National, Boxer | The National. Six months ago it probably would have been reversed, but enough already! |
| 4 | Daughtry, Daughtry | Paul McCartney, Memory Almost Full | Macca. Please note that the answer would be whatever Daughtry faced, no matter what it was. |
| 5 | Colbie Caillat, Coco | Elliott Smith, New Moon | Smith. Okay, so truth be told I had to Google Caillat, which shows just how up on the zeitgeist I am. Regardless, it’s hard to pick against Smith’s final (?) collection here. |
| 6 | Linkin Park, Minutes to Midnight | Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift | Swift. After laughing at how pandering “Tim McGraw” was, we’ve come around quite a bit on Ms. Swift. |
| 7 | High School Musical 2 | Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha | Bird. As great as the first High School Musical was, the second one? Not so much. And as for Bird, who knew he’d be the Nut Zipper to last? Our money was on Mathus. |
| 8 | Timbaland, Shock Value | Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? | Of Montreal. This is a tough one. The Timbaland of any year other than 2007 and he wins this with his eyes closed, but dude is seriously running thin these days. So Of Montreal, by default. |
| 9 | John Mayer, Continuum | Beirut, The Flying Cup Club | Beirut. Again, not even a record we are 100% thrilled with, but anyone who can play their instrument with their mouth closed gets our vote. |
| 10 | Hairspray Soundtrack | Okkervil River, The Stage Names | Okkervil. Some genuine disagreement here in the office from one major Hairspray fan, but points need to go to Okkervil for livening up the Typical Indie Rock Record in 2007. |
| 11 | Fall Out Boy, Infinity on High | Stars, In Our Bedroom After the War | Draw. Another close one. Joe loves the new FOB and I their first; Maris and Todd go goo-goo eyed for Stars. |
| 12 | White Stripes, Icky Thump | White Stripes, Icky Thump (EU only) or Dinosaur Jr., Beyond (US) | Draw. How cute! Icky Thump is only available to our UK and EU customers, but it still did well enough to rank this high. |
| 13 | Justin Timberlake, FutureSex/LoveSounds | James Taylor, One Man Band | Timberlake. JT vs. JT. This one is too easy, even if FutureSex was somewhat of a letdown. |
| 14 | Norah Jones, Not Too Late | New Pornographers, Challengers | Pornos. Despite Joe’s impassioned plea that Norah Jones “is cool, maaaan” and our general disappointment in Challengers, this wasn’t a tough call. |
| 15 | Feist, The Reminder | Caribou, Andorra | Feist. A very tight one, but points go to Feist for rising out of the fiery furnaces of indie rock and into the mainstream. BTW, how cool is it that Caribou sold this many records on eMusic? Definitely a surprise. |
| 16 | Across the Universe Soundtrack | Apples in Stereo, New Magnetic Wonder | Across the Universe. Ha! It’s the same two records up against each other! I have yet to hear Across the Universe, but my 10-year-old brother loves it, and that’s enough for me. |
| 17 | The Shins, Wincing the Night Away | Kevin Drew, Spirit If… | Shins. Even if the Shins are still coasting on “New Slang” and Zach Braff’s mouth, that Kevin Drew record was pretty damn uneven. |
| 18 | Lily Allen, Alright, Still | Jens Lekman, Night Falls Over Kortedala | Lily Allen. Just like all the rest of the 30-something urban professionals. |
| 19 | Rascal Flatts, Still Feels Good | Ted Leo, Living with the Living | Ted Leo. In a cakewalk. |
| 20 | Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank | Panda Bear, Person Pitch | Panda Bear. Wake us up when Modest Mouse convinces Tom Verlaine to join the band. |
And in a 12-5 split decision, eMusic takes it!
I mean Norah Jones was cool as a person. As a person! I make no judgments on her records.
Does anyone else notice how much the itunes list sucks?
But seriously this just goes to show that eMusic is the best spot for people sick of having the record companies shove **** down our throats. Lets see on the itunes list I found White Stripes that I might be interested in (and would be available to eMusic if the U.S. distribution company would just look at the EU numbers and those numbers for US eMusic downloads of other White Stripes Albums. And there’s Norah Jones (I haven’t heard her new one and probably won’t buy it but I may DRM free rip 1 or 2 tracks from my father as I have on previous N.J. Albums.) And the Shins, but I might just think that because my brother and I went to school with the Drummer (although I do like the 2 Shins’ songs I have from eMusic).
Please eMusic know (especially Anna
) that we cherish you and your renegade ways.
Nothing on that list really does anything for me. I guess I just don’t like what the masses like, regardless of whether they are mainstream or independent masses. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!
I prefer the iTunes lists actually.
The iTunes list isn’t awful, I guess. But it’s weighted down with some terrible pablum/unapologetic product. The biggest problem with it, I think, is that it misses the most exciting trends and developments in music this year, except for stuff like Kayne West and — to a lesser extent — Timaland and Timberlake, which are (or can be) pretty cutting edge artists. The Shins ain’t bad, either.
BTW, I think the eMusic list also misses some of the most exciting, cutting-edge trends or developments of the year, e.g., the progression of dubstep, “dark disco,” and the Balearic revival.
On that note, I thought that Burial’s new disc might wind up in eMusic’s top 20. Too new to make the list, possibly?
I’m with porieux. There’s really nothing on either list that I would pay to download.
I think burial will crack the top twenty by the end of the year.
Is it sad that I only knew like on band on the I-tunes list.
But then, I’ve been getting all my music and music news from emusic for the last four years so maybe it makes sense.
i think emusic has a lot to be happy about in this comparison–even if yancey/emu staff is too harsh on of montreal and beirut (they whip the competition on the merits of “the past is a grotesque animal” and “in the mausoleum” alone–i mean, john mayer? what album from 2007 *doesn’t* tan his silly ass?).
feist vs. caribou: best match in the set. maybe they should get together on a track. that said, i like milk of human kindness better than andorra; i’d side with feist here.
icky thump: i like the white stripes a lot, but….ick. biggest disappointment of the year.
burial: i’m *really* trying to get behind this one, but i think the ep is better…some standout tracks on untrue, but burial doesn’t seem to sustain an entire lp’s worth of what he’s doing. (now watch me eat my words later…)
the shins: i’m reassessing this one. i liked it a bunch when it came out, and it still sounds really good now; and i’m not a shins fan.
amy winehouse and lily allen: they’re fabulous, but i’m pretty sure those should count as 2006 releases. who didn’t have them by jan 07?
modest mouse: another big disappointment.
panda bear/animal collective: pick out the best tracks from person pitch and strawberry jam (and at least one of avey tare’s), and you have a great album.
taylor swift: should i get this one? on the basis of her lovely locks alone? i don’t have the miranda lambert. if i like gretchen philips and every third tim mcgraw track, will i like it?
In the interests of comparison, the British iTunes list looks like this
1. Amy Winehouse ‘Back To Black’
2. Mika ‘Life In A cartoon Motion’
3. Arctic Monkeys ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’
4. Mark Ronson ‘Version’
5. Newton Faulkner ‘Hand Built By Robots’
6. Take That ‘Beautiful World’
7. Foo Fighters ‘Echos, Silence, Patience and Grace’
8. Kaiser Chiefs ‘Yours Truly Angry Mob’
9. Snow Patrol ‘Eyes Open’
10. Tiimbaland ‘Timbaland Presents Shock Value’
11. The Fratellis ‘Costello Music’
12. Nelly Furtado ‘Loose’
13. Maroon 5 ‘It Won’t Be Soon Before Long’
14. Kings of Leon ‘Because of The Times’
15. Arcade Fire ‘Neon Bible’
16. James Morrison ‘Undiscovered’
17. Kanye West ‘Graduation’
18. Linkin Park ‘Minutes To Midnight’
19. Justin Timberlake ‘FutureSex/ LoveSounds’
20. Fall Out Boy ‘Infinity On High’
Captw – If you like Gretchen and are interested in Miranda, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised by Taylor Swift. The record’s a bit saccharine, but it’s got its charms.
I loved New Magnetic Wonder. I know you have to give Itunes some points somewhere, but NMW is a seriously great album.
I call foul. I don’t see CCR Chronicles on that list and that always seems to be a top eMusic seller. (And there’s nothing wrong with that.)
captain wrong — you are totally right. i forgot to mention that. i added a sentence explaining that.
Lily Allen over Jens Lekman = your credibility gone
In all fairness, Amazon’s top list should be included as well:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/dmusic/digital-music-album//ref=amb_link_5495452_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-2&pf_rd_r=04QV915YM65STR157VXZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=318613701&pf_rd_i=163856011
Sounds of Silver is $5.99? Wow that’s a value on Amazon.
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