Dave Matthews Band snubs iTunes Music Store
The Dave Matthews Band has started selling their music online through Napster and plan to add other services soon. However, they refuse to sell through iTMS on the mistaken belief that Apple requires each track to be sold separately.
As anyone who’s shopped in iTunes Music Store probably knows, some albums are sold as entire album only, rather than individual tracks.
July 15th, 2004 at 4:06 pm
There’s enough interesting stuff on iTMS without Dave Matthews Band. It’s obvious that they care more about making a buck than their fans, so I say f!@# ‘em.
July 15th, 2004 at 4:10 pm
Although some tracks are only available by purchasing the entire album, Apple’s general rule is that individual tracks are available for 99¢ each. It is because of this reason that Madonna, Radiohead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have not put their catalogues on the store.
FWIW, I agree with Apple’s stance on this and think those artists are just cutting off their nose to spite their face.
July 16th, 2004 at 7:02 am
And especially since I have not been interested in purchasing any Dave Matthew’s since the first album because they have all sounded the same since then!
They don’t need and won’t be getting my money for yet another reason now!
July 16th, 2004 at 8:47 am
I guess I don’t think of these bands as really just trying to make a buck. These are bands that not have made more money than god, but I think they know it and aren’t so concerned with making more. I think for them the real issue is whether an album is like a collection of short stories or like a book with several chapters. If its a collection of short stories, each independent of the others, then its fine to sell them separately. But if the entire album is really chapters that make up one artistic product you may not want those chapters sold off one at a time. I can certainly vouch for radiohead that their albums are more like books than short stories. I’m not saying I ultimately agree or disagree with what they are doing, but I do think that is the motivation - not money.
July 16th, 2004 at 10:24 am
Madonna dude. She’s interested in artistic integrity? Did you just hear yourself.
July 16th, 2004 at 10:41 am
But I still don’t get it…… I mean, if you are an artist, and you have a fan that only wants to buy ONE song off of your album…. well let ‘em. Be thankful that they are willing to PAY for it. Even if your album is “like a book with several chapters”. Some people just don’t want the whole album.
July 16th, 2004 at 11:05 am
DMB’s better days/music definitely seem to be behind them. The last 2 DMB albums have been a waste of money. In fact, had I had the iTunes option, I probably would have picked just 5 songs out of the 2.
Oh, hey… now I see where DMB is coming from!!
July 16th, 2004 at 12:30 pm
Given the ratio of marketable versus dreck(filler) material in any given compilation, the enterprises that sell strictly by collection only give their potential customer a reason to obtain the content through alternate means. If the band wants it that way, no sweat. If the label wants it that way, no sweat. The simple fact is they have a product to sell and have chosen how they will go to market. I am the consumer and am free to decide to how I will participate.
My gut tells me we will witness a shift in the release of new material given the economics of the online business. Compilations like albums or CDs are perfectly mated to a physical manufacturing process. Cost savings occur when the objects are produced infrequently and in large quantities. There is no such paradigm with online distribution. As such, economic pressure will shift from a band responding to a label’s pressure to release a collection on a certain time table to one where, in exchange for continuing financial retainer, the label will require 1-3 new songs a quarter. The compensation will vary reflecting the financial return of the material.
The consumer will ultimately benefit because the incentive to produce the marginal material filling Dave’s discs will be gone. Any notion that this is about art or integrity has failed to comprehend the critical second word in the phrase “music business”.
July 16th, 2004 at 2:34 pm
It is only about the $ that any band would prohibit anything less than selling their full album; otherwise, they would prohibit radio stations and MTV/VH1/Fuse/etc from playing their singles.
July 16th, 2004 at 5:06 pm
The argument is that radio tracks create for the artist the stuffs (money, power, prestige, but most importantly, space) for them to really flex their creativity. The fear here is that the artist will, in the long term, simply be a catchy jingle writter, not an “artiste” if you will. The further argument is that these albums are sculpted as a whole canvas, and that creating an economy that only rewards hits will further deplete the space for creativity. I’m really not a big fan of any of the abstaining bands, but I can easily see how being at that level of sales would create a healthy instinct to protect what little flexability remains.
Unrelated– On my 8th mac, 2nd IPOD, love Itunes conceptually, but what is up with 128kbps recordings? There IS a noticable difference in fidelity b/w the CD and the itunes downloads. It makes me much much more careful. I shop used first. I would not at 192.
July 18th, 2004 at 7:51 am
I wish DMB would sell their stuff on iTunes, but I completely understand the buy-the-whole album phylosophy. 99.9% of the time, if there is an artist I’m interested in, I grab the entire album — I want to know what the whole work is about.
In some ways, it is good to see that some artists *do* care about the artistic integrity of their work.
In time, I would suspect that people will found out that running an online store isn’t worth the hassle/maitence, and just go with iTunes instead of something in-house. It obviosly a lot of work to run a music store, and Apple has put a great deal of effort into making it easy to use, and customer friendly. I would imagine as complaints build up against other in-house methods, people will move towards iTunes.
What I *wish* itunes would work on is the artists whose albums are like $24 for the whole thing — that discourages me from buying anything from the artist more quickly than if they have ‘album-only’ tracks.
July 18th, 2004 at 9:28 am
I guess Dave must be boycotting radio stations and MTV too? After all, they won’t force listener to listen to the whole book so to speak. Its liken to cropping around the lips of the Mona Lisa to hide the rest of the painting isn’t it? Artistically thats just wrong!
Or just maybe it does have more to do with briefcases stuffed with cash?
Cheers
July 18th, 2004 at 4:04 pm
To which I say, thank you Apple!
If DMB and others don’t want to give me the opportunity to buy their albums in the mistaken fear that too many people will download only a track or two, that is their problem. I don’t even have to do anything to protest their ignorance. They are automatically boycotted from 70% of sales in a new market. Smart move. Self-boycott away.
For those who say that the artist should be the one to decide if they want only album sales, how many recording artists would allow single track sales if they had the choice?
Apple’s policy is a good one and it is shown by the high number of sales that are in complete album format. As a matter of fact, I tend to get annoyed if the whole album isn’t for sale. I hate to see the “partial album” label on the album summary pages.
If Dave Matthews doesn’t think his music is good enough to have a loyal following that will actually buy his complete albums, maybe he should start thinking about a different career. I know most of the music loving world won’t miss him much.
August 2nd, 2004 at 2:30 pm
wow i cant even believe you just said that. dmb’s last two albums have been terrific, along with their old ones.
August 9th, 2004 at 10:12 am
I’m not sure about the other bands, but I’m pretty sure DMB is not interested in cash, if they were websites likes antsmarching.org would not exist. For the vast majority who do not know antsmarching.org, it’s a website where you can feely download a crap load of concerts that were taped by fans. You can find stuff from 199X to the recent concerts that are happening in recent tours. If they really cared about the money they wouldnt allow people to record their concerts nor would they let people distribute the tracks so easily.
August 12th, 2004 at 2:01 pm
I’m puzzled as to why David Matthews is against selling individual songs. I only buy music online and, lately, only through iTunes. If you don’t sell your music through iTunes you’ll never get my money. I would think David Matthews would rather have five of my dollars than none.
August 13th, 2004 at 9:32 pm
Its not about the cash for the band, I believe its the record label not the band that makes the decision as to where and how there music is sold. I heard dave matthews in an interview once and he was talking about people downloading music and as far as he was concerned it didnt seam to bother him that people were downloading his music for free, so I really think that the band probably doesnt have any say in how there music is sold.
November 8th, 2004 at 9:59 am
Dave Matthews Band sucks, so who cares?
November 11th, 2004 at 5:25 pm
DMB is one of the most talented bands out there. Anyone that thinks otherwise doesn’t know anything about them and probably likes rap or that garage band crap. These guys are all formerly talented jazz musicians that have created an awesome blend of blues, jazz and rock.
I agree that they should be offering music on a single song basis thru itunes. However, if they feel otherwise so be it. Who gives a rats ass. Btw…all of their albums were great!
November 18th, 2004 at 3:14 pm
Thank you for finally saying it, someone had to.
November 19th, 2004 at 4:23 pm
Personally im and an avid listener of DMB, but in a way i understand were you all are coming off at. i can see were both sides form and argument, yet i can only imagine that they dont want to see all the hard work they put into and album be chopped up into little pieces. there has to be a compromise.
December 9th, 2004 at 7:50 pm
As a person who knows Dave very well, I believe that he doesn’t want i-tunes to sell his music because he wants them to buy it on the CD. Money is not an issue. He is a millionair and gives more than half of his money to charities. Now how many of you give half of your music to charities. Don’t get me wrong but this is not a money issue at all.
December 9th, 2004 at 9:17 pm
If you look at the DMB store at MusicToday you’ll see that all of their albums are available for download, either as MP3 or FLAC, but only as a complete album, not individual tracks.
Several artists from Dave’s ATO label, including Mike Doughty, are available in iTunes.
December 11th, 2004 at 11:09 am
Unlike most people today, Dave is actually a musician. Real Dave fans want everything he has, not just Crash and Satelite and his pop stuff. His best performances are live anyway, so if your actually looking for good DMB, your not going to be using iTunes anyway! You’ll be using a concert sharing program (which by the way is legal). I downloaded a DMB concert that I went to and it’s all I ever listen to. People that download one or two songs are fake Dave fans, and I think Dave is just trying to have people appreciate all of his music, rather than one or two songs. And if you think its about the money, than your an idiot, because if it was, his songs WOULD be on iTunes and he’d be making MORE money.
December 15th, 2004 at 9:22 pm
Forcing someone to purchase an entire album does not force them to listen to it. I have a friend who will buy an entire album and only listen to the one or two songs she bought the album for. iTunes does offer some albums to be purchased in their entirity…I have purchased several. As for live music…I am all about that and I think most jam bands, Dave included are best when they are live. I would love to see iTunes add a live/bootleg section to the store…and I would also like to see Dave there.
December 15th, 2004 at 9:30 pm
There are a lot of great live albums in iTunes. I love DMB, but I’ve found a few jam bands in iTunes that completely blow them away. String Cheese Incident & Derek Trucks Band are awesome.
December 16th, 2004 at 8:58 pm
Uhh, what’s this bullshit about Dave Matthews not wanting people to buy his songs individually because it detracts from his artistic integrity? Remind me again, how many singles has Dave Matthews released?
January 4th, 2005 at 12:47 pm
Who cares is you only buy a single song or two and not the ENTIRE? I am sure they are not out for money because obviously they are filthy rich. I do not want to be forced to buy the whole album if the single song is available. If i want the whole album- I will buy the whole album- many times (like Jack Johnson for instance) you buy the whole album for $10 and get 24 songs. If you are going to bitch about it- dont use iTunes. And by the way- “Stay or Leave” and “Gravedigger” are 2 great recent songs.
January 10th, 2005 at 7:25 am
how dare you say that about a living legend. He’s 30 times better than you’ll ever be. You should be thankful that you get to breath the same air as him
February 27th, 2005 at 3:37 pm
Dmb tends to be generic and uninspired however it is marketed otherwise and I can see you fall into those who fell for the marketing. The reason they want you to buy the whole albums is simple, they know they put one good song on the album and the rest is shit. 95% of the songs would never sell.
March 10th, 2005 at 2:07 pm
This sucks! Why prevent fans from buying your music if you’re confident in all of your songs being so good. I’m an enormous fan of DMB and have all of their CD’s, including tons of bootlegged shows, but this politics sucks.
March 22nd, 2005 at 1:55 pm
I thought this site was about Mac/Apple, not about generally ignorant opinions about music and whether a song is worthy enough to sell. In a free society, people do what they want to do, including choosing how they sell their music or how much time they spend in chat rooms talking about things that other people don’t really care about.
I like the iTunes idea. That I can buy only the songs I want. And Artists can choose to sell what they want. If iTunes doesn’t carry what you are looking for, I’m sure you’ll find it if you really want it.
What I don’t like is that the LO-FI Mp3 is what people are broadcasting, listening to and accepting paying CD-quality prices for. and that it’s only the major artists that are invited to sell. If iTunes and CD Baby evolve properly then the labels are will turn into solely marketing tools for those with money and the rest of the music will once again belong to the people.
March 22nd, 2005 at 8:56 pm
Boycott Musictoday! The company is full of liars and backstabbers that treat their employees like dirt. Buy anywhere but musictoday.
April 8th, 2005 at 12:11 pm
Im not a fan of Dave Matthews, but it seems to me it would be a shame if you had to pay for each individual song instead of a whole album. Maybe he rather see people pay the full price for the full album instead of seeing Apple making money off of fans who want to hear his music. Thats just my theory.
April 8th, 2005 at 12:15 pm
Listen to one of their cd’s and tell me where the filler is. Secodly, it is always the singles on the albums that end up being the worst of all the songs. Some people who are in the “music business” actually enjoy playing and writing music for people. It’s not always all fodder.
April 8th, 2005 at 12:26 pm
Dmb is a great band. However, they are not a jam band. Now hear me out. Dave Matthews Band has scripted jams. They are not spontaneous jams like that of Phish. Dmb has unscripted solo’s, but not entire jams. This doesn’t mean they’re not great musicians though. Lastly, their song writing ability blows a lot of jam bands out of the water. Another good jam band for you all: North Mississippi Allstars. Try and get some live stuff.
April 14th, 2005 at 11:16 am
What the “f”? Living legend my ass
April 24th, 2005 at 6:01 pm
I see the American Baby single is now available for download. Maybe they’ll sell the entire album.
April 25th, 2005 at 3:21 pm
i have only been listining to dave for 3 yrs now and only being that i am 17 and dont know much, the one thing that i know is dave music, and its amazing for you uneducated asses that dont like dave…… shut up about it.. no one cares what an uneducated person thinks about an amazing musician. and finally tell me something that you love, and watch me bash it!!! then we can see how you feel, when someone judges you, and the things you like.
April 29th, 2005 at 3:32 pm
Dave and his band are some of today’s greatest musicians. Most of the stuff you see and hear today is crap, for instance, Blink 182, Linkin’ Park, and all that other garbage. They all play either drums or the electric guitar. And they murder both! Up with DMB, down with anything else(except John Mayer). John and Dave = the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 9th, 2005 at 9:41 pm
DMB new album is not able to be put on iPods. They have encrypted the files to only be WMA format which means they are not playable in iTunes which means they are not transferable to the iPod. I’m sorry but I am unbelievably pissed. I have been a DMB fan since 1993 when I first heard Remember Two Things. I have been to pretty much every single concert they have had in my area including Dave’s solo album tour “Dave and Friends.” And this has done it for me. I do not blame iTunes, I blame DMB. This is ridiculous that they have done this to their fans. I don’t know why, but I have a hard time not believing it has to do with money. What happened to the free thought of early DMB that you could record any live show you wanted or anything and share it with your friends? What happened to the sense of community of being a DMB fan? I am afraid that I may not be buying the new cd tomorrow and this will be the first time in 12 years that I will not buy a DMB album when it came out.
May 10th, 2005 at 7:41 am
I am sorry, but you are incorrect. “Stand Up”, the new albumn from Dave Matthews Band is available on iTunes Music Store as of 5/10/2005 and comes with two exclusive iTunes features.
The first is a pdf document (printable) of the liner notes. The second is a Apple QuickTime music video playable within iTunes using the new itunes 4.8 released 5/9/2005 (www.itunes.com).
The pdf and video are included with the $11.99 album. All tracks on Stand Up are available individually for $0.99 - yeah Apple!
Now if I could only Remember Two Things
May 14th, 2005 at 3:14 am
I agree I just picked up the CD last night at Borders. Fortunately I noticed the sticker on the front before I opened the package. The CD is going back to the store this morning. WHile true you can download the CD from the iTunes store you can only do it at the junky sample rate. I RIP in Apple Lossless normally. So I blame DMB for the way the CD was released and Apple for not stepping it up at ITMS to allow users with the drive capacity to take music at a better sample rate. I really can hear the difference.
May 14th, 2005 at 7:58 am
My copy arrived yesterday. Even though the label said it’s copy protected, I was able to import it into iTunes (as AAC) with no problems.
May 16th, 2005 at 10:23 pm
well. I went out, purchased the CD, listened to it and loved it. I paid $18 of MY dollars for MY CD!!!! I get home, try to copy this music to MY IPOD on MY computer and I amd blocked!!!!
The CD goes back in the jewel case, with my receipt back to Border’s Music where I bought it. If they won’t refund My money I will leave it on the counter and walk away anyway! I am pissed!!
I have been a faithful DMB fan for years, I have given money to the fan club, traveled to concerts out of my state etc… NO MORE!
Good bye DMB nice PR move!! Keep your $18 bucks, I’m not listening anymore!! Nobody tells ME what to do with MY FUCKING MONEY!! NO ONE!!
FUCK THAT!
May 17th, 2005 at 12:47 pm
I once did not buy a CD because of what some critic said. I bought that Cd recently, and it is now one of my favorites. You are only missing out on great music by boycotting because it didnt work the way you had hoped. The person behind the counter will only think you are crazy, and Dave Matthews band will release more albums without even hearing about your problem. As far as the ipod thing is concerned, you can convert your wma files to mp3 and then upload them. that’s what i did.
May 18th, 2005 at 6:17 am
Boy, DM has got you by the b..ls. He’s screwing his own fans and you jump up and defend him like he’s God. I guess if he threw a barrel of cow manure on you, you’d just wipe it off your face and then kiss his rear.
May 19th, 2005 at 9:29 am
How were you able to download Stand Up to your IPOD. I am unable to download to my IPOD or burn a copy.
Thanks,
AT
May 19th, 2005 at 10:45 pm
Actually, the limitation only applies to Windows users. Mac users can rip the CD just like any other CD. The problem is Microsofts DRM — which sucks. They want you to think the problem is with Apple, when actually the problem is with Microsoft and the Record Labels trying to tell you what to do.
May 20th, 2005 at 6:12 am
I was able to import it and copy it to my iPod with no problems on my PowerBook even though the label said it’s copy protected.
May 26th, 2005 at 10:58 am
yeah, i wasn’t about to buy an album that I can’t even put onto my computer. It’s all about them trying to prevent people from burning the album. Well, luckily I found out about this before I bought the album, so I spent about 20 minutes on my favorite PTP file sharing program and downloaded it for free. I saved $20 and I can put the songs anywhere I want. Suck on that one DMB. I’ve been a huge fan since Under the Table and Dreaming, but I guess they don’t care about the tons of money I have spent on concert tickets or albums. Fine then, I won’t buy any more… The album sucks anyways! It’s so boring and over produced. It Might as well be a Norah Jones album.
May 30th, 2005 at 9:26 am
i had no problems convert them to an MP3 file
June 2nd, 2005 at 7:44 am
I’m currently importing “Stand Up” into iTunes (AAC format) and it’s working perfectly. I’ve already moved two songs onto my iPod.
Don’t post if you don’t try!
June 6th, 2005 at 4:45 pm
I don’t use any MS media player, browser, or email server - why would I accept the choice of an artist’s publisher for all of these? It’s insulting.
It is ironic that the ideals espoused in the music are so opposed to the prescriptive means of distribution. Stand Up DMB !!
June 12th, 2005 at 5:51 pm
Stand Up is horrible…in my opinion it’s exorbitantly overproduced in every aspect. Time for Dave to decide where his music is going. A wasteful 20$.
June 16th, 2005 at 2:28 pm
how do u convert wma files to mp3?
June 21st, 2005 at 8:01 am
I like many people was pissed when I figured out I could not load Standup to my iPod. I am a windows user. I just tried something and it worked. I simply Ripped the cd using Windows Media Player and then added the folder it created to iTunes. iTunes was able to convert it once I did this.