Yesterday I was looking to purchase the mp3s of Will Johnson’s new album, Scorpion. I was in my usual frugal mood and I didn’t want to spend eight to ten dollars for some digital files. So I started to shop the main online retailers and iTunes, Amazon and Google Play were all pretty much the same price give or take 50 cents. With the price still not being to my liking, I headed over to Will Johnson’s website to see how he was promoting the sale of his new album. Turns out he was selling it with his record company, Undertow, for an attractive six dollars (which is what they would have ended up with after an iTunes sale anyways) and not only did I get the album with the purchase but I also received 16 songs as a Undertow artist sampler pack. Twenty-Six songs in all for only six dollars.
Sometimes it just easy to buy an album off of iTunes and be done but most likely it was cheaper someplace else. Now I’m not a mainstream online retail hater. I have gotten some great deals with iTunes with their “Deluxe Editions” but the website of the artist, NoiseTrade, SoundCloud and Bandcamp are all good places to check for free songs or cheaper mp3 album prices (Bandcamp is where I personally offer a lower price on my mp3 album downloads).
So, music lovers, it’s easy to find cheaper mp3 prices with a couple of quick searches. And artists, you can offer lower prices through some of these lesser known sites and make the same amount as you would from iTunes selling your album because sites like Bandcamp take less of a percentage.
Lesson: You don’t always have to go through iTunes.