ContentJeremy writes that the Yahoo! Music Blog is [his] new favorite Yahoo blog. So I checked it out and I agree — the Yahoo Music Blog is a good read. I was particularly impressed by Ian’s post announcing the new Yahoo! Music Engine. YME is an application that lets you manage your collection, play LAUNCHcast streams, share music, etc. But probably most imporantly, YME is a gateway into the Yahoo! Music Unlimited service, a subscription-based music service that I have reviewed at length before.
The release of YME 1.1 inspired me to check out Y! Unlimited again. After all, I’m already paying the $6.99/mo — it is a waste not to at least use it occasionally.
The new YME installs easily, though it still attempts to bundle other Yahoo! applications (messanger, toolbar, change your homepage to Y!, etc.) along for the ride. As Jeremy has mentioned before, this practice is inexcusable for a company that wants to be “web 2.0″ (I love abusing that phrase). But that aside, YME is a great upgrade, and worth installing if you use Y! Unlimited, though probably not something you’ll need if you don’t subscribe.
This was also a good opportunity to put the Yahoo! music catalog to a test. Since I’m only using YME for the Unlimited collection, mostly to try albums before I buy them, I decided to explore for some new music. I was happy to read that they recently added the SST back catalog to their offering. Which is great — SST rocks and it brings back memories of being a teenager in the late 80’s, hanging around Harvard Square, pretending we were cool, wishing we were hardcore.
But that was a long time ago. Case in point, my best of 2005 mix included Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Deerhoof, Dungen, and Wolf Parade. The Minutemen and Black Flag aren’t exactly on heavy rotation these days.
My taste now tends to overlap with Pitchfork (love ‘em or hate ‘em, they do know music) and Elise from Indie Pop Rocks (my undying indie music crush — go give Soma FM some money!). So how would Y! Unlimited’s catalog stack up against the most cutting edge tastes in new music?
I went through the last 10 best of albums on Pitchfork, and the last 10 recent album tracks on Indie Pop Rocks, to see which ones Y! Unlimited (and Amazon) carried.
The results were mixed.
In Y! Unlimited’s catalog:
- Jens Lekman, Oh You’re So Silent Jens, Secretly Canadian
- Animal Collective, Feels, Fat Cat
- Laika, Wherever I Am Is What Is Missing, Too Pure
- Dressy Bessy, Pink Hearts Yellow Moons, Kindercore
- Rogue Wave, Out Of The Shadow, Sub Pop
- Say Hi To Your Mom, Numbers & Mumbles, Euphobia
- Rob Crow, My Room Is A Mess, Absolutely Kosher
- 764-Hero, Nobody Knows This Is Everywhere, Tiger Style
Not in Y! Unlimited’s catalog:
- The Knife, Silent Shout, Rabid
- Belle & Sebastian, The Life Pursuit, Matador
- Boris, Pink, Diwphalanx
- Sunn 0))), Black One, Southern Lord
- Vashti Bunyan, Lookaftering, Fat Cat
- The Clientele, Strange Geometry, Merge
- Rilo Kiley, The Execution Of All Things, Saddle Creek
- …And You Will Know Us By the Trail Of Dead, Worlds Apart, Interscope
- Clinic, Internal Wrangler, Domino
- Elf Power, A Dream In Sound, Arena Rock
Not in either Y! Unlimited catalog or Amazon:
- Love Is All, Nine Times That Same Song, What’s Your Rupture?
- Clipse, We Got It 4 Cheap, mixunit.com
(Note that I used my Amazon Associates links on those — those referrals pay for unto.net’s hosting, and are much appreciated. If that bothers you, please search Amazon or another site for the album directly.)
Now my tastes are clearly not mainstream, but they are not exactly obscure, either. Yahoo! and other music catalogs need to make an even better effort at embracing the long tail of music choices. My gut tells me that the way to achieve breakthrough market penetration is to create the perception that everything is there. This strategy has worked for Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist, etc., and it could only serve to help in the growing online music business. I don’t mean to pick only on Yahoo! here — the same holds for iTunes Music Store, Emusic, etc. — but, thanks in part to the Yahoo Music Blog, I know that these guys both “get it” and want to win.
Besides, the end is nigh for music sales, anyway. : )
PS: I’m really loving Say Hi To Your Mom — thanks again, Elise!
Update:
It looks like Ian really cares. He recently spent a tremendous amount of time comparing the Yahoo! catalog to the Mojo magazine music spotlights. (It’s like my casual attempt above, only more comprehensive.) And he’s honest about it and offers his insights into why things are working the way they are. Absolutely a must-read post if you are at all interested in the state of online music catalogs. Brilliant, Ian.