The Lowdown on Downloads

Eric Brush, manager of Sound Garden in Armory Square,
says the advent of digital music sales in the past few years has
affected his business some, but not very much. “We cater to the music
lovers,” he says. “I think people who download music are looking for
new releases and singles. Certain people would like having the one
song, but other people like owning the physical CD itself and the
artwork. It’s a matter of taste.”

“If you go into a Best Buy or Wal-Mart
or Borders, they’re just like a big iTunes”: Sound Garden manager Eric
Brush (top) and employee and Anorexic Beauty Queen frontman Michael
Watson stand among the Armory Square store’s impressive inventory. ALL PHOTOS MICHAEL DAVIS

According to the Recording Industry Association of
America, CD sales decreased 17.5 percent from 2006 to 2007 and 12
percent from 2005 to 2006, whereas online album downloads increased 38
percent from 2006 to 2007 and nearly 60 percent from 2005 to 2006. The
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents
1,450 record companies in 75 countries, reports that online and mobile
music sales reached about $2.9 billion worldwide last year, totaling
about 15 percent of total industry sales.

Michael Watson, frontman for local rockers Anorexic
Beauty Queen, says three of his band’s albums have been available on
iTunes and similar downloading sites for the past two years. “From an
artist’s perspective, it’s not a huge deal,” he says, “because to be a
band, you have to have your stuff readily available.” 

Watson has no issue with people acquiring Anorexic Beauty
Queen’s music online; the band’s label, Aux Records, puts its music on
YouTube. Instead of a video, a static image of the album’s cover is
displayed while the audio plays. “If people want to listen to it, they
can listen to it,” he says. “But if someone comes up to me and says
they really like my band, I’ll give them a free copy of our CD rather
than have them download it on BitTorrent where the sound quality will
be crappy.”

Every six months, Anorexic Beauty Queen earns a decent
amount of royalties from downloads, Watson says, but the three-person
band that plays alternative rock/pop still makes the most money on
tour, an experience computers will never duplicate. “I’d rather sell
physical copies,” Watson says, admitting there are 300 Anorexic Beauty
Queen CDs stockpiled in his basement. “But you have to sell your music
online because the times are changing.”

Changing they are, but that isn’t necessarily a bad
thing, says David Rezak, a music industry professor at Syracuse
University and former booking agent. “There are lots of things
happening to compensate for a downturn in record sales,” he says.
“Digital commerce goes way beyond iTunes. You have to look at ring
tones and other new technologies.”

Rezak cites video games as a modern
venue for hearing new music. “The amount of music discovery that is
happening in video gaming is amazing,” he says. “In Grand Theft Auto
IV, there are radio stations you can program and the music is licensed.
The record labels and composers are making a buck on it. It’s a great
new feel for music.”

Rezak says a huge advance in digital
music is the fact that iTunes is now DRM-free. DRM, or digital rights
management, prevents against theft by restricting users from copying or
converting files. Now that iTunes’ music is DRM-free, it allows songs
downloaded on iTunes to play on non-Apple-produced music players and
allows songs not downloaded on iTunes to play on iPods. “Now other
competing Web retailers of music will soon be DRM-free and competition
will be good and prices might come down,” he says. 

While Watson, who also works at Sound
Garden, believes most music labels and distributors would rather people
buy a song on iTunes because there’s no overhead or returned albums,
Brush says the labels also offer incentives for consumers to purchase
CDs. “Record labels have worked really hard to give independent stores
added value,” Brush says. “Oftentimes, when a new release comes out,
we’ll have something to give away free, whether it’s an exclusive song,
a 7-inch record or stickers. It definitely helps out a lot, especially
for the true fans.”

But for an independent record store to
thrive in this digital age, it has to set itself apart from other music
retailers, both physical and online. “We were proactive,” Brush says in
reference to the advent of digital music sales. “We brought in a lot of
older stuff that a lot of big-box stores don’t carry. A lot of our
sales are what we call catalog sales: old Beatles and Rolling Stones
albums. If you go into a Best Buy or Wal-Mart or Borders, you’re just
going to find the same titles in each store. They’re just like a big
iTunes.”

Digital divide: A Sound Garden employee restocks CDs inside the Armory Square store.

Brush says Sound Garden’s sales dipped a
few years ago, but that was before many colleges banned file-sharing
programs. Now, he says, sales have increased—as they have for the past
three or four years—coinciding with the height of digital music sales.
Although Brush admits some of the sales increase might be because other
local record stores closed, it just goes to show that “You need to
conform to your customer base,” he says. 

Selling used CDs is another reason Sound
Garden thrives because after other local independent record stores
closed, there aren’t many places left in Syracuse to buy used CDs.
“People don’t have a lot of expendable income,” Brush says, “and if we
can supply something they want cheaper, they’ll come to us and buy it.”

Also, Brush says, with more radio
stations controlled by fewer companies, the same songs are broadcast
over and over again, limiting the public’s exposure to new music. “Our
employees are very knowledgeable about music, and they can recommend
other music,” he says. “You’re not going to get that at a big-box store
or online.” 

And then there’s vinyl, which, according to Watson, is
“making a huge comeback.” says Brush of Sound Garden, 124 Walton St.,
“We still carry vinyl and sell vinyl and vinyl sales have increased.”

Vinyl is strictly for true music lovers
(after all, you have to go through a lot of trouble to find a
functioning record player in the first place), but music labels are
picking up on the format’s popularity. One downside to vinyl is that
without purchasing additional equipment, you can only listen to it on
vinyl or tape, unlike a CD, which can be ripped to a computer and then
downloaded to an MP3 player. 

“It’s tough for the generation now because they’re so
used to MP3s,” Brush says. “A vinyl record’s sound is completely
different than an MP3.”

But now, Watson says, some labels include a download card
in vinyl record sleeves so that when someone buys the album, he or she
can also go online and download it as well. It’s the best of both
worlds. “There’s a niche for every avenue of music,” Brush says.
“Everyone can still be profitable.”