If you stop by daveslounge.com this week, you may notice that some of the iTunes links that were up on this site are no longer here. That's because Linkshare, the company that runs the iTunes Affiliate Program, has decided that they no longer wish to pay me the money that they owe me. It's not a huge amount of money, but the fact that this company has been giving me the run-around for weeks and at one point tried to lock me out of my account is clearly a sign that they no longer wish to have me as an affiliate. I have sold more than $1,000 worth of music through this affiliate program in the last year, and they have chosen not to deal with me fairly.
For this reason, I've decided to remove the iTunes links from this site and instead point people toward a music store that treats independent artists and music customers fairly — eMusic! If you click on that box on the top right-hand corner of the page and sign up for an eMusic account, you'll get 25 free downloads, all in MP3 format with no DRM attached, so they'll work fine with any iPod or MP3 player. More than 1 million tracks from indie artists and labels are available through eMusic, including tunes from Natalie Walker, Slovo, Bitstream Dream, and all the artists featured on this week's podcast, and subscriptions start at $9.99 a month for 40 tracks a month — much better than the 99 cents per song that you have to pay at iTunes.
In the interest of full disclosure, Dave's Lounge receives a commission for every person who signs up for an eMusic account through this web site. In other words, if you're looking for a way to support this podcast and get a great deal on new music, this is it. Of course, you'll still be able to buy CDs from the Dave's Lounge Shop, too, if you would rather have uncompressed music.
Due to some limitations in LibSyn's software, I've been unable to remove all the iTunes links from this site. However, I would encourage all of you to avoid those links. If you wish to continue using iTunes to download this podcast, that's fine, but when it comes to buying independent music, you'll find a much better deal at eMusic.
Playlist for Dave's Lounge #57:
- Emptyself, “None Except You”
- Bitstream Dream, “Kite Flight”
- The Tao of Groove, “Maybe”
- Atomica, “Delorian”
- J-Boogie, “Le Booty Cinematique”
- Bethurum, “Bad Luck Drifter”
- Hip Son, “Drama is Over”
Enjoy the show!