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Sufjan's Label Takes On Amazon's Pricing Structure
There's little doubt that Amazon's $3.99 album download price for indie albums has helped Arcade Fire and other bands hit the top ten. But one act doesn't want anything to do with Amazon's cheap album sales: Sufjan Stevens and his label Asthmatic Kitty, which put out the below statement about how they would like you to buy his album for more than $3.99.
"We have it on good authority that Amazon will be selling The Age of Adz for a very low price on release date, not unlike they did with Arcade Fire's recent (and really terrific) The Suburbs," reads the letter. "We have mixed feelings about discounted pricing. Like we said, we love getting good music into the hands of good people, and when a price is low, more people buy. A low price will introduce a lot of people to Sufjan's music and to this wonderful album. For that, we're grateful. But we also feel like the work that our artists produce is worth more than a cost of a latte. We value the skill, love, and time they've put into making their records. And we feel that our work too, in promotion and distribution, is also valuable and worthwhile."
"That's why we personally feel that physical products like EPs should sell for around $7 and full-length CDs for around $10-12 We think digital EPs should sell for around $5 and full-length digital albums for something like $8. So you might wonder why we'd 'allow' Amazon to sell it for lower than that. There are several reasons why, but mostly? It's because we believe in you. We trust you and in your ability to make your own choice."
So there you have it. If you buy Age of Adz on Amazon, you are officially a jerk, basically. Buy physical, y'all!
The big news, however, is that if you pre-order the physical copy of Age of Adz, you can get a digital advance on Sept. 28. Which is next week. [P4K]
More on Sufjan Stevens
Watch Sufjan Stevens Perform with Nico Muhly & Bryce Dessner
Hear Rosie Thomas And Sufjan Stevens Team Up For Record Store Day Single
Listen: Sufjan Stevens, Serengeti & Son Lux's "Museum Day"
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It is sad that great music nowadays can be bought for less than the price of a value meal, but you can't stop technology. Ultimately I'm glad that more people are exposed to the music, but on the other hand the low prices cheapen how valuable it actually is.
What is happening is that Amazon is trying to put every single small music store in the country out of business. They don't care about profitability. They don't care about their stockholders. All they care about is trying to steal every sale of every product ever made from all the upstanding, hard working Americans who run small shops all over the United States of America. Please try to support your local music stores!
AnalogGuy