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I’m glad to announce the latest major break through here on Lucinda Williams.com and that is the ability to buy MP3 files from Lucinda directly. These files are NOT DRM’d, completely approved by Lost Highway and compatible on ALL digital music players including iPods. Previously peopled asked what is the best way to buy music from Lucinda and the answer is, right here at the official store of Lucinda Williams.com.
Don’t hesitate to direct any customer support questions to the customer support link in the store or by calling the 800 number listed.
Thanks,
Webmasta
Great news but I have a couple of questions.
1. What is the sample rate of the recordings?
2. How come no Live 08 EP? I am still waiting (impatiently) for the promised UK availability!…and question 3 – when can those of us outside of the US get a look in?
(Feeling very left out over here on my little island 😥 )
And, not to pile on, but are there any plans for offering “rare” tracks; i.e., unreleased stuff, demo versions, etc.?
Thanks,
Tom
tnttracey,
You’re not piling on, just letting them know what you will put your dollars down for. I have all the albums except Ramblin, which I might have to finally buy. Also, she does so many single songs on albums, it would be great to just buy her song, rather than the whole album. I’ve recently bought the Remebering Kate Bush, and Timeless tribute to Hank Williams primarily to get the songs Lu performed although there are plenty of other good songs. There are tons of songs I’d love to buy legitamately if I could find them anywhere.
Steve
Before I, the webmasta (aka “only the messenger”), answer a few of these questions in regards to digital tracks in the Store, I thought I’d put a few things in perspective…
One should remember that Lucinda is under a recording contract to Lost Highway, a label owned by Universal Music Group. So if she sells a CD at a show or in her website, it is because she was been able to purchase it herself from the label and then in turn sell it to her fans. An honest way the label helps her earn a living, in these difficult music industry times. This is a pretty common business practice between labels and artists.On the other hand, a large record label allowing their artist to sell digital tracks in their store IS NOT common. The fact that she is allowed to even sell digital tracks let alone MP3’s (256 kbps) is an incredibly rare privilege for an artist under contract to a large music company.
The plan for the merch store was to try and get the sales rights to all of her Digital Albums into the store starting with the ability to sell the UMG catalog first. The sales rights to the remainder of her officially released catalog is in the works, with approvals for these catalog items underway.
Yes LU In 08′ is available here in this merch store, you just have to go to page 2 of the digital downloads section.
However this store is only allowed to sell digital tracks to those in the US. This a label implemented policy due to the fact that the label has separate companies in international territories that control her catalog in each. Hence why there are multiple iTunes stores and not just one store selling to every territory. Note…This is a standard state of affairs across all major labels and this is not going to change soon. However Fans CAN purchase digital tracks in the UK from iTunes.
International purchase and shipping for Physical merch will be available soon.
As for rare tracks such as demos, live stuff etc., becoming available, it is certainly the intention of management to secure the ability to do so. But what stuff and at what time is going to be determined by in large by the bigger forces governing her contractual obligations. What you will notice is that everything Universal has made commercially available, in digital form, is now available here in her store WITH NO DRM. So you can play these tracks in anything music player devise with MP3 support, including iPod’s, Zune’s, Sansung’s, creative lab players etc. Heck you can buy a $29 dollar MP3 player and these files will work just fine.
Also this new store allows for the purchase of both physical and digital merchandise and including the LIVE CD series in one shopping cart. Previously their were 2 separate shopping carts simply for LIVE CD’s vs Lost Highway CD’s. This is now simplified and with more and more products being planned for the store including the Buick 6 CD’s.
The best part is these are higher quality files than iTunes, the best quality available online (256 kbps) and Lucinda makes the most money from these sales than anywhere else. So if fans really want to support her via purchasing her digital tracks, this is the best way to do it.
Webmasta
Thanks for the reply & explanation, WebMASTA. I do not envy the legal hassles you & others have to go through to offer Lu’s fans these digital downloads. But the effort is much appreciated.
Tom
WebMASTA,
No one is blaming you (and certainly not Tom or Lucinda) for the mismatch between availability across the world. The problem lies with an industry that still has its head up its 20th century backside and hasn’t bothered to move with the times, merely expecting the shekels to keep pouring in as long as they put their ‘product’ in nice boxes. Trouble is, we live in a global, digital world now. An album can be on the other side of the world in less time than it takes to say its name out loud and all of these provincial deals, where different companies ‘own’ the rights to sell an artists work in different countries, are unworkable and have been for the best part of a decade.
Is it any wonder that people turn to illegal downloads and bit-torrents when they are unable to purchase the genuine article merely because they live on the wrong side of some imaginary line in the sand? And once those people get used to picking up whatever recordings they want for free out of necessity, is it any wonder that many never go back?
I have always believed in supporting artists. I will pay a reasonable price for a legal download / CD every time. But when that legal option does not exist…
…well let’s just say that I’ve come to the point in the discussion where I plead the 5th, as you colonial chappies put it!
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