1.5 (4) Enable downloads
This hype for taking the fullest advantage of the archiving possibilities online seems to have been noticed by smaller fish as well. The Gramophone magazine has been publishing content related to classical music ever since 1923. In May 2008 it announced the plans to put every single word or note ever published on the magazine’s pages on its Internet archive. The articles are meant to be available for free for the subscribed users.
Another extraordinary feature envisioned by the magazine’s editor James Inverne is the possibility to download music files for a small fee. This makes perfect sense for a music magazine but is still not very popular amongst other such publications.
A person thinking about downloading a certain symphony by e.g. Beethoven could first search Gramophone’s archive to read the reviews. On top of that he or she could read the interviews with conductors and performers in order to make an informed choice.
Once a decision has been made, the person could listen to the file and only then decide if they want to buy it, either electronically or by home delivery. The underlying belief is that the classical music industry has been slow when it comes to digital downloads. Gramophone decided to be quick to fill the gap and thus, to increase its revenues by using the fuller potential its online presence enables. The archive is planned to start running in September 2008 and music download in January 2009 (Brown, 2008).
What is striking about this example is the fact that together with the creation of the downloadable music archive the audience’s certain need will be fulfilled. Sharing music online is nothing new. Buying legal music online is nothing new either. What is new is the fact that the magazine is going out of its way to provide an additional service like this.
It makes perfect sense to create a music archive on top of articles archive and creating such a service will definitely influence the experience of accessing the information on Gramophone’s website. Influence positively.
