If you’re like me and love world music, then you’re likely disappointed by almost all the current online song download services like iTunes. Finding even the most common world music songs on these sites is a hit or miss proposition.
Some are trying to fill the niche like Calabash Music, which offers a free song download each day. You can learn more about the songs and the artists from their Free Song a Day blog. Calabash also has a paid service with songs costing as low as 50 cents. But the problem with Calabash is that they have a limited selection of material, essentially artists with which they have relationships. There are some headliners and international stars, but the roster is filled with younger and lesser known acts. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying these artists aren’t compelling or worthwhile. Just not quite what I’m looking for.
What I’m looking for is an iTunes for world music. A service that licenses every world music title and serves as a compendium for the world music community. In my world music mp3blog I’d love to have such a resource, rather than having to scrounge around the internet for songs I’d love to feature, but don’t own myself. You’d think that some enterprising person somewhere in the world would’ve thought of this as a viable business model. If I had the technical know how and capital to put this together, I’d sure take a stab at it. As it is, I don’t have either. So I can only hope…
FYI — The labels I work with, NorthSide & Omnium, have been working on getting into the iTunes Music Store from the beginning. Apple has been glacially slow to approve our application. Likely other world music labels are in the same situation.
eMusic.com has an OK world music selection; at least enough to be worth a look. They have decent selections from Shanachie/Yazoo; Buda Musique (including the Ethiopiques albums), and many more of those smaller labels you mention. I like the pricing model of emusic, which is a monthly fee for a fixed number of downloads (at a net rate of about $0.25 per song). If you only want world music, it may not last you very long, but I’m managing to find enough interesting stuff.
AllofMP3.com, despite the name, is a legal site to get MP3s from. They’ve got a large selection of international (pop) and world music, so they might suit your needs.
presume you’ve seen this
http://www.pro-music.org/musiconline/tracker.htm