Highway 61
While the music industry has decided that the biggest culprit of declining revenues is free streaming music, The Kansas City Star (a most unlikely source) anoints Thesixtyone.com as site of the week. I must admit that it streams some great music. TheSixtyOne is also unique in terms of user experience. Like most streaming sites, it does provide the means for listeners to buy music, but it also has a ridiculously good approach to navigation and user experience. The site also shows listeners bios, photos instantly. I’m actually blown away by the site, and I’m a music service subscriber.
The site was of course named after the iconic highway 61. Allegedly, artists are able to make substantially more by selling music through TheSixtyOne, than on competing services–good for the artists! I’m sure better for some artists than for others. If the service is providing the profits it claims, artists should rejoice in the revenue stream option provided by the TheSixtyOne. Industry execs will on the other hand continue to cry in the face of continued profit loss.