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GhostTunes
Screenshot
GhostTunes homepage in 2016
Type of site
Private
FoundedSeptember 4, 2014;9 years ago(2014-09-04)
Headquarters
Nashville, Tennessee
Country of originUnited States
Founder(s)Garth Brooks
CEORandy Bernard
Key peopleChris Webb, Kevin Stone, Gregory Jordan
IndustryMusic
ServicesOnline music store
Digital library
URLwww.ghosttunes
RegistrationRequired
Current statusAbsorbed intoAmazon Music,March 3, 2017
Native client(s) on

GhostTuneswas anonline music storeanddigital libraryfounded by Americancountry musicsingerGarth Brooks,Randy Bernard,and Chris Webb. It launched in September 2014 and featured singles and albums from a variety of artists, including Brooks' entirecatalogue.[1][2]GhostTunes varied from other online music stores such as theiTunes Storeby allowing the individualrecord labelsto choose their selling format, such as entirealbumsorsingles(all 320 kbit/sMP3s), as well as prices, with an emphasis on fair and properroyalty payments.[1]Its digital library could be synced across multiple devices, creating a multi-platform collection encompassing all user-downloaded music, regardless of the store used to purchase.

On March 3, 2017, GhostTunes was absorbed intoAmazon Music.[3]

History[edit]

Following widely covered disagreements withmusic streaming,[4]Garth Brooksfounded GhostTunes in 2014 to coincide with his return to live performing and album releases. Itsbetaversion launched on September 4, 2014, with the full version rolling out two months later.[5]

While GhostTunes' original purpose was to exclusively showcase Brooks' music, Brooks made a push to allow many other artists to sell their music in the online store, allowing it to evolve into ane-commercesite containing more than 10 million songs available for purchase.[6]Fittingly, the first albums available for purchase through the music service were Brooks' entirecatalogue,available digitally for the first time, along with the exclusive release of his album,Man Against Machine.[1]GhostTunes remained the only online means by which to purchase Brooks' albums until his 2016 partnership withAmazon.[7]The service's name, "GhostTunes", was derived from founder Brooks' first name, Garth, and his "hosting"of the site (" G-host ").[8]

Brooks announced on October 19, 2016, in an interview withBillboard,that he was moving his music to the "Music Unlimited" streaming service fromAmazon Music,stating that he was unsure what the future held for GhostTunes. On March 3, 2017, GhostTunes ceased operations and began to redirect to Amazon Music.[3]

Clients[edit]

Desktop[edit]

GhostTunes featured an online music store and library. The library consisted of all songs and albums purchased via the GhostTunes store, available for listening immediately after download within the application. Purchased and downloaded music could also be synced directly with a user'siTunes,creating a cross-platform library.[9]

Mobile[edit]

Garth Brooks' catalogue shown on GhostTunes foriOS

GhostTunes was available viaiOSandAndroidon mobile devices. The GhostTunes application allowed for music purchases to be made within the Android application, and downloading songs and albums directly to the device.[9]It also syncs with the user's local music library, combining internal downloads with GhostTunes purchases for offline listening.[10]

Royalties and pricing[edit]

Royalty paymentshas been a pressing issue in Brooks' career, and GhostTunes reflects these concerns. When announcing the service, Brooks remarked, "This is a site that treats music with the utmost respect, where our job everyday is to offer music the way the artists want to share it to the listeners who live for and love it."[citation needed]GhostTunes allows individualrecord labelsthe freedom to sell music without financial restrictions.[1]Additionally Brooks, a long-time supporter ofalbumsales (as opposed tosingles), cited the ability of record labels to distribute with the flexibility of selling both singles and albums, or only albums.

The music service had a distribution deal with many content owners, includingUniversal Music Group,Warner Music Group,Sony Music Entertainment,The Orchard,all of which pay 80 percent revenue back to artists and writers (as opposed to the traditional 70 percent).[11]Freedom in pricing allows for some albums to be sold at lower price on GhostTunes. For example,Sam Hunt'sMontevallosold for $6.99 (less than its standardiTunesprice of $9.99). Nonetheless, while such autonomy promotes lower prices in some cases, the majority remains the same across all selling platforms.[12]

Critical reception[edit]

Harley Brown ofBillboardpraised the service, noting its resembling "a cross betweenSpotifyandeMusic".[11]Jonathan Robles ofVariance Magazinecalled GhostTunes "a win-win" for Brooks, praising the selling of full digital albums in an era of which singles take priority.[13]R-tools Technology's John Cook said GhostTunes "is worth a look", calling it "one way to get your music a bit differently" than the competitors.[14]

On the contrary,Zack O'Malley GreenburgofForbesdisagreed with the GhostTunes' lack ofstreaming,as well as Brooks' restricting his entire catalogue to the service, stating, "streaming is the future of the music industry".[15]Glenn Peoples ofBillboardremarked "consumer behavior" impacts a lack of interest in GhostTunes, citing the average person's objective to purchase music through a major, more familiar retailer (such asiTunesorAmazon).[16]Despite many critical comparisons between GhostTunes and other online music stores, CEORandy Bernardmaintains the stance that GhostTunes is to serve as an alternative, not a direct competitor.[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdLewis, Randy (4 September 2014)."Garth Brooks unveils iTunes alternative: GhostTunes".LA Times.RetrievedSep 10,2014.
  2. ^Mansfield, Brian."Garth Brooks bundles his digital music on GhostTunes".USA Today.RetrievedSep 10,2014.
  3. ^abGensler, Andy."Garth Brooks' Ghost Tunes Folding Into Amazon Music".Billboard.Retrieved17 March2017.
  4. ^Leahey, Andrew."Garth Brooks Weighs In on Spotify Controversy, Calls YouTube 'The Devil'".Rolling Stone.Retrieved16 February2016.
  5. ^Lewis, Randy."Garth Brooks unveils iTunes alternative: GhostTunes – LA Times".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved2018-01-05.
  6. ^ab"Garth Brooks' GhostTunes takes on iTunes".foxbusiness.Retrieved29 February2016.
  7. ^"Garth Brooks Creates Digital Music Partnership".AP.Retrieved15 February2016.
  8. ^Karp, Hannah (9 November 2014)."Garth Brooks Launches Download Store".Wall Street Journal.Retrieved10 November2014.
  9. ^ab"GhostTunes FAQs".GhostTunes.Archived fromthe originalon 23 February 2016.Retrieved16 February2016.
  10. ^"GhostTunes: By GhostTunes, LLC".iTunes.Apple.Retrieved16 February2016.
  11. ^abBrown, Harley."Ghost Tunes, Garth Brooks' iTunes Alternative, Launches in Full".Billboard.Retrieved16 February2016.
  12. ^Yahr, Emily."Garth Brooks is back with a new album – and a new service that could compete with Spotify and iTunes".Washington Post.Retrieved29 February2016.
  13. ^Robles, Jonathan."Garth Brooks' iTunes Alternative: Is It Really a Game-Changer?".Variance Magazine.Retrieved16 February2016.
  14. ^Cook, John."GhostTunes: Digital Music by Garth Brooks".R-Tools Technology Inc.Retrieved16 February2016.
  15. ^Greenburg, Zack O'Malley."The One Thing Garth Brooks Is Doing Wrong In His Comeback".Forbes.Retrieved16 February2016.
  16. ^Peoples, Glenn."Why Garth Brooks Should Have Gone With iTunes".Billboard.Retrieved16 February2016.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GhostTunes&oldid=1220789119"