Portebla Vinilkosmo (updated)

Very briefly: Vinilkosmo has apparently woken up to the reality of the music biz, and this URL should say it all:

http://www.vinilkosmo-mp3.com/

Because the MP3 site was only recently launched it has a small selection so far (especially when compared to the physical CD mothersite). I haven't had a chance to test their ordering system yet, but it does hold some promise. Just don't throw away your bookmarks to other libroservoj yet.

Update 2009.07.11: Following up...

I've bought a few albums from Vinilkosmo–MP3 — the two albums by Kore, one by jOmo, and the one by Strika Tango. While the ordering process is relatively easy and fast (via PayPal), potential future customers should take note of a few things.

You can expect to pay 10 to 12 Euros (currently USA $13.94 – 16.72) for a "plena albumo," with shorter albums costing 6 Euros (about $8.36). Individual songs go for 1 Euro (USA $1.39).

On Vinilkosmo–MP3, a "plena albumo" usually consists only of the album's main content (in geek speak: those tracks in the WAV format as mastered for Compact Disc). It does not include most bonus content — be they karaoke MP3s or videos. You have to buy those items separately; videos are purchased in a separate section of the site.

"Plenaj albumoj" also do not include lyrics, credits (for songwriting, playing, recording, etc.), or even the front cover artwork (which you might as well scarf from elsewhere). The lack of the last one might irritate those with newer Apple iPod or other media players which can display album artwork while a track plays.

In some cases, you will also have to edit the MP3 tags yourself. because it was not done properly (if at all) by Vinilkosmo. I discovered this after buying the "plenaj albumoj" of Tielas Vivo by Kore and Civilizacio by Strika Tango. (The attached screenshot shows what's tagged as "Piste 1," but it's supposed to be "La viron varmigas la sun'" [from Civilizacio], for example.)

If you buy videos, you will also have to convert them yourself to the formats your media player will accept. The two that I bought were MPEG–1 muxed — something unadvisable in this age of XviD AVI and MP4.

Videos, by the way, cost 3 Euros (USA $4.18).

While I don't want to come down hard on Vinilkosmo's Floréal Martorell — his label is a big deal to many gesamideanoj, and I for one want his digital store to succeed — I am concerned that others who have ordered from the MP3 site might feel differently. They might come to the conclusion that Vinilkosmo just rushed into the digital download business without bothering to study how other companies do it — or asking how people like their digital music and video. And that worries me, especially if the label ever gets the green light to offer MP3 versions of albums that they don't own but do sell.

S–ro Martrorell might want to check out how Carlos Devizia does things in selling his recent album, Bizara Lando . The MP3 album costs only 5 EUR (roughly $7 USD, again a simple matter with PayPal) and includes a Word–format lyrics file for all the vocal tracks as well as JPEG artwork that can be used to make your own physical CD (or which could be easily adapted for use with an iPod or software such as Amarok, iTunes, or Songbird). You can also buy individual tracks for EUR 0.99 (USA $1.38) if that's what you prefer

Vinilkosmo is right to get into the digital download business. It just needs to do it better.

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