New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Resonant Vibes) - At a time when other dance music download stores are selling songs for prices ranging from $2.50 to $3.00, Resonant Vibes (www.ResonantVibes.com) is shaking things up by selling WAV and MP3 downloads for $1.50.
The prices of dance music downloads have historically been different from the prices of mainstream music downloads. For example, iTunes has always sold individual songs for $0.99, and other mainstream music download stores have adopted similar prices or have offered their inventory on a subscription basis. On the other hand, dance music download stores (which focus on subgenres like techno, house, trance, drum and bass, electro, etc.) have maintained higher pricing schemes for several reasons.
First, most dance music download stores are selling songs to a different target market - specifically, to dance music DJs. In years past, these DJs were paying considerably more (usually between $10.00 and $20.00) to buy vinyl records so they could mix dance music songs together using turntables. The higher prices of vinyl records still serve as a reference point for DJs today, making them more willing to pay as much as $3.00 to download a song. Dance music DJs are also often willing to pay more for downloads because dance music songs are typically longer than those of other genres. Finally, dance music downloads have a higher perceived value because they are usually sold in a higher quality audio format than mainstream music downloads.
Given all of these factors, most dance music download stores have felt justified in charging their customers between $2.50 and $3.00 for a song, but Resonant Vibes has a different philosophy. It offers dance music downloads for $1.50 each and gives customers the option of choosing either the WAV or 320 kbps MP3 format.
Resonant Vibes insists that its pricing scheme is fair and beneficial to the dance music community as a whole. Eddie Babbage, the company's CEO, says,
"We're not going to charge our customers more than $1.50 because that's a fair price for a dance music download. Everybody wins this way. Our customers can afford to buy and enjoy more dance music, which ultimately provides better sales for the artists."
In order to maintain its pricing scheme, Resonant Vibes has taken advantage of cloud computing solutions that lower the cost of storing inventory. "Since we're now hosting our catalog for a fraction of the previous cost, we're able to pass that value on to our customers," says Craig Bruenderman, the company's CIO.
With the launch of its version 2.0 website in March of this year, Resonant Vibes is becoming an increasingly visible player in the dance music industry. Their unique approach to pricing dance music downloads is already causing a stir. It remains to be seen what the company's impact will be on their niche market and the overall digital music industry.
Resonant Vibes is dedicated to providing the world's best online electronic music experience by offering a unique digital music store with complementary content and community features.
