Screenshot of GhostTunes.com
Country music singing star Garth Brooks is making headlines once again as he finally makes his music catalogue available digitally – on his very own online music platform.
Despite being one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, Brooks has eschewed digital distribution on platforms such as iTunes for some time. Finding no online music service that suited his needs, he has decided to establish his own: GhostTunes.com.
GhostTunes is more than just a vanity project for Brooks and has launched with more than 7m singles and albums from a wide range of artists and genres. Current top albums include the Frozen soundtrack, Ed Sheeran’s X, Iggy Azalea’s The New Classic, 5 Seconds of Summer’s self-titled debut, Rise Against’s Black Market and Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour, while Sia’s Chandelier chases Brad Paisley’s Perfect Storm in the singles chart. Overall, the collection reflects the music that’s in demand right now.
Treating music with the utmost respect
GhostTunes has some firmly established competition from the likes of iTunes and Amazon, but it aims to differentiate itself from other options out there by being an artist-friendly service.
“This is a site that treats music with the utmost respect, where our job every day is to offer music the way the artist wants to share it to the listeners who live for and love it,” said Brooks at a press conference on 4 September.
The site claims the artists it features can sell their music in the way they choose – be that as full albums, singles only or in bundles with other goodies. To wit, the site will not only sell digital music but a range of multimedia content and artist merchandise.
Brooks’ own catalogue can be bought as a bundle of eight albums, a 25th anniversary edition live double album, concert film and his two new albums – yet to be released – for the bargain price US$30.
To date, Brooks has sold more than 190m albums, singles and videos, and he’s set to sell a lot more with GhostTunes and his new album coming in November this year, followed by another in 2015.
No-holds-barred music access
For Brooks, albums are key, and so purchases of his singles on GhostTunes will actually serve as album pre-orders. For music fans who want singles only, “They’ve got radio to listen to,” he said.
For its customers, GhostTunes provides a flexible experience, whereby they can both download tracks to a device of their choice and also access their purchased music via their ‘Locker’, which stores their music in the cloud for streaming access.
The launch of GhostTunes preceded Brooks’ first performance of his 11-date comeback tour in Chicago’s Allstate Arena – but the less said about that the better. Best not to open up old wounds.
