When you think of Garth Brooks, you probably think of his music, his 10-gallon hat or maybe even his emo rock alter ego Chris Gaines. But thinking of Brooks as the next Steve Jobs probably doesn't come to mind.
Maybe we should start envisioning Brooks wearing black turtlenecks now, because the country music superstar has just launched a new music streaming and download service to rival iTunes called GhostTunes. The service "allows artists to sell music any way they want to," Brooks said at a press conference announcing the launch, as reported by The L.A. Times.
GhostTunes and its offering of more than seven million singles and albums by hundreds of artists is already up and running. Not only does it sell all of Brook's discography, but it also includes music from more contemporary country artists like Miranda Lambert, Top 40 hitmakers like Ariana Grande and rock legends like The Rolling Stones.
Brooks envisions GhostTunes as an alternative to popular music download and streaming services like iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. The singer's music currently does not appear on any of these platforms. Brooks has criticized iTunes for focusing on selling artists' singles rather than the entire album, which he says hurts the songwriters and music publishers that depend on the income from whole album sales. Other artists that famously resisted joining iTunes were The Beatles and AC/DC, who both eventually made their music available on the platform. Along with Brooks, Tool is really the last major holdout from iTunes.
What's interesting about GhostTunes though is that it still operates very similarly to iTunes or Amazon where users can choose to just purchase a single or the whole album. However, Brooks said artists can decide how to sell their music on the service, whether that means selling individual tracks, only an album or making the music available solely through streaming and not downloadable. Brooks said the difference between GhostTunes and other online music services is that whoever owns the copyright to the music decides how it's sold, not those in charge of the platform. The music users download will be put in their "locker," which they can access from computers, smartphones and tablets from any manufacturer.
The name GhostTunes may sound a bit eerie, but it actually stands for "G-hosted site," referring to Brooks' first name and his role as part-owner of the company. Digital access to Brooks' music is also the biggest selling point for the service, which is offering "The Bundle" including all eight of Brooks' studio albums and his new album dropping this fall.
The battle between those who make music and those who sell music has raged on since music has been big business, but it has been especially contentious in the digital age, which the music industry has never really been able to recover from. Let's see if GhostTunes can change that.
