Anthology Recordings

A super-duper music geek friend just linked me to Anthology Recordings, the first digital reissue label which, within 5 minutes, already had me tuned in to rarities I never knew even existed. Fabulous ’60s Thai go-go girl band? Check. Compelling, heart-lifting soul from Bobby Patterson? Uh-huh. Early recordings from stoner rock progenitors Sir Lord Baltimore? Yeah, baby. According to a chat with Wired, the label’s Keith Abrahamsson takes advantage of songs and albums that have outlasted their copyright dates and whose ownership have gone back to the artists themselves. It’s a good deal for everyone; you pay as little as .98 cents for a song, $9.98 for an album, and the artists get their well-deserved cash. Listening to the music samples are fun, but reading the biographies, oftentimes written by a producer or band member of the group you’re checking out, adds a personal touch you won’t find on other MP3 sites. And as if they haven’t already made us giddy with this service, all the tracks are DRM free. Which means you can listen to your purchases via the multiple methods you want but be sure to make your friends buy their own copies. It’s the right thing to do and can prove again to the big record companies that we can be responsible for the music that we adore.