Other Music
Other Music was a music retail store that sold CDs, records and cassettes online and at their brick-and-mortar location in the Noho neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The store specialized in the sale of closely curated underground, rare and experimental music.
![](../I/Othermusicshop.jpg.webp)
The physical store was located at 15 E 4th St, New York, NY 10003 from 1995 to June 2016.
In January 2007, Other Music announced that it planned to sell high-quality MP3 files for download without using any type of digital rights management.[1] This announcement follows similar moves made by other small online music retailers, including United Kingdom-based Rough Trade, New York-based Insound and New York-based Anthology Recordings. The announcement also coincided with the closing of Tower Records' Lower Manhattan location. According to Other Music co-owner Josh Madell, this closing signifies the growing hardship of selling music out of a physical store, especially considering his store's location just across the street from Tower.[2]
In August 2012, Other Music launched the record label Other Music Recording Company in a partnership with the Oxford, Mississippi-based record label Fat Possum Records. Among the label's first releases was an album by Japanese musician Shintaro Sakamoto.[3]
In May 2016, Other Music announced its plans to close on June 25.[4] Co-owner Josh Madell cited rising rents and the changing face of the music industry as the reasons for the closure.[5]
Writing about Other Music's closure for The New Yorker, Amanda Petrusich said, "In 1999, if you were the type of person who was looking for something a little different (more challenging, more sophisticated, more esoteric) from the schlock being peddled to the herds of dead-eyed automatons browsing the Tower Records up the block, then here was the store for you!"[6]
References
- A Real Music Store Sprouts Online
- village voice > music > The Brave New World of Digital Music by Andy Beta
- Beta, Andy (2012-08-22). "The Other Side". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
- Coscarelli, Joe Other Music Record Shop, Yielding to Trends, Will Close New York Times. June 22, 2016
- NYC record store Other Music says goodbye after 20 years MSNBC. June 22, 2016
- Petrusich, Amanda Why Record Stores Mattered The New Yorker. June 22, 2016
External links
- "A Real Music Store Sprouts Online", Wired News, January 22, 2007
- "In the Shadow of No Tower", The Village Voice, January 26, 2007
- Other Music Website (still active)
- Spotify Music Promotion
- Anthology Recordings
- Rough Trade Digital
- Insound Digital