It's Weirdly Hard to Buy Music Now

Yesterday, the new Hilltop hoods new album Fall From the Light dropped! I don't really listen to hip-hop much but brother did growing up and like most younger brothers I was impressionable. I'm happy I started listening to them because I've had the chance to come see them every time they come to the US. Usually it corresponds with a new album release so fingers crossed they come by next year.

It is my understanding that in the age of streaming concerts are now a really important revenue source for artists. [^ I had a really hard time finding primary sources for numbers on this topic. It's not my area of expertise, so I'll stick to generalities.] So support them if you can! Second to that is directly buying their music, since it's digital the margins are pretty good. [^ Merch actually seems a really big component as well.]

The Quest

So the question is: In the year 2025, how hard is it to buy and download a DRM free lossless version of an album?

I want to directly buy music to support an artist I care about. One option is to buy a CD, but that involves shipping, packaging and ultimately waste because I would just rip the music and then the disc would sit around. Don't get me wrong, the backup of a disk is wonderful and rare these days. However, I'm personally trying to fight my urge to buy more physical goods.

So instead I wanted to figure out where in this blighted hellscape I could digitally purchase the album. My requirements are:

1. DRM Free, that way I can plop it on any device I want.
2. Lossless quality. If I actually bought a CD I would rip the songs in FLAC. So if a digital download is roughly the cost of a CD, then I better be able to download the music as something better than a lossy mp3.

This is because I self-host my music streaming. Navidrome running on my server and Symfonium on my phone (which I've written about before).

The Options

Back in the day I used to check Bandcamp first when I wanted to buy an album. [^ For example the soundtrack to any games by Toby Fox.] Then Epic Games bought them in 2022. Then the employees tried to form a union. Then every member of the union bargaining team was laid off and they were sold off to Songtradr. So, Bandcamp is really an option now...

Anyways, the Hilltop Hoods website has a short link with a list of places to get the album. In order we have:

The Official store: Listed as the "Limited Edition Vinyl, Merch & CD" in the shortlist.
The idea scenario for me is a digital download direct from the artist. That way a 3rd party is not taking a cut of the purchase, and what luck, the store also has a digital download listing! That seemed promising but, the page has the ominous paragraph:

Digital album will be delivered via email upon purchase. Please note: Digital downloads will only be available to Australian customers & are delivered as MP3 44.1KHZ audio files.

So not only is this limited to Australia, but also the music is not lossless.

Apple Music, Spotify, Youtube, Youtube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, SoundClou: all listed as "Play"
I have been able to download albums from Apple Music in the past but do not see the option here. Regardless, all of these look to be streaming only.

JB Hi-Fi, Sanity, The Sound of Vinyl: Listed as "Limited Edition Vinyl & CD"
Weirdly two of the options are just listed as a vague "Go To". They only provides physical purchases.

Amazon: Listed as "Vinyl & CD"
We don't want to support them.

iTunes Store:
The link just takes me to the same Apple Music page as before and there is no option to buy.

Tidal & Qobuz: listed as "Play"
Finally towards the bottom of the list we have two sites that actually offer a buy option! Even though they are listed as just "play". Whats more they both offer lossless versions of the music. Huzzah.

The Purchase

I flipped a coin and went with Qobuz. After the purchase they wanted me to use their downloader to get the music. However they only support MacOS and Windows, not Linux. Thankfully they also had the option to directly download the songs... manually one at a time:

The download page also had the delightful message:

Certain works may be withdrawn from the service for legal reasons, such as a revocation of rights. The titles purchased will then no longer be available for re-download. Download your purchases quickly.

(Emphasis mine)

This is weird considering the download page also had the line "Own your music with the new Qobuz Downloader". It almost feels like even Qobuz doesn't trust that they can keep this model going.

So yes, it was still possible to buy the album, but I think the whole process took 40 minutes all together for me to figure out. Which reminds me of the infamous interview with Gabe Newell that is now almost 13 years old but still as true as ever:

“We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem,” he said. “If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the US release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate’s service is more valuable.” - Gabe Newell

Well put Gabe, well put.