 Amie Street logo | |
 Amie Street homepage | |
| Launch date |  United States: July 4, 2006 (2006-07-04) Japan: December 11, 2007 (2007-12-11) |
|---|---|
| Platform(s) | Web-based, platform-independent (Microsoft Windows,Mac OS/X, orLinux) |
| Pricing model | Variable (demand-based),à la carte[1][2][3] |
| Availability | Worldwide for most tracks, some tracks are only available in the United States or Japan |
| Website | amiestreet |
Amie Street was anindieonline music store andsocial network service created in 2006 byBrown University seniors Elliott Breece, Elias Roman, and Joshua Boltuch, inProvidence,Rhode Island.[4] The site was notable for its demand-based pricing. The company was later moved toLong Island City inQueens,New York.[5] In late 2010, the site was sold toAmazon who redirected customers to their own website.[6]
Founded in early 2006, Amie Street opened to the public with apre-alpha version on July 4, 2006, and was quickly scooped byMichael Arrington ofTechCrunch.[7] It grew and creating partnerships with variousrecord labels includingCD Baby,[8]The Orchard,[9]Nettwerk Music Group, andDaptone Records.[citation needed] Abeta version was launched on October 4, 2006.[10] On December 11, 2007, Amie Street Japan launched in partnership withTurbolinux.
On August 5, 2007, Amie Street announced a site redesign and, led byAmazon.com, closed theirSeries A round ofventure capital funding.[5] Notableangel investors include Robin Richards, former president ofMP3.com[10] and David Hirsch, director ofGoogle'sB2B vertical markets group.[11]
In an email to Amie Street members on September 8, 2010, the website announced it would be redirecting all customers to Amazon.com starting on September 22, 2010, and ceasing to operate as amiestreet.com. Amie Street members had until September 22 to spend any credit they currently have with Amie Street, as it did not transfer to Amazon. Amazon shut down Amie Street soon after.
Artists could upload their music directly to the site inMP3 format at whatever qualitybit rate they choose, but when a record label or music distributor requires Amie Street to encode the music, they strive to achieve an average bit rate of 256 kbit/s using avariable bitrate.[12] (Other formats such asAAC,FLAC, andOgg are "on the way.")[13][14] As users buy songs, the artist is creditedquarterly. Artists keep 70% of the proceeds afterUS$5 in sales for each song.[15]Albums were priced at the current total cost for each individual song on the album, capped at US$8.98 in most cases.[2]PayPal,[5]PayoneerprepaidMasterCards,[16] or checks were used to make payments to artists.[15]
Amie Street used analgorithm to determine song prices based ondemand. The price for a track started at zero when a song was uploaded, then rose according to demand and purchases of the song. The maximum price was 98¢.[1]
Aringtone service was announced on September 17, 2007, with variable pricing.[17]
On May 15, 2007, the web serieslonelygirl15 teamed up with Amie Street to sell music featured in episodes of the show.[18][19]
Non-artist users could earn credit as well. They did this by RECing a song. When a user finds a song they believe will be a hit, they can REC it. If the song price increased from the moment they REC it, they will receive compensation based on the price increase. For example, if one RECs a song currently at 5¢ and it rises to 95¢, the user will cash out half thespread: 45¢, just for RECing the song. If a user RECs a song when it is free, they are compensated with the full spread. RECing differentiates more popular music from less, as songs that are believed to be good will be RECed more often. Users get approximately 1 REC for every US$1 of Amie Street credit they purchase.[20]
Users could connect with other users through the "friend" feature. RECs were sent out to friends to make it easier to find new music in a music "news feed".[5] There was also a "fan" feature so users can easily connect with bands on the site. All of this information was available as separateRSSweb feeds.
Amie Street launched aFacebookApplication in October 2007 called Fantasy Record Label.[21][22] This application allowed Facebook users to create a "record label" with a collection of songs that were linked with an Amie Street account, and post the label on their Facebook profile page. Songs were ranked and as their score changed, each user's label would gain or lose points. These points could be converted into Amie Street credit and could be used to purchase music.[23] Labels were also ranked and users were able to compete against each other for bragging rights.
On July 16, 2008, Amie Street launched "Download To Make A Difference", a benefit media campaign,[24][25] donating money to charities for certain downloads.[26][27] On July 29, 2008, Amie Street expanded the program with the exclusive release ofYou & Me an album by NYC indie rock bandThe Walkmen, giving proceeds toMemorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.[28] During its first week of sales, the album charted at #29 onBillboard'sTop Digital Albums.[29][30]
Amie Street was mentioned in several notable media organizations. These includeRolling Stone,[31]The Wall Street Journal,[32]BusinessWeek,[4]NPR,[33]The Washington Post,[34]Los Angeles Times,[35]Entertainment Weekly,[36]TechCrunch,[37]Boing Boing,[38]Ars Technica,[39] andWired.[40]
In March 2008, the site received additional attention because of the availability of two singles byAshley Alexandra Dupré, thecall girl at the center of theEliot Spitzer prostitution scandal. An unsigned singer, her single "Move Ya Body" set a record[41] for how fast it commanded the top price on the site following Dupré's identity as the call girl "Kristen" being revealed byThe New York Times on March 12, 2008.[42] While some speculated that she may have earned as much as US$300,000 - US$1.4 million from download sales of her singles on Amie Street,[43] others estimated her earnings to be as low as US$13,720.[44] Official sales numbers have not been released.
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