I've always thought that it would be a great idea for GOG to buy the website 7Digital.com and start selling DRM-Free digital music. I realize that 7Digital is already DRM-Free, but it would be great see GOG expand their presence in the DRM-Free market. They already sell movies and game soundtracks, so why not go all out and start selling music? It's actually getting rather hard to find a one-stop shop to buy DRM-Free music. I realize that there are other places to buy music, like iTunes and Amazon, but you can't always buy the same music in every country (many countries are restricted), and it can be very annoying for those living outside the U.S. It would be great to have one website where everyone can buy the same music (not just stream music on Spotify).

https://bandcamp.com/

I have heard of Bandcamp and I think it's a really great service, but unfortunately their selection isn't great.

* I think 7Digital are also in a much better place to sell right now. They have struggled to compete against Spotify and other markets in the last few years, so I think that a company like GOG is in a much better position to take over the company and turn it around. I'm not saying that it would be easy, but they already have a huge market share in the digital goods space.

I guess it's about what kind of music you like. For my taste it's great source of DRM Free music.

True. I'm a fan of Classical and Jazz ... two genres which aren't represented all that well on Bandcamp.

GOG should do a lot of things. Acquiring a music service is what I'd consider very low on their priority list; especially given how complicated it could get.

Sure, the track might be DRM free, but was PIANO_SAMPLE_874 actually valid for use? And things like that. Not to mention that given how GOG currently treats soundtracks, it leaves me unsure they'd be a fit.

Good Old Grooves ;) Bandcamp is a lot more than just a music store. It is more like a place for artists to promote their work, be in touch with fans and also sell their merchandise. They are very artist-friendly and every now and then they even throw an event where for a whole day all earnings go 100% to the corresponding artists. I have supported -and discovered- many great bands thanks to bandcamp.

See, their operation format is quite different from GOG's. That said, I believe GOG could take a hint or two about supporting creators, e.g. 3 or 4 times a year launch a special "Developers' day" event where everything you buy goes directly to the developer. That would benefit all parties:

-Developers would get 100% from sales => would then be more motivated to support their games and bring all their other ones here
-The community would feel motivated to support them => and feel satisfied for doing so
-GOG would improve their public image => and attract both new customers and developers

Try these:

HighResAudio: https://www.highresaudio.com/en/site/index
ProStudioMasters: https://www.prostudiomasters.com/

HRA is in Germany, PSM in Canada, so the latter may work better for you as far as regional restrictions go. Those restrictions are set by record companies, and they can be as bad or worse about it as movie studios. GOG acquiring 7Digital or starting their own music store wouldn't change that.

First of all. That's a fantastic name for the music store!

Second. That's also a great idea for GOG to implement on the current website. It would absolutely serve as extra motivation for smaller developers to keep posting their games on the website. It would also help with their reputation at the moment. Thanks for the tip!

Yeah, I would want that too.
It's not even getting all music from one place, which is never going to be possible even though it's a nice goal, I would appreciate at least one store that has DRM-free FLAC quality available for customers from all over the world, and having prices which aren't 10 times the price of a CD!

So far, I haven't found any such place (BandCamp doesn't count), so I have practically speaking stopped buying music altogether, not counting some indie bundles.

I really can't see in whose best interests it is to limit the number of customers, to offer lower quality compressed music, and ask rip-off prices for it. It can't be a good business?

With GOG adding all the time more regional and functional restrictions to their service, I can't see GOG being that service in the future either. What GOG realistically could do, however, is to offer "Music for Gamers". A selection of game soundtracks and such which don't come as bonus goodies or DLCs.

There are even bands like Press Play On Tape, whose releases would be the best possible fit for GOG's catalogue, but I guess GOG just doesn't care.

I buy most of my music from 7digital (DRM-free FLAC, what is not to like?) and I can confidently say that GOG, despite people complaining, offers a better service for games than 7digital offers for music.

I also occasionally buy from Bandcamp, but yeah, the selection is not as good.

I found the following issues with 7digital:
- Credit card is not integrated (you have to connect to Paypal separately)
- They don't keep your music indefinitely. At some point, some of your albums (probably when they re-release or stop selling) become unavailable. So you really need to rely on your backups as your first line of defense here.
- Sometimes, some music doesn't download viable music files because they have bad files and their only solution when that happens is to issue a refund (personally, I'd much rather they fix it, I bought the song for a reason)

So yeah, I don't think GOG diversifying (ie, movies) has worked that well in the past, plus they could not integrate 7digital as-is and give GOG users the quality of service they are used to.

It took me some time to look past that B2B part of the website.
It looks interesting, but after the Movies adventure, and its finances being not at their all-time-high, I think GOG is looking into diversifying their operations.
It is true they could move their OST to a different section, but I don't know if they sell well enough to bet on that horse.