Cowboy poetry set to take downloads by storm

The Smithsonian Institution in the US is adopting a pay-per-download model as a new opportunity to generate income and offer greater access to its unique catalogue.

And the word unique is not used lightly. Two titles currently for sale on the organisation's website include Abayudaya: The Music of the Jews of Uganda (a must for any Islington dinner party - when you tire of Dido) and Cowboy Poetry Classics.

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the nonprofit record label of the Washington, D.C.-based national museum, has long struggled to efficiently market the recordings in its massive archives. On Monday, however, the organisation announced that it will soon make all 33,000 of its titles available for download for 99 cents each.

Perhaps unaware that it may already struggle to be taken seriously, selling Cowboy Poetry online, the Smithsonian plans to launch the service on April Fools Day - 1 April - and is in the process of converting the material to digital formats.

The dawn of the pay-per-song era, spurred largely by the success of Apple's iTunes service, presents a unique opportunity for the Smithsonian. Previously forced to be content with marketing full-length albums or compilations of its collections through traditional mail-order or ecommerce methods, the institution will now be capable of allowing people to purchase the specific recordings they might be looking for at a reasonable price. The collection includes everything from American Indian dance music to the earliest recordings of jazz.

Matt Hines writes for News.com