What’s happening?
Juno Download is closing after more than two decades. “It’s been our privilege to share some of the most incredible music from the most amazing artists,” the store said, “but we’re sorry to say that the time has come to say goodbye.” COO Lucas Garcia framed it bluntly: as streaming became the dominant model and artists moved to “direct to fan” services like Bandcamp, “the role of the music webstore is becoming less significant.”
Why it stings for the underground
Download stores are where a lot of the deep, tech and minimal crowd still buys the files DJs actually play. Every à-la-carte shop that closes narrows the routes by which money reaches small labels, and pushes more of the trade onto a shrinking set of platforms.
What’s left
Juno is directing users to Beatport and Traxsource, and says customers can still download previous purchases through their accounts. The store launched in 2006 and was sold to a US company in 2013.
