First off, let me say that I actually do believe in respecting copyright laws. I’m a writer, for Christ’s sake, of course I believe in them. Having said that, I have to say that every time a spokesperson for the RIAA (or that asshole lawyer for Metallica) opens their mouths, I want to run out and start downloading MP3s just to spite them.
Here’s the problem, as I see it. The RIAA sees sharing copyrighted music files as an illegal activity (hmmm, that’s a real stretch). And, because they had so much trouble with Napster in the bad ole days, their response to the whole idea of downloadable music is… uh uh, no way… you’re breakin’ the law there, sonny! (The Metallica lawyer put it succinctly “you can’t compete with free”.)
Except, here’s the problem with that logic. I love music. I listen to a lot of different things and I’m always looking for new stuff. You’d think I’d be a big MP3 guy, but I never really got into it. The main reason for me had nothing to do with the copyright problem… I was checking out Napster while everyone naively believed that what they were doing was okay.
But for me, the problem’s always has been that “shopping” for songs via file sharing is simply way too time intensive for me. I’ve got to go looking for the song I want, find out who’s got it for download, wait while it downloads from his crappy server, then click on the downloaded file, only to discover that the guy that burned the MP3 has no concept of how to burn a clean file and I’ve ended up with something I won’t listen to.
But, I wouldn’t mind being able to grab those MP3s and fill up my little MP3 player or Pocket PC, if there were only a simple, one-stop shopping point to do it! And I’m pretty willing to bet there are a lot of people that feel the same way. We’re not all college students browsing the university file servers for mp3s, after all.
As the RIAA loves to point out, though, there are dozens of places on the web where you can go to download music legally. This, unfortunately, leads me to my big problem with the whole thing. The whole “dozens of places” idea should lead you to a situation where you’ve got a lot of choices and options for downloading your music and you can shop for the deal or plan that you like best.
In reality, of course, it doesn’t work that way. Music Service A only allows streaming audio or downloads that expire at the end of each month. Of course, they’ve got the largest library. Music Service B allows you that streaming audio and a limited number of downloads a month, 10 of which you can burn to a CD. Their library, of course, is limited to one or two labels. Music Services C, D, E, and so on all have their own esoteric plans and limited libraries… it’s all an ugly mess where, if you REALLY want a broad selection of music, you’re going to have to join several of these groups.
Sorry, I’m out. I can barely, at this point, generate enough interest to join one music service, let alone contemplate joining seven or eight, simply so I can find the selection of music I want and be able to do what I want with it. Maybe I’ve been spoiled for years by my CD collection, but if I want to put together a mix-CD to listen to on my way to work, I don’t want to have to go jumping through a dozen legal loops, only to find that the last song I need to complete my masterwork is on the one freaking service that absolutely forbids downloads.
So, along comes Apple iTunes… Great news! Huge library, agreements with all the major record labels, you can download your songs and drop ‘em in your iPod or even burn ‘em to a CD. Oh, but wait a minute… You’re on a PC?!? Oops. Sorry, never mind. (Even more annoying, even if you’ve got a Mac, if you’re not running OSX, you’re still outta luck). But, despite these restrictions, Apple iTunes is still a huge hit.
Now you’d think that others would see this success and jump on the bandwagon, wouldn’t you? Not so fast on the assumptions there… BuyMusic.com was the first to launch after iTunes. But, not only can’t you burn the music to a CD… the downloads don’t come in mp3 format. So, got that expensive new mp3 player burning a hole in your back pocket? Sorry dude, put it away, you’re not using it here!
But finally, along comes Music Match:
‘MusicMatch… acquired liberal usage rules similar to those in Apple's acclaimed iTunes Music Store: Buyers can burn songs and transfer them to portable devices as often as they want. Music Match CEO Dennis Mudd said, “We held off launching until we could get these rules. If you make it too hard on users, they'll just go to Kazaa.”’
Wow, what a brilliant statement… a truly enlightened concept. “If you make it simple enough, people will pay to use your service!” Damn, someone explain this to the RIAA quick. Or, better yet, let that moron from Metallica know.
I’m definitely going to have to check out Music Match. This sounds like one I could use.
Here’s the problem, as I see it. The RIAA sees sharing copyrighted music files as an illegal activity (hmmm, that’s a real stretch). And, because they had so much trouble with Napster in the bad ole days, their response to the whole idea of downloadable music is… uh uh, no way… you’re breakin’ the law there, sonny! (The Metallica lawyer put it succinctly “you can’t compete with free”.)
Except, here’s the problem with that logic. I love music. I listen to a lot of different things and I’m always looking for new stuff. You’d think I’d be a big MP3 guy, but I never really got into it. The main reason for me had nothing to do with the copyright problem… I was checking out Napster while everyone naively believed that what they were doing was okay.
But for me, the problem’s always has been that “shopping” for songs via file sharing is simply way too time intensive for me. I’ve got to go looking for the song I want, find out who’s got it for download, wait while it downloads from his crappy server, then click on the downloaded file, only to discover that the guy that burned the MP3 has no concept of how to burn a clean file and I’ve ended up with something I won’t listen to.
But, I wouldn’t mind being able to grab those MP3s and fill up my little MP3 player or Pocket PC, if there were only a simple, one-stop shopping point to do it! And I’m pretty willing to bet there are a lot of people that feel the same way. We’re not all college students browsing the university file servers for mp3s, after all.
As the RIAA loves to point out, though, there are dozens of places on the web where you can go to download music legally. This, unfortunately, leads me to my big problem with the whole thing. The whole “dozens of places” idea should lead you to a situation where you’ve got a lot of choices and options for downloading your music and you can shop for the deal or plan that you like best.
In reality, of course, it doesn’t work that way. Music Service A only allows streaming audio or downloads that expire at the end of each month. Of course, they’ve got the largest library. Music Service B allows you that streaming audio and a limited number of downloads a month, 10 of which you can burn to a CD. Their library, of course, is limited to one or two labels. Music Services C, D, E, and so on all have their own esoteric plans and limited libraries… it’s all an ugly mess where, if you REALLY want a broad selection of music, you’re going to have to join several of these groups.
Sorry, I’m out. I can barely, at this point, generate enough interest to join one music service, let alone contemplate joining seven or eight, simply so I can find the selection of music I want and be able to do what I want with it. Maybe I’ve been spoiled for years by my CD collection, but if I want to put together a mix-CD to listen to on my way to work, I don’t want to have to go jumping through a dozen legal loops, only to find that the last song I need to complete my masterwork is on the one freaking service that absolutely forbids downloads.
So, along comes Apple iTunes… Great news! Huge library, agreements with all the major record labels, you can download your songs and drop ‘em in your iPod or even burn ‘em to a CD. Oh, but wait a minute… You’re on a PC?!? Oops. Sorry, never mind. (Even more annoying, even if you’ve got a Mac, if you’re not running OSX, you’re still outta luck). But, despite these restrictions, Apple iTunes is still a huge hit.
Now you’d think that others would see this success and jump on the bandwagon, wouldn’t you? Not so fast on the assumptions there… BuyMusic.com was the first to launch after iTunes. But, not only can’t you burn the music to a CD… the downloads don’t come in mp3 format. So, got that expensive new mp3 player burning a hole in your back pocket? Sorry dude, put it away, you’re not using it here!
But finally, along comes Music Match:
‘MusicMatch… acquired liberal usage rules similar to those in Apple's acclaimed iTunes Music Store: Buyers can burn songs and transfer them to portable devices as often as they want. Music Match CEO Dennis Mudd said, “We held off launching until we could get these rules. If you make it too hard on users, they'll just go to Kazaa.”’
Wow, what a brilliant statement… a truly enlightened concept. “If you make it simple enough, people will pay to use your service!” Damn, someone explain this to the RIAA quick. Or, better yet, let that moron from Metallica know.
I’m definitely going to have to check out Music Match. This sounds like one I could use.
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