but unlike other so-called collectors I only keep the songs I really
like. My brother who lives in England is what I call an mp3 addict;
he keeps everything and anything that he finds available for
download. He is one of those people that the music industry and the
RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) says is costing
them untold billions of Dollars in lost revenues. When I last
visited him several years ago he was pulling songs off Kazaa as fast
as he could get them. Most of it was in my opinion, trash, a waste
of bytes.
Whilst I will not get on a soapbox to discuss the pros or cons, or
legalities of the actions of mp3 addicts around the world I did want
to bring to light a relatively new concept, one that is sure to
change the very fabric of the universe: Buying the songs you
want!
It's a bizarre concept I know, but nowadays there are several major
players in the single song purchasing market (see the list below).
For as long as I have been alive I have had to endure the eternal
damnation that comes with having to buy a 20 song CD just because I
happened to like 2 songs. Artists have been throwing together CD's
containing 18 songs that can only be categorized as mediocre tripe
and accidentally including 1 or 2 decent songs since the 1940's.
Even Elvis did it, except he conveniently forgot to include the
decent songs.
Apple, who I am not a big fan of in any way, pretty much made the
whole concept work. Several other companies had attempted to make it
work but it never took of. In the end it took the panache of Steve
Jobs to finally take the concept mainstream. Thanks Stevie boy.
So, getting back to my collection. My mp3 collection is by no means
astoundingly large, right at 2000 songs for my wife and I combined.
When I visit people I will, on occasion, spend as much time visiting
their CD racks as I will spend visiting them. My theory is that
everybody in the world has at least 5 good songs in their music
collection. Opinions on the actual numbers vary, but 5 songs is my
bet. It is important to note that this number rapidly drops if
Elvis, Michael Jackson or the Beegees are included in the owners CD
collection. According to the age-old bartering tradition everyone's
5 or so special songs get traded for my 5 special songs, further
strengthening the species just like procreating with strangers
obviously does.
If I hear an interesting / catchy song on the radio or while I am at
a bar I carefully write down a piece of the lyrics so I can research
it when I get home. New songs found in this manner are added to a
list cleverly named wanted songs. Weeks and months
may pass but every now and then, while scrounging through someone's
CD collection I'll find one of these wanted songs. The bartering
process begins and ultimately it ends up as part of my mp3
collection. Occasionally a friend will make an idle promise about
giving me a copy of Mezzanine from Massive Attack and then fail to
deliver for eight months, but using this method I have carefully
grown my music collection up to the extremely eclectic mess that it
is now.
So what am I getting it, what is my point? Simple, buy them
online, dollar per song downloads, = no more list!! Well
almost no more list. The retailer I chose did not have everything,
nevertheless I made myself a CD containing 18 of my most wanted
songs, had it shipped to me all for the charming price of $22.37! 3
days later my custom made CD aptly named Obscure Songs That
Might Make You Cry... arrived, complete with a slightly
customized CD case. High quality, great (indeed, impressive)
selection, no cashiers to put up with, all from the comfort of my
house!
So here is my soapbox statement about downloading music: Why
should I wait for a friend to happen to have a CD that has the The
Who's Baba O'Riley on it? For $1.24 a song I am willing to buy my
music again. I am hooked.