dear music industry,
i used to listen to a lot more music when i could freely download whatever i wanted using napster and audiogalaxy. i was my own radio station and music scout. i’d buy a cd if the bulk of songs on the album were good and if i found them enjoyable after many listenings. occasionally i go to concerts. but like all art it takes time to appreciate it, which for music means multiple listenings.
in some sense you acknowledge this (begrudingly), but your solution has been the top 40 radio pumped into car radios and alarm clocks with blistering homogeniety, which i rebel against because of how limited my control is over what i hear.
so you’ve destroyed services like napster and audiogalaxy and you’re hunting down people who use kazaa and gnutella which used to give music fans (your customers!) the ability to listen to music on their own terms and most importantly explore new music.
suddenly apple comes on the block with itunes (you two are thick as theives), and now people can explore new music again, but no one can’t really appreciate any song in a 30 second sound bite. every song costs buck. what if i buy a song that turns out to be crap. i can’t return it or delete it and get my buck back. and if i do buy a song, it’s chock full of drm that i have to go out of your way to break so i can play it when and where i want to. and don’t get me started on the bitrate quality.
the cruel irony is that i am buying less music. i can’t even remember when i bought a cd last, because you obliterated the channels for exploring new music, and in so doing, made it very clear to me that i should spend my entertainment money elsewhere.
fight the power! soulseek all the way. Btw, I listened to the VH1 top 20 countdown and things haven’t changed. The music is BORING with only a couple of exceptions. Notably The Killers’ single and some song by Keane. And I have a guilty pleasure in Switchfoot, the Christian rock band. Even though I think it actually sucks as music.