Audio-Files

High crimes or consumer savvy?

DAVID SHOBE
dshobe@mscd.edu

Unauthorized downloading of music is a crime, but should it be? Who downloads music illegally? Millions of people around the world, including me.

There are legitimate reasons for downloading music. Here's an example: My car was broken into last summer and all of my precious CDs were stolen. It took me years to build my collection and it would have been very expensive to replace them. There was no way I could go out and re-purchase all those CDs. I suppose that downloading the music I legally owned at one time is probably legal, but after the initial downloading to replace my CDs, I was hooked.

For years I paid $10-20 per album like everyone else. I would excitedly rip open the package and pop it into the CD player. Seven times out of 10 I was met with disappointment. I was led to the inevitable conclusion that most music is CRAP!

One album I would have never bought, had I been able to download something like a preview, is Eva Adore by the Smashing Pumpkins. It sounded nothing like what I had come to expect from Billy Corgan and company; consequently, I felt ripped off.

Just because I download doesn't mean I don't buy music. One album I was able to download tracks from, albeit illegally, is Get Behind Me, Satan by the White Stripes. I heard "Blue Orchid" on MTV2 and thought it was spectacular, but a couple days later I couldn't remember why I liked the song. I downloaded it to hear it again. It was awesome! Fearing it was a fluke, I wanted to hear more to convince myself the album was worth buying. I downloaded a couple more songs from the album. Stellar! I immediately went out and bought the damn thing. Listening to those few songs persuaded me that I could not live without Get Behind Me, Satan. By the way, if you haven't already heard this album, I strongly recommend it.

Another album I recently purchased was the Foo Fighters' new album In Your Honor. I tried to download a couple of tracks from the album, as the only song I had heard was the title track. I couldn't find any of the songs to download, but, since I liked most of their past music, I thought the new album should be good.

What a mistake.

It's a double album, so I blew $18 on another complete piece of trash. Once again, I gambled and lost. Granted, it's not a huge amount of money, but it does add up, especially for a student. As a "bonus," the album has anti-piracy software on it. It's a huge mess trying to get the album onto a computer. Instead of just ripping the album directly from the disc to my computer, I had to go to the Foo Fighters Website and download the music directly from the Website. Thanks, record company! Now you've wasted my money and my time.

The powers-that-be at the major record labels and the RIAA are crying foul, claiming they are losing vast amounts of revenue. Instead of whining about the situation and suing people or saddling consumers with irritating copy-protection schemes, they should be proposing solutions.

Here's my idea: For each album, release three to four sample tracks as MP3s that people can download to decide if the album is worth their money. This won't stop all illegal downloads, but it would certainly put a dent in them. With this type of solution in place, I wouldn't be forced to download illegally to discover whether I liked an album. I could have saved myself thousands of dollars over the years!

I agree that downloading music is stealing an artist's intellectual property, but I think that the way the music industry is currently set up is a scam. I will continue to download illegally to protect my own interests. I'll buy the albums I like and skip the rest. I cannot continue to blow money on bad music-I just can't do it. Have you seen how much textbooks cost?