Give Me My Music, You Bastards!
Do you know what I was doing at work this morning? I was purchasing music. That’s right I went online and bought me some music. Normally, I would never do this, I just download it from wherever I can find it. Personally, I am not too worried about the legalities of it, but I don’t really enjoy it. I dislike struggling to find the tracks I like, sorting through the rubbish, waiting for it download, transferring it between computers, and etc..
So what changed? A little while ago I read about allofmp3.com. I immediately went to the site and tried to buy some music, but I found out that Visa had stopped allowing them to process credit card transactions. So I left for a while. I was quite frustrated actually. Here I am willing to buy, but not willing to buy something that ties me into one player (even though I am a devote iPod fan and have owned one since 2004).
Here is how I see it: It’s easier for me to buy music rather than download (steal if you will). But, it if I can’t have a non-DRM mp3 then it is just as easy to download it. Allofmp3 takes it even further by charging based on demand for the song. The music industry is really going to lose this battle.
In then end I think where things will go is like this: Sites like MySpace will act as a sandbox for musicians. Artists with great music will get picked up by labels who will sell their music to advertisers and the bands will get paid huge amounts for that. Meanwhile, bands will sell their music directly through sites like Allofmp3 and others (or directly through MySpace). Radios will start selling music directly. When you hear a song you like, you go to their site and buy the music. The Artist gets some money, the station gets some music and that is it.
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