There are no CDs on my xmas list this year. I love music, but I’m done with major record labels. I just read that the RIAA is trying to remove financial aid from college students who file share. Enough is enough. If they want to prevent fans from going to school, I’m going to prevent my money from going to their companies.
There are enough (real) indies and podcasts and the like to keep me in great music for years. Indeed, there is also Pandora, which requires no capital investment at all and keeps me in good music by analyzing what I say I like. It actually works and they have classical music now too.
Alas, Pandora is not a real break from the RIAA because they track music based on CD barcodes. Everything they play is therefore at least somewhat corporate. So I guess I’m giving their money to the RIAA (and indies) instead of mine. (And, alas, as I have no barcodes, I’ll never turn up in a playlist.)
Frankly, I’m highly displeased with the state of media distribution in America. I purchased Battlestar Galactica from the iTunes store – because I liked the show. It has great writing and acting, etc. And then I learned from the writer’s strike that none of the creative people are seeing any money form my purchases. I have not yet decided how to proceed. If I buy DVDs, the creative people get some revenue, but too little and I’m stuck with a bunch of media when I probably only want to watch an episode once. And I’m left without instant gratification. In fact, if nobody who does anything productive is getting money from my buying it online, why shouldn’t I just pirate it? The writers are getting the same amount whether I get it from bittorrent or iTunes.
So yeah, in solidarity with the writer’s strike, I’m doing a consumer strike. Screw the media companies.
Not Buying It
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My CDs have barcodes!
You might have read this, but here is a long and interesting article related to what you are saying.
http://www.demonbaby.com/blog/2007/10/when-pigs-fly-death-of-oink-birth-of.html
They come to many of the same conclusions you do. Basically, screw the major recording labels. They are refusing to update their economic models to changing technology, and it’s not serving anyone’s interest.
CDs? You mean those things from the ’90s? They… still sell them? Intriguing. The last time I purchased a CD was when I bought the Genesis Archives, ten years ago. It came with this nifty booklet that I have since lost. The only exception to this is when I bought a CD from a band that was playing at a club in SF. I somehow didn’t spend all of my money on beer that night. I took it home and promptly ripped it. So they still have CD players and stuff? Crazy!
I can’t believe that I only found Pandora about 6 months ago – how did I miss this? It’s the only music stream I’ve found that I can listen to for more than 30 minutes.