By Antony
May 15, 2005 - 11:13 PMHello World! I have, and will continue to, download MP3s of music I don't own. No, I'm not defrauding the innocents of the music industry—I use it as a way of browsing before I shop.
I've done it for quite a while now; I'll download MP3s of acts that I think I may like, but am not sure. I'll download some music if I've had a recommendation, or if something I've read has got me curious. But I will use it as a basis for purchases. Some acts have lost a sale from me because maybe I'd have been curious enough to buy the album, but after hearing MP3s I didn't want to buy their CDs. But many, many acts have gained my business because I've liked what I've heard.
A few years ago, there was a particular spotlight on illegal music sharing and the supposed damage it was causing. I read an interview with one music company spokesperson on the BBC once and he was doing the usual noise about how evil music sharing was. One of the things he mentioned was that there were legitimate sites to buy music from. So I asked myself, where? I knew of none, and I consider myself an early adopter of technology. I searched the company's website for information, but could find only one mention to a site they'd taken over, and that site didn't even exist.
There was an air of petulance, yet they didn't offer people any viable alternative. They complained, yet wouldn't even try to help themselves.
Of course, now online music has taken off somewhat. But it's still in a way that makes it feel like a forced move rather than record companies embracing the market. I tried to buy twice from MSN Music. Their system didn't work, so I emailed them and never received a reply. I bought one track from MyCokeMusic.com, and never again. It was difficult to do (and I've been on the net for ten years, I'm no tech slouch), there were too many restrictions and the audio quality was poor.
Music sales are doing quite well in the UK now. I think the music industry bods pat themselves on the back for tackling piracy. Or, is it just that supermarkets are selling CDs at under £10 now, and Amazon at around £9? While the likes of Virgin still charge £14 – £16 for some CDs, I think they are more damaging than piracy.
But it's actually quite a breakthrough for me, because I've just subscribed to Napster. I pay £10 a month to listen to any music in their collection. But the ironic thing is that I'm doing it only as a way to explore music to buy on CD. The audio quality is again too poor—128kb/s sounds too compressed for my ears, and what's the point of buying good quality audio equipment to have sub-standard audio? I could then buy albums at £7 through the service, but why buy an online music album with restrictions when for a pound or two more I can buy a CD, in full audio quality, and use it anywhere I want?
The music industry still has a long way to go, and it saddens me that there's this repeat process going on with the TV industry. I download TV, yes, I admit it. But am I someone out to defraud the industry? No. In fact my DVD collection says otherwise, with over 300 titles and growing all the time. If TV I like comes out on DVD, I buy it.
Okay, I'm not oblivious to that download sites can course damage. In particular offering full DVD rips of shows to me goes well beyond what is acceptable. But the strong interest in downloading TV broadcasts is something the TV industry is being blind to, and rather than offering alternatives they've just gone on a rampage and closed numerous TV sites a few days ago (read the MPAA press release, in PDF format).
So why do I download TV? I'd say there's three key reasons:
- Convenience. I can watch it when I want, and not be bound to a schedule. Sure I have a Tivo, but Tivo isn't portable like an AVI file is. I can't take Tivo to a friend's house, or on the train.
- PAL vs NTSC. For those that don't know, when American TV (natively NTSC) is broadcast in regions such as the UK (and changed to PAL) it sped up to conform to the foreign TV standard. That may not bother many, but it does me. I don't want to listen to my shows sped up, with cast members sounding like they breathing helium. I'm a purist, and I want to hear TV at its native speed. If I have to stick to UK broadcasts there is now ay for me to listen to it in its proper format. This is also why I import region 1 DVDs instead of buying my native region 2s.
- Finally, timing. I admit it, I don't like waiting. Why should we wait in foreign markets for it to come to us? Too often we have to put up with American viewers and websites spoiling key plots. Too many times I've had my enjoyment spoiled by those that have watched it and don't care who hasn't, so by downloading TV I can avoid the gap and avoid the spoilers.
I would happily pay to be able to download US TV. I buy it all on DVD, so I'd be happy to pay to watch it legally. But sadly, this industry—like the music one—just decided for a blanket crack down rather than thinking about why people do it. For music, I try before I buy. And for TV, while I admit I'm not watching a UK broadcast, I watch due to convenience then buy it on DVD when it's out for the superior quality that DVD offers.
When will these industries learn that we're not all criminals, that some of us buy a lot of their products, and more than that we are willing to give them yet more money if they offered customers what they want? Talk Desperate! threads Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at Talk Desperate!:
- DHW = Grey's Anatomy?
- DHW Season Finale Party?
More topics can be found at the Talk Desperate! Poll Results Below are the results of the most recent Get Desperate! poll:
What did you think of 'Sunday in the Park With George'?
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9-10 |
 51.3% - (58
Votes) |
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7-8 |
25.6% - (29
Votes) |
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Wasn't able to see it |
10.6% - (12
Votes) |
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5-6 |
6.1% - (7
Votes) |
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Didn't want to see it |
3.5% - (4
Votes) |
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1-2 |
1.7% - (2
Votes) |
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3-4 |
0.8% - (1
Votes) |
Total Votes: 113
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That's what you thought of Sunday in the Park With George". This week's new poll is to gauge you on the "Goodbye For Now". [an error occurred while processing this directive]Today's Television Listings There's a new episode on ABC tonight at 9pm! Here's the synopsis for "Goodbye For Now":
Susan makes a decision about Mike Delfino. Meanwhile Lynette takes steps to make sure Annabel doesn’t come between her and Tom, Bree comes to a realization about "buddy" George the pharmacist, and Carlos's legal problems take a turn for the worse
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