annathepiper

kieri, I just discovered that Nightingale is indeed on Rhapsody! I've added all three of their albums to my lineup to listen to.

solcita, Gaia Consort is there, too! I've added all four albums! And

spazzkat says that GC is on iTunes as well.

And oh look! Afro Celt Sound System is there too! I've kept meaning to check them out. *adds*

Good music morning! ^_^

Current Mood: shocked

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From:

annathepiper

I'm using Rhapsody for free streaming music right now--I get in free just because I'm working at Real, so it's extremely convenient. So I can check out anything that's on that system, and there seems to be quite a bit. I'll have access to Rhapsody at least until the end of my contract, which is in June, so I've got a while yet. :)

My plan is to actually then go and buy the albums I want after I've checked them out. I've already bought a Young Dubliners album, Real World. (And I tend to prefer buying physical CDs, regardless. If one is available, I'll get it. If not, I'll buy it off iTunes.)

But thank you kindly for the offer, and I'll remember emusic.com and Pandora.com for later!

From:

peregrine-ek.livejournal.com

My CD cabinet is overflowing, and I'm not that attached to having a physical CD in my hands as I used to be. I guess it depends on the release. A boxed set is obviously not something that will translate well to digitized files, at least not the liner notes and such.

As for iTunes, the DRM issues must not bother you, but they bother me greatly. I don't want anyone telling me how to use music I've bought, or attaching draconian copyright protection that won't allow me to:

1. Use third party MP3 players.
2. Use jukebox software other than iTunes for protected files.
3. Limit how many machines I can play the files on.
4. Limit how many copies I can burn. While I admit that this part of it doesn't bother me as much because CDs last a long time, the first three are way more annoying.

So I am trying very hard to stay away from iTunes from here on in.

As for Rhapsody, I don't like the idea that once you end your membership (unless I am mistaking this service with someone else), you lose all rights to the song. I figure if I am paying a flat rate every month, I should have legal access to a certain number of downloads.

And finally, eMusic, which is probably the best of the downloading services. While it's true that they don't have the vast library on some of the other services, they do have a great deal of the indie music that I play regularly. They offer a tiered structure:

Cheapest is 9.99/month for 40 downloads and the one I use is 19.99/month for 90 downloads. You can do the math if you compare it to the other services. There is no copyright protection on any of the songs and they offer them as good quality mp3 files. You can try them for free and get 50 free downloads.

Pandora.com is completely free. All you do is type in some of your favorite bands and it searches its database to find those songs and bands that sound like them and it builds a library of songs that it streams to your desktop. I have had pretty good luck so far in my selections. You can also set up different channels for different types of music.

I realize that artists deserve to be compensated, but not at the expense of screwing consumers. Fair use is being trampled on by greedy record companies, and in many cases, the artists never see a penny of royalties. The smart ones are releasing their own music and making distribution channel deals.

I think these companies should employ what software companies have done for years. Make music available as trial versions that expire after a certain amount of time or a certain number of plays. Then people can decide if they're worth buying. In such a case, I have no problems with lower quality sample files or ones that cannot be copied to a CD or a player. But as for ones I buy, pfftt...big raspberry to the RIAA.

Sorry, this subject always gets me going.

From:

annathepiper

And see, every single one of these issues you bring up is part why I prefer to buy physical CDs whenever possible. I've made exactly two exceptions so far in this--buying an online version of the Great Big CD because it was packaged with a DVD I already had, and I didn't want the DVD twice. And buying Russell Crowe's My Hand, My Heart because the only way I could get it was online. I'll also make exceptions in cases where a physical CD was released but isn't available anymore--there's some early Carbon Leaf I may wind up purchasing online, since I can't find those discs in local stores. (Though I may wind up buying them off Amazon first.)

I figure if I really want the music, I should buy it. This is why I thank folks who offer to burn me copies of albums I don't own yet, but decline. It's all very well and good, I think, to point out that most big record companies are screwing over their artists--and I don't dispute that. But an artist or group isn't going to get dime one if I don't actually buy the album, regardless of what form I buy it in. So if I really like it, I'll buy it.

Limiting the number of computers I play the music on doesn't bug me. I only play music on one computer in the house anyway--my own. If I want to listen to my own music from a different system on my house network, that's also blindingly easy, I just have to share out my library to make it readable on the house network, load iTunes on another system, boom, the music is there. But usually I don't bother, if nothing else because I have a collection of perfectly decent CDs that I can load into our perfectly decent entertainment system. :) And the entertainment system has way better speakers than my computer does, anyway.

Limiting the number of CD burns also doesn't bug me, and this is why--you can rip a burned CD right back onto your computer to get unprotected versions of the files, if you really feel that passionately about it. But again, so far, I haven't had to bother. Since the vast majority of my collection is on physical CD anyway, and none of the bands I like are on labels big enough and assholish to try to be messing around with copy-protected CDs (i.e., Sony), it's not really an issue for me at all.

I understand your frustration about copyright protection--though to be fair, iTunes is not the only player that uses copyright protection off its store. Media Player does it too, and I'm pretty sure Rhapsody's purchasing service will also use DRM, though I haven't used it yet so I don't know this for certain. So if you want to critique a player for these things (and again, I can understand your frustration), don't just take it out on iTunes.

Yes, the way Rhapsody works is that you lose access to the music once you stop paying, unless you actually buy your own copy of a song or an album for your permanent use. But again--doesn't bug me. Like I said, right now I get to use the service for free anyway, and since it got installed right there on my work box when it was set up for me, I figured what the hell. :)

Once this contract is up, I'll see what happens next. If I want to find another service that'll let me check out streaming music for free as a means of previewing albums, I'll think about emusic and Pandora then... but usually when I'm at home anyway, my time on my computer is devoted to my writing. So I don't need such a service very often. :) But again, thank you for recommending them and I WILL keep them in mind.

No worries about this being a hot button issue for you--I know it's a hot button for a lot of folks, actually. But you've expressed yourself well and reasonably here and I respect that, even if I don't share some of your specific opinions here. :)

From:

peregrine-ek.livejournal.com

There is no guarantee that the CD isn't copyright-protected as well. You have no doubt heard about the major embarrassment Sony suffered because of their XCP copyright protection that wrote code to the rootkit. As for computers, my work computer is not shared with my home network, and for that matter, none of my home computers are shared other than sharing the Internet connection, nor am I as technically savvy as you. I have a laptop, my tower, and my laptop at work, plus I sometimes use my husband's computer. I am almost at the limit of what Apple allows for authorized music. Umm, I don't use any of those other players. I use WinAmp and it works really well with the iPod, except for the part about not playing protected music. In earlier versions of iTunes, it was possible to strip out the DRM using JHymn. But so far, no one has cracked the code for iTunes 6 purchased music, so I follow the burn to CD and then rip to mp3 route like I did for the Afro Celts. And to me, sharing music with a friend is no different than making a cassette for them. I do admit to using a certain file sharing service to sample new music, but I am not on there often and only share my music when I am downloading stuff. So perhaps I am a lesser pirate, and certainly no real threat to the music industry. I have perhaps bought 100x more music than most people, being a former DJ, so when I see the music industry suing grandmothers and pre-pubescent kids, I get rather angry.

Anyway, if I were in your shoes, I would definitely take advantage of the music streaming too.

From:

annathepiper

Well, there's a pretty reasonable guarantee for me that the CDs I purchase won't be copy-protected--just because the vast majority of music I buy is on small labels, and/or companies who have no track record at all with doing such things. (Such as Rounder Records, Great Big Sea's label.) The vast majority of small labels won't have the finances necessary to hire people to do copy protection on the disc releases for them. It's one of the advantages, I suppose, of not being interested in the most popular styles of music or the "big artists". I kind of doubt anybody's going to bother to try to copy-protect Irish/Celtic trad. Or Newfoundland trad, for that matter. ;)

I've absolutely heard about the Sony fiasco, which is why I mentioned them in my comment above--I wasn't buying any of the artists on their label before anyway, and that disaster of theirs has assured that I won't be buying any of their discs in the future. I've been doublechecking to make sure that the artists and groups I like aren't on Sony, and so far, not a problem.

And like I said--I can understand your frustration. I'm not trying to tell you that you ought to change your mind about any of this, I'm mostly just trying to explain why this hasn't been an issue for me so far. You've done very well explaining where you're coming from, just trying to do likewise. So no worries. :)

From:

peregrine-ek.livejournal.com

It is very nice to "talk" with you, and I certainly don't expect everyone to share my views -- God forbid. And like you, most of the music I buy is independently released.

back to my webex conference.