linus_vp's Journal: Music

I read the recent comments by Steve Ballemer from MS about 'most music on the iPod is stolen' and the resulting slashdot article.

Here are my comments: One day, long ago I bought this used album, Emmerson, Lake and Palmers' Trilogy. I liked the song "From the Beginning" and paid $1.50 for the whole vinal recording.

Fast forward to many years later, when I bought that same recording on cassette, for $6.98 because the record was scratched and full of clicks and pops.

A few years ago, guess how much I paid for the same CD, due to tape wearing out? $10.95. Now I have lost the CD.

The story is not quite ended. Thanks to MP3 technology, and the MusicMatch software, I have the digital version, saved on my computer!

So for almost $20, plus some time and disk space, I have one of my favorite songs in a format that will *not* wear out. My question is this: what happens if Digital Rights Act causes me to have to 'license' a copy of the song I've already paid for 3 times? One copy for my home, one for my car, one for my computer! No thanks. I'd rather 'steal' it from the abundant P2P services out there than pay again.

The record companies ought to take a good look at how iTunes works otherwise I sense a rapid decline of the profits. Oh - wait, that's already happened.