I get asked a lot how come we don’t sell music downloads at JoeRockhead.com. We’ll be happy to sell downloads once all this DRM garbage gets sorted out, but for now, honestly, I consider DRM-protected music to be a faulty product just waiting for a class-action lawsuit. Wonder why? Here’s a brilliantly written letter from by a life-long music fan, in many ways a lot like myself, who has been soured on purchasing music altogether by the industry’s ass-backward approach to selling music online. Personally, I think it makes more sense to stick with CDs until a better option comes along, but either way, the moral to the story is the same. Here’s a brief excerpt:
The friendly CSR representative then suggests that I try once more to download the files and licenses and if I still have no luck to try accessing the internet from other providers such as a local coffee shop, library, or work computer.
“Basically, just keep downloading the music until you find a gateway that let’s your licenses through without problems”
While I would like to say I responded with something witty, I must admit to being completely flummoxed. There I sat, a loyal music fan who has shelled out actual money to a business that is supposed to be having financial problems, and the best they can do is tell me to wander the streets of Seattle looking for different internet providers who might allow me to download the music that I have already paid for, music that I have spent the better part of three house trying to listen to, and which is still unusable?
How on earth have things come to this?!?!?!
Honestly, if this is the best you can do, you’re business is in really, really serious trouble.
I mean, could you imagine the consumer response if Coke could only be consumed from specific Coke-approved equipment, and then only in the specific ways that the folks at Coke wanted the product to be consumed. “drinking Coke with fast food is no problem, but we must warn you that your license forbids the mixing of Coke with any alcoholic beverages…”
In the end, I never was able to get the music to play on anything–my computer, on a CD or on my iPod. I invested $10, several hours of my time, and my reward was, well, nothing.
I’d like to say I was outraged, but in the end I must admit to feeling remarkably sad and deflated over the whole process. See, the thing is, I was raised on music. I was saved by music. I (used to) live for music. Lester Bangs wasn’t my idol, he was my soul mate (in a matter of speaking).
I’ve devoted a not-inconsequential chunk of my life to collecting music; to tracking down obscure records, cassettes, 8-Tracks and CD’s of all genres and styles. And now apparently that is all but over. Music has somehow evolved from tangible things into amorphous collections of 1’s and 0’s guarded over by interested parties as if they were gold bullion. How so very sad.
Are you listening music industry? Yeah, I didn’t think so…