I see it coming
You've probably heard this already, but the new Radiohead album can be downloaded here. The interesting thing is that you get to specify how much you want to pay for it, even nothing. A quandary, indeed.
do you pay what you think it's worth? or what you think they deserve?
do you pay nothing because they're Rich and you're (probably) relatively Poor?
do you pay nothing because you would just rip it from a friend, or because you're a former napstermusictraderextraordinaire?
When CD burners first came out I was a poor college student and reveled in the newfound music my friends could offer me. I freely and wantonly burned album after album. Then I had a change of heart: I started not burning CDs if they were by small, indie artists (though groups like U2 and the Rolling Stones were still fair game)*. Hypocritical? Maybe. But then most moral decisions are made by scribing a line at some point; this was mine. I mainly hold to this now, though will still accept the occasional burned album from Bri. Typically, if I like it I end up buying more music from a given artist anyways.
This is a similar situation except that Radiohead is aiding and abetting the current state of affairs. So what did I do? Well, I wasn't all impressed with their last album, Hail to the Thief. Definitely listenable but it offered me nothing new. It's collected a lot of dust on my shelf. So, I probably wouldn't outright buy this new album without some serious accolades from friends. However, if I saw it at the used CD shop for $8 I'd probably get it. So I figured it was worth £3 - 4 to me (you have to pay in pounds on their site). In the end, I paid £3.13 as a mild homage to Detroit.
It's pretty good, three tracks in. Poppier, so far. Kinda rocky. Lots of fuzz: in the bass, in the guitars, in the voice. The lyrics haven't hit me yet, but I always take longer with lyrics.
*mix CDs are, of course, perfectly acceptable. In fact, they're the best advertising medium I can imagine for lesser known artists. How many albums have I bought because of one killer track on a mix CD? Countless.
do you pay what you think it's worth? or what you think they deserve?
do you pay nothing because they're Rich and you're (probably) relatively Poor?
do you pay nothing because you would just rip it from a friend, or because you're a former napstermusictraderextraordinaire?
When CD burners first came out I was a poor college student and reveled in the newfound music my friends could offer me. I freely and wantonly burned album after album. Then I had a change of heart: I started not burning CDs if they were by small, indie artists (though groups like U2 and the Rolling Stones were still fair game)*. Hypocritical? Maybe. But then most moral decisions are made by scribing a line at some point; this was mine. I mainly hold to this now, though will still accept the occasional burned album from Bri. Typically, if I like it I end up buying more music from a given artist anyways.
This is a similar situation except that Radiohead is aiding and abetting the current state of affairs. So what did I do? Well, I wasn't all impressed with their last album, Hail to the Thief. Definitely listenable but it offered me nothing new. It's collected a lot of dust on my shelf. So, I probably wouldn't outright buy this new album without some serious accolades from friends. However, if I saw it at the used CD shop for $8 I'd probably get it. So I figured it was worth £3 - 4 to me (you have to pay in pounds on their site). In the end, I paid £3.13 as a mild homage to Detroit.
It's pretty good, three tracks in. Poppier, so far. Kinda rocky. Lots of fuzz: in the bass, in the guitars, in the voice. The lyrics haven't hit me yet, but I always take longer with lyrics.
*mix CDs are, of course, perfectly acceptable. In fact, they're the best advertising medium I can imagine for lesser known artists. How many albums have I bought because of one killer track on a mix CD? Countless.
random bits cobbled together by j-dub
3 Comments:
wow...this was a fascinating moral discussion. seriously. maybe it's because i'm a little drunk, but i was glued to the screen the whole time, wondering how much you were going to pay. and, again, i'm a little drunk here, but your logic sounded impeccable to me. (impeccable probably wasn't the best word, there, but fuck it...i'm leaving it)
Maybe it's because I'm old, but in the eighties we would tape albums for people all the time and no one thought anything of it. I definitely bought my share of music.
I also don't feel bad about going to a library instead of buying a book.
I think the only difference is that it's easier for record companies to monitor now. I love to support artists if I can, but when I'm broke and someone burns me a CD, I happily take it.
I think the only time someone would describe my logic as impeccable is when said person was drinking, but I'll take it.
churlita, I hear you--when I go back to grad school I'll probably get more lenient again. The social liberal in me thinks everyone should contribute as they have means: poor music listeners should pay the least and poor musicians should be paid the most, and vice versa. I would love to see stats on what people end up paying for radiohead's album.
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