Napster

[William Duffy]

Hi

I agree with the comments about Napster, though I would miss programs like
this if they were removed, as I only use it to find rare material that is
not on any official albums, and is completly impossible to find in any other
format. Tracks that fall into the former category include Embryo by Pink
Floyd, which is on a hard to find best of CD, and as I have all the other
tracks on proper albums, I can't afford to pay the amount of money it will
cost me for one track.
In the later category, I found a rare B side to a single by Golden Earring.
In Australia it is impossible to find anything by them.

One thing I hate about MP3's is that if I was to download an entire album,
I'd have to leave the computer connected to my phone line all night, and
usually it will give up before it's fully downloaded a track anyway.

It's a lot quicker to buy the album.

William


> So, after hearing about it from all my friends, I finally checked out
> Napster.  Last week, I spent a few hours connected to the "Napster
> Music Community", searching out old songs that I remembered from years
> ago, and a few cool songs that I'd heard on the radio this year, but
> had never gotten around to picking up on CD.  It was loads of fun,
> there's no doubt about it.  Practically any song you can think of is
> available from *someone*.  I grabbed "Driver's Seat" by Snif'n'the
> Tears.  I grabbed "Blue Suede Shoes", covered by Ozzie and Black
> Sabbath.  I grabbed "Every You and Every Me" by Placebo.  I grabbed
> "Walk On the Ocean" by Toad the Wet Sprocket, and "Life In a Northern
> Town" by Dream Academy.  Jeez... it was great.
>
> Then I realized what I was doing.  I mean, sure, I plan to buy a fair
> number of these things on CD someday, and the MP3 is "mostly" to check
> the song out, to see if I really like it enough to buy it.  But what
> about the ones I don't plan to buy?  And I going to delete the copy of
> "Little Black Backpack" that I leeched?  After all, I don't plan to
> buy the CD, because I don't like the rest of the songs on the album.
> What a dilemma.  I mean, it's not a moral dilamma, because the
> morality of it is pretty clear to me.  It's a dilemma of conscience,
> especially since I personally know one hard working musician who
> doesn't get properly rewarded for the work he has done, and it bothers
> me to do that to any musican, even ones who haven't invited me into
> their home.
>
> So what do I think of Napster?  I think the recording artists'
> association should crush it like a bug, because although 1% of the
> people may be using it to ethically "preview" purchases, you can be
> sure (read the chat rooms if you don't believe me) that most of what
> is going on in the "Napster Music Community" is pure theft, clear and
> unadulterated.  It's going to hurt the musicians, as people
> (especially college kids, who are the heart of the Napster communal
> theft ring) stop buying records, when they can just leech the one or
> two songs they want off a record.  It's also going to hurt the music
> industry as a whole - not that I care much for record company
> fat-cats, but I suspect that this is going to drive up the price of
> legitimate purchases, as legal fees and expensive anti-theft measures
> start getting slapped in place to try and stem the tide.
>
> That's my opinion, anyway.
>
> Steve
> swann at plutonia.com
>