OFF: MP3s, pirates, & all that jazz

[William Duffy]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Arin Komins" <akomins at MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU>
To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 2:55 AM
Subject: Re: OFF: MP3s, pirates, & all that jazz


> On Thu, 6 Mar 2003, William Duffy wrote:
>
> :Subject: OFF: MP3s, pirates, & all that jazz
> :
> :Hi there
> :
> :I was just contemplating over another email I wrote about The Sweet
> :re-recording their old material yet again, & got to thinking that, as
> :someone living in West Australia, it is almost impossible to find nothing
> :but Greatest Hits or Best Of CDs by a vast majority of artists (with the
> :exception of the really big names).
> :If you go into any shops here, you are very unlikely to find anything by
> :Hawkwind, with the exception of maybe 2 CDs in the specialty shops in
Perth
> :itself. With many others you have no chance, which brings me to my
headline.
> :No wonder a great deal of people are doing this sort of thing, when it's
> :impossible to get the stuff (not being into drugs myself, I bet it's a
lot
> :easier in WA to get it than a CD by someone like Bill Nelson!).
> :
> :I just wish more artists could find a way to make this material more
easily
> :accessable to the fans (and in a legal way too). They could provide some
> :means to download all the material, covers, etc., off the net, but
through
> :some sort of secure server?
> :
> :Going very slightly off topic again, why do companies that produce
software
> :sometimes make you charge about the same amount as a PC for an upgrade?
> :
> :I know this sort of thing has been covered before, but the way things
seem
> :now, it's becoming easier to get things illegally than it is legally.
>
> I'm a bit confused.
>
> If you already have access to the 'net, and are willing to commit yourself
> to online credit card use, surely you can just use an online retailer to
> pick up whatever you happen to be looking for?
>
> Cranium from NZ, Andy G from cd services, Gary from Artist Shop all carry
> good stuff and they are all available from the 'net.
>
> (not to mention any of the horde of faceless corp. online retailers, like
> amazon and friends.)
>

I myself am already doing this sort of thing but, unlike people in other
countries who find it easier to buy CD by the more obscure artists, it is
impossible to do so here in West Australia. Also, a great deal of things I
like are no longer available anywhere (Can someone point me in the direction
of Larry Fast's Synergy CDs, or any White Noise?).
I know other people who are curious enough to by many of those artists, but
would much rather have the freedom to go into a shop to buy such an artist.
The problem with places such as West Australia is that they categorize
artists like Dire Straits as progressive rock, Tangerine Dream as new age or
meditation, & that's about it! You have buckley's trying to find anything
like Robert Calvert or Golden Earring, or even something you would not
imagine to be as difficult as Todd Rundgren.

On another side note, I hate this new way of putting artists under what type
of music they do. I have seen Monty Python in the Children's section &
Steeleye Span in Heavy Metal???

William