Found on http://www.wxpnews.com/archives/wxpnews-307-20071211.htm and absolutely realistic.
I do a lot of things with my computers, but I've never really been into the whole digital music scene. Maybe that's because I have a very good traditional sound system, so when I want to listen to music, I usually just play a CD through that. Maybe it's because I just don't listen to music that much at this point in my life; there was a time when I did, and I have a rather extensive collection of old black vinyl to prove it, but these days I prefer to listen to talk shows or even better, I've developed a great appreciation for blessed silence.
When I do listen to (or play) music, it's almost always classical or instrumental jazz, rather than "popular" tunes. Once in a great while, though, I do get into a nostalgic mood and want to hear some of that old classic rock that's on one of those 33 RPM albums in the closet. Many of them I also have on CD, but not nearly all.
One day last week, I got a hankering for a song on Led Zeppelin's fourth album ("Rock and Roll"). Actually, the reason I wanted it was to use as a custom ring tone to assign to one of my contacts on my Windows Mobile phone. That was one of the CDs that had been lost in our move a few years ago, but heck, it was a very popular tune so I should be able to easily buy it for a buck or so from one of the many legal music download sites, right?
I guess I'd forgotten the first rule of Life in the Twenty-first Century: "nothing is ever easy - especially those things that should be." First I discovered that in order to buy music from most of the sites, you have to download and install their software. Why? I don't have to do that to download a computer program that I buy online. Why do I have to download and install software just to buy one song? Why can't I just enter my credit card info, click and pay?
Well, it seems there are a few places where you can, such as Amazon. Excellent, I thought. I already have an account with Amazon and I trust them, so I'll buy it there. I go to their music downloads page and search for the song and get 21 hits. None of them are by Led Zeppelin; they're all covers by other groups or tribute bands.
Okay, then I'll bite the bullet and try one of the big music sites, Zune or iTunes. But I had no luck there, either. I do a web search then on "Led Zeppelin license music" and discover that, up until November 15th of this year, they hadn't licensed their catalog to anyone. Now, however, the songs are available through iTunes and through Verizon Wireless, as ringtones. Well, hey, it appeared that I was in luck. I wanted the song for a ringtone anyway, and I use Verizon and have an account there.
So I scooted over to the Verizon Wireless site and entered my search parameters. There were six pages of Zeppelin songs and there on the second page was the one I wanted. I was in business - I thought. But oops, there at the bottom of the page was the kicker: "compatible phone required." In the drop down "Select your phone" list, my Samsung i760 was nowhere to be found.
When I clicked the "Phone not listed?" link, it just took me to a page urging me to upgrade my phone! I just bought this phone, which is one of the most expensive and sophisticated Verizon offers. I can use any old MP3 as a ringtone. All I need is to find this darned MP3. I decided to try buying it anyway, since it's only a dollar or so. I pick a different Samsung phone. Of course, it doesn't work. It's in some format that my phone doesn't understand.
So my only recourse, if I wanted to buy the song, was to download iTunes. It shouldn't be that way. I'm beginning to understand why people share music illegally - it's not necessarily because it's cheaper; it's because it's so much easier. I don't want to be forced to install Apple's software on my computer just to buy a single song. If Zep had licensed its music to Amazon, they would have made a sale the other day. As it was, I decided to use a different, more easily attainable song for my ringtone. The dollar or two that I didn't pay meant less than nothing to the band or their music company, but how many others aren't buying because of the unnecessary hassle involved? Those dollars add up.
It's not that there's anything difficult about buying from iTunes. But that software caused numerous problems before when I installed it on my Windows system, and I don't feel like risking it again just for one song. And given Apple's DRM, I'm not even sure that I would be able to play the song on my phone if I did buy it from them. You can authorize five computers to play the iTunes content you purchase, but does that include Windows Mobile devices? Why waste my time and money on yet another attempt that might not even work?
The copyright holders, of course, have the right to do what they want with their intellectual property. I'm glad that Led Zeppelin has finally made their music available online in some capacity. But licensing it only to iTunes seems to me as silly as an author or book publisher specifying that its books can only be sold by Barnes and Noble and not any other bookstore. You lose a lot of sales that way. And in the case of music, I think you make it more likely that people will steal your music instead of jumping through all the hoops required to buy it.
Tell us what you think. Do artists, music companies and online music sellers make it more difficult than it ought to be to buy songs online? Is that one of the reasons so many people download illegally instead? When I already paid for the vinyl and CD versions of the album, should I have to pay again to get it in digital format? Let us know your opinions at feedback@wxpnews.com.
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