GlossyVeneer

BuyMusic.com was launched last week I believe. It’s supposed to be an answer to Apple’s iTunes for PC users. True, there are a lot more PC users in the world than Mac, but this site just didn’t hit the target. I went to check it out after reading some small blurb about the site. I was using Netscape 7.1 and it wouldn’t even let me into the site. They’re doing a browser detect and forcing everyone to use Internet Explorer. So it’s not just a site for PC users, it’s a site for strictly Microsoft users. Being the curious soul that I am, I opened up IE and tried to visit the site again. I’m still really open to the idea of being able to go spend $10 and buy 10 songs I like instead of spending $17 on an album and I may only like one song on the entire thing. But BuyMusic.com isn’t the solution yet. It allows you to purchase the rights to use a song with restrictive licenses in a WMA format. The thing is, every song has a different set of restrictions. You want one song and you get 1 download, 4 transfers, 1 burn and another song gives you 3 downloads, unlimited transfers, 5 burns, etc. How are you supposed to enjoy your music when you’re constantly wondering if you’ve maxed out your license? And the license is specific to a computer. So if you get a new computer your file probably won’t work. (that’s what I hear, I didn’t care to investigate their site much more.)

Here’s my solution, somebody who’s in a position of power pick this up and pay me some royalties.
- Develop a site where people can go buy an mp3 of any song they want. Similar to how you can just go to amazon.com and get almost any CD you want, but do it in an mp3 format. Make these really nice quality mp3′s, with all of the track tags for the title, artist, cover art, lyrics, etc. Let people download, burn and transfer to their hearts content. Make the downloads roughly 99 cents. Let users be happy and enjoy their music. Oh yeah, and make the site standards compliant, accessible and usable.

Eventually the music industry is going to have to stop trying to track evil music thieves down and just try to embrace technology. I admit that I do not download music illegally anymore. But I also don’t buy many CD’s cause they’re damn overpriced. I buy DVD’s in abundance because there are so many out there that are cheap. Many times when I pass a display of $5 DVD’s, if I find a movie that seems slightly interesting, I’ll buy it cause it’s about the same price as renting it. If CD’s were sold cheaper, I’d buy a lot more of them. If songs were sold electronically with no restrictions, I’d buy those. And I’m probably a pretty average consumer in this respect.