Stupid Tax
I was talking to a cohort at work today about the processes we go through to listen to music. He had received a XM radio as a gift a year ago, and was compelled to use it and pay the subscription. (Ah the obligation of a gift… now that is a gift that keeps on giving. Or taking in this case.) Now that the subscription is almost up, he was thinking about switching over to a MP3 capable unit at the minimum or abandon it altogether for an iPod.
I have been an iPod user for years, so of course I had plenty to offer on the subject.
I pointed out that there is myriad of free music online, drm-free, and not illegal at all. In fact, many artists release their music drm free, and free, as-in-beer, to you the listener. And, while you can manage your own playlists on an iPod, you can also do it commercial free.
Sure XM/Sirius may have music, variety, and clear sound – but they still have commercials.
So what are you paying to listen to commercials?
A Stupid Tax.
My point was that even if you can’t afford every CD you want to listen to, or you don’t want to buy crippled music from iTunes or Microsoft or Sony, there is soooooo much music to find on the net, if you are just willing to look for it. Even big artists release for free… a great example is Barenaked Ladies. Heck there is even a whole Canadian Artists guild (which BNL is a part of) that releases DRM free music.
And if you are in a pinch, Pandora has to be the best way to discover artists. For those of you that have not stumbled upon it, I suggest you trip your way there, for it is awesomeness wrapped up in a nice interface.
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