Memo to the Music Industry

Today I wanted to download a LEGAL copy of Pavarotti singing "Nessum Dorma" from the internet.

Unfortunately the greed of the music industry made this nearly impossible.

What I want when I buy music is fairly simple:

• I want to be able to us ethe music the way I want to just as if I had bought the CD
• I want to be able to play it on standard software so it should be in a standard format, uninhibited by so called "Digital Rights Management Software" which means that I have to use the software they require me to use.
• I do not want to install "download management software" because I run linux and you only supply it in Windows or possibly Mac formats
• I want to pay for what I actually use- not a monthly subscription or pay a minimum account balance of $20US
• I want to easily find the songs I am looking for
• I prefer not to buy my music from sites based in Russia or Tuvalu

I was happy to pay for a whole album or a single track.

After over an hour and a half of searching numerous sites I could not meet these simple conditions.

So I downloaded an illegal copy of the song.

Then I went and paid $14.95 for a 3 CD set- it took me just 10 minutes to find this.

Is it any wonder that people download illegal mp3s when the industry is so determined to make it too hard to do the right thing?

Coming up with a simple method of pay as you go downloads, unencumbered by DRM and other limitations would see the music industry double in size overnight.

But greed, paranoia and contrariness always prove counter productive.

Blessings

Keith