Well, the day has come. Universal, a major record label responsible for such artists as Mariah Carey, Eminem, U2 and Kanye West, has succumbed to the masses. It announced Tuesday, Aug. 29, that it will “license its digital catalog to a “Web site offering free legal downloads.” This two-year deal marks a significant change in an industry long criticized for fighting, rather than utilizing the Internet’s infinite potential. The new Web site aspires to make its dollars selling advertisements that will play while songs download.
So what exactly does this mean for all of us? Free music, baby, that’s what!
Finally, these major labels are beginning to understand that we don’t want to pay for our music anymore. It’s 2006, for God’s sake. And with so many illegal and popular Web sites like Limewire, Kazaa and of course, Napster, the Internet is an endless sea of free merchandise, which teenagers readily take advantage of.
The new Web site will debut later this year. When it does, people everywhere will be able to download new tunes to a harddrive or MP3 player. Notably, they won’t be allowed to burn songs onto a CD or an iPod, which is highly inconvenient and will definitely lose the interest of many youngsters.
Users will be obliged to visit the Web site once a month to watch more ads. If they don’t, digital locks will make the music inaccessible.
My God, this is like “Clockwork Orange”-style hypnosis. Talk about being brainwashed and programmed. Watch these ads. Buy the merchandise. Download your song. Everybody’s happy, right? I don’t know, but this seems a tad bit manipulative and just plain annoying to the general public that just wants to get its music and get out of the Web site.
It’s also been said that the new Web site takes 90 seconds to download a song, significantly longer than iTunes, which only takes 15 to 20 seconds. All are important things to take into consideration.
In the end, I have to admit the idea is good, but the reality of it is a bit more deceitful upon closer inspection. I’m glad major music companies are accepting this huge shift in the world of online downloads. I just hope that they will come to realize that we, the public, are an impatient bunch. So try and satisfy our needs, OK?
Aneya Fernando is a sophomore journalism major and the assistant opinion editor for the Daily Forty-Niner.