Well, I finally did it. I broke down and got one of those iPod thingies that stores 17 million songs even though it's only the size of a credit card. I bought it because I fly so much, and I'm afraid of flying, and I can't stand to hear the creaks and grinding noises that planes make.
And the iPod helps with that. Actually, with the iPod, I have finally found the perfect formula for flying. I suggest you try it. Here it is:
2 martinis + 1 Xanax + 1 iPod = 1 very happy airplane passenger.
But now that I've popped for an iPod, I have one question:
Where the hell is all my free Internet music?
Last year, I visited a friend of mine in Washington, DC. He's an amateur classical guitarist, so he's really into guys like Leo Kotke and other people I've never heard of.
Well, he couldn't wait to show me how much music he had downloaded.
'Anything I want, I get on the Internet!' he gushed. Thousands of hard-to-find songs, entire albums, symphonies . . .everything was on his computer.
'I spend a couple of hours a day just downloading music,' he told me. 'Then I can either burn CDs or put it on my MP3 player.'
All right, I remember thinking. If I ever figure out what an MP3 player is, I might do that, too. Then the iPods came out, and made the technology seem so simple and cool, that I ran out and got one. And then rushed to the computer for my free music.
But guess what? There is no free music on the Internet! I typed in 'The Night Chicago Died,' . . . and nothing! I typed in 'Dire Straits Twistin' by the Pool,' . . .and nothing! It turns out there is no free music anymore. What the hell happened?
Now, I know all about the Napster lawsuit and how they went after individuals and all that . . . but are you telling me that's all it really took to end this 'crisis'? I mean, this whole file sharing thing was supposed to rock the foundation of the entire music industry! Remember all that hype? It was going to send thousands of recording artists to the poor house! Hundreds of record labels were going to go out of business!
And now it's over? Just like that? We're all going to survive—albeit without free music? Or am I missing something? I'd hate to think I spent all this money on an iPod and now I'm going to have to pay for music, too.
Comments (21)
Sorry, dude. Those days are gone. Try www.musicrebellion.com, where they're at least pretty cheap (the more obscure the song, the cheaper).
And I can't believe you were just in Portland! You simply must build a database of former students who want to take you out for big nights when you're in town. It would be a big one...
Posted by Meredith | January 6, 2005 12:08 PM
Posted on January 6, 2005 12:08
No, you're missing something. It's still there, you just have to work a little harder to get it.
Try limewire, acquisition or unison to start.
Posted by Who, me? | January 6, 2005 12:48 PM
Posted on January 6, 2005 12:48
Try this....
http://www.newsgroupservers.net/index.htm
Posted by Melody | January 6, 2005 12:52 PM
Posted on January 6, 2005 12:52
Steve:
The dates for CCC in Vegas are: June 8 through the 10th, at Caesar's Palace.
Hope to see you there!
Steve
Posted by steve | January 7, 2005 11:46 AM
Posted on January 7, 2005 11:46
Well, some people have been known to borrow CDs from their local library and rip them to their computers. There are also hand little freeware programs like SharePod that can help people like your friend the guitarist move all the great music on his iPod to your computer.
Posted by Seattle | January 11, 2005 10:27 AM
Posted on January 11, 2005 10:27
IPOD NANOS SUCK!!!!!!!!!
Posted by jessica | December 18, 2005 1:58 PM
Posted on December 18, 2005 13:58
DATE: 01/06/2005 08:35:0P PM
Ha! I knew you folks would come through!! And who said I was in Porland, Meredith? I've actually NEVER been in Portland, except once to fly in to drive out to Beaverton to do some work for Intel.
BUT . . . it is on my list of places I really want to see. I want to spend a couple of days in Portland, and then a couple of days drowing myself in the Oregon Pinot Noir wine country.
And when I do that, I WILL give you a call!!
Posted by steve | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/06/2005 33:23:5P PM
Actually, easist way I know for those who don't want the viral equivalent of the whirlpool at the Y on their PC is Usenet (still the wild wild west of the internet) and a free downloadable newsgroup reader called newsrover (well, free for 30 day period anyway). That program allows you to do an MP3 search across all the thousands of newsgroups out there with ease. Of course, we *are* still talking about stealing here. You can call it ripping, or downloading, or sharing (my favorite one of all...) if you want to make yourself feel better. Hey, maybe the next time you liberate cookies from the conference next door, you can say they were "shared"!
Speaking of that, any early word on the Corp Communicators Conference in 2005? In Lost Wages again this year? Any scheduled date?
Steve
Posted by Steve | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/06/2005 41:24:6P PM
Yeah, the sites where you can still download the free stuff that I've found have been viral as all get out. Newsrover sounds interesting.
And I'm talking Portland, MAINE, Steve! Cannot believe you were here and I didn't get to take you on a bender.
Posted by Meredith | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/06/2005 62:14:0P PM
Steve,
The date for CCC in Las Vegas HAS been set . . . but I forget what it is. I know it's later this year . . . the first week of June or thereabouts. Everybody is gone at Ragan now (it's 7:30 p.m.), but I'm going in there tomorrow. I'll get the exact dates (the brochure is not done yet) and post them here tomorrow.
Meredith: Portland MAINE . . .a HA. I was there . . .in and out, sort of, but I did have a free afternoon and early evening, which I spent wandering around the town. I had a cup of chowder and some drinks at that dive place on the strip . . . very good. Next time I'm in town, we need to have many drinks.
Steve Crescenzo
Posted by steve | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/07/2005 11:54:7P PM
Might not be the kind of music you're looking for, but try out http://www.freeplaymusic.com The have "659 tracks as of January 7th, 2005"
They have a lot of guitar music. It is what most people call a 'broadcast production music' site. However, these are full songs. 4:00 minutes, etc. A lot of it is quite good. That is about the only kind of music you can get - for free - these days.
iTunes is good. For the 'taking' of music, Usenet is the only remaining place (other than P2P sharing) to get the rest. But, both of those are wrong, you know. :o) If the artist makes the music to sell it ... we ought to buy it if we want it.
Hope the FreePlay site helps.
Posted by Robert | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/07/2005 19:31:7P PM
Music, Steve? So you're not going to listen to all those cool podcasts on those plane journeys?
That's what iPods were *really* designed for, and the podcasts are free ;)
Posted by Neville Hobson | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/07/2005 41:30:4P PM
www.garageband.com.
Posted by Shel Holtz | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/08/2005 62:21:8P PM
Ditto on limewire: http://www.limewire.com/english/content/home.shtml. You have to download a program, but I can find pretty much anything on there. Though of course I'm only downloading music I have rights to (yeah, right).
Posted by Candi | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/08/2005 71:95:5P PM
I'm feeling like I got a pantload of spyware off Limewire, but correct me if I'm wrong.
And, Steve--next Portland (MAINE) trip, the martinis are on me.
Posted by Meredith | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/10/2005 23:82:7P PM
Steve, don't forget that you can easily convert your favorite CDs to MP3 format as well. My husband gave me an MP3 player for Christmas and I've loaded most of my CDs onto it since then. And all perfectly legal - important to me, since I work for Borders Group, a retailer that sells books, movies and MUSIC. :)
Posted by Andrea | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/11/2005 18:64:2P PM
Hate to rain on this merry parade, but how is it that a crowd of writers is so unapologetically enthusiastic about stealing from a crowd of musicians?
Posted by David Murray | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/12/2005 03:73:9P PM
Wow - I've missed quite the conversation here.
Bottom line, Steve...4 little letters. RIAA. They brought a law suit agains a 14 year old or some crazy crap. There is free music out there, but it's not the music you want, I can almost guarantee it. And then, then there's the spyware that you pick up for just looking at those sites, and sometimes the cost of cleaning that mess up is less than what you would have spent on the CD in the first place.
Me, I'm addicted to iTunes. And for $.99 per song, it's worth it. Have I 'borrowed' music from other people...maybe. But I still think the bottom line is that people should pay for what they get. I mean, occasionally you get the free drink (though not as often as I'D like) or the free t-shirt, but mostly you expect to pay for things you want. Why should music be any different?
Load up the CD's you already have...buy stuff from iTunes (I'm an addict, so sue me! I hate you iTunes!! You bastard!!! *I'm just kidding baby, I love you iTunes, call me. wink*) and for God's sake, back up your PC when you do. Or you lose it, and then it's game over baby.
iPod's aren't cool because of the free music, iPod's are cool because mp3's are small little files that don't skip. You can hold thousands of songs in the palm of your hand in nifty little playlists designed for your mood. I have happy playlists, dance-mania playlists, leave-me-alone playlists (this includes a lot of Ani DiFranco), singing-in-my-office-at-the-top-of-my-lungs playlists...seriously, there should be a 12-step program for people like me.
Can you give me a hand so I can step off my soap-box?
Thanks.
Posted by Rebecca | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 01/12/2005 32:74:3P PM
As a songwriter, I can't condone the downloading of music files sans compensation for the artists. But I'd be delighted to send you one of my CDs, gratis, Steve! Unless you're planning on attending the IABC International Conference in DC this year, in which case I'll present it to you in person.
Greg
Posted by Greg Marsh | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 06/23/2005 68:42:4P PM
I have the limewire program and I already have the I-Tunes program and I downloaded a song from LimeWire but it wont let me move the song to any of my playlists or library. Anyone else having this same problem ? and if so how do I fix it ? Thank you, Krystal
Posted by Krystal | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 07/23/2005 63:65:0P PM
A heap of wheat, says the Song of Songs
but I've never seen wheat in a pile :)
did you like it?
Posted by Peter Jackson | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30