Monday, October 16, 2006

Down with music thieves

It's great that the police are cracking down on people who use peer-to-peer software to "share" music online.

Those who download illegal music contend that the practice builds community, they say.

Sure, it does. But it is also theft, pure and simple.

Netizens are now griping that the "good old days" of getting free music is gone. They talk of it like it's their right to get free music. They have never spared a thought to the musician or his team of tech people who'd had to put the album together, and need to earn a living. [OK, fine, some of these artistes are rich already, but that doesn't mean they are running charities either.]

If older humans thought nothing of going to a record store to buy CDs before - or LPs, or music cassettes or cartridges for the even older generation of humans - then why the hell should people expect music to come free to them now?

You want the music, you pay for it. Why is this so hard to accept? How are artistes expected to make a living if everyone wants to rip their music at no cost? Whether it be music or news, the Internet has spawned a whole generation of people who think it a God-given right to get something for nothing.

Sure, CDs don't come cheap. At about $25 (or more for those double albums), it might be beyond the budget of younger humans. but there are ways around it. Older humans - the music fans - used to save up their pocket money to buy LPs. Or pool money among friends to get one.

Of course, it'd be ideal if the price of CDs were to come down, say by 20%? Junk the environment-unfriendly plastic containers, go with plain cardboard sleeves. Be environmentally friendlier and save on the fee graphic artists charge to come up with fancy liner notes in full colour and printed on high-quality paper.

The other thing is for Apple to make its iTunes credit cards available in Singapore. Or for all online music stores to operate in a similar way. Apple has cited the prevalence of credit card fraud here (and in this region generally) for not wanting to sell the iTunes cards here.

If they could get around that somehow, it would be a boon for the budget-challenged ones - they would be able to buy the "one or two songs that I like" at 99 cts a pop, instead of paying for the whole album.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Behold, King Nookie!



Behold, the great King Nookie,
Lord of all he surveys!
He sits where the air is less funky
- The bed's top bunk, away from litter trays!


Muahahahah!