Digital music: I Need Opinions! !!

my 2 cents

What do online music purchases offer you that CDs, cassettes and other forms of packaged music cannot?

immediacy

Do you ever purchase packaged music? If so, why?

most of my purchases are packaged music because I want the packaging and art the way it was created for the artist. i purchase some on iTunes.

Is there anything you feel is absent from the process of purchasing online music?

the presentation, the packaging. you also wonder if the artist is compensated but this is always a question with music biz accounting practices with the old media as well.

Which online music store(s) do you use? How satisfied are you with their method(s) of selling music? Why?

I use iTunes, because it works extremely well.

What are your feelings on DRM protected music?

DRM is self-defeating. The reason for all the evasion of payment is that the music business is offering things that people do not assign value to, thus they avoid payment. A basically dishonest artistic/commercial action is answered by a basically dishonest taking of the product. This is plain to see in the top pop music, R&B, dance acts that are prevalent. The music has no lasting value, it is considered temporary and throw-away in nature, and people can and will (wrongly) excuse themselves for not paying for such a product.

If the business and accounting people got out of the way and let the artists reach the public, I think it would be much easier for the public to understand why they need to pay for what they receive.

If the business were to allow the public's tastes to be heard... rather than trying to dictate those tastes... all the DRM, rootkits etc. would be shown to be unnecessary. People will buy something they perceive to have value.

DRM is technically unfeasible because there are people who love the technical challenge of breaking it, and they seem to be inspired to do so by the reciprocal mistrust of the record industry. People tend to rise or descend to whatever is expected of them. From this point of view DRM is a failed piece of marketing psychology. The industry is actually creating its own worst-case scenario by doing this.

The other problem with DRM is that when I pay for a piece of music I have a reasonable expectation of being able to play it on any player I own, in my car, on the computer, on an iPod etc. Limiting of portability... particularly when something has been bought honestly... is more of the behavior seen as draconian and controlling. People don't like it, it defies common sense, and once again it shows an industry treating its customers without respect.

Good luck with your research!