Oh, Napster, Napster--Be Still My Heart
Written: Aug 13 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Free, great selection, allows the freedom to wander into unknown musical territory
Cons: Sometimes finicky downloads, maybe they call it Napster because you can nap during slow downloads? (aww, whatd'ya want? It's free!!)
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| gogogopher's Full Review: Napster |
When I was about 7-years-old, my parents took me to a grand opening of a bank. About five kids at a time were let loose in a bank vault, the floor of which was covered in Kennedy half-dollars, quarters, dimes and nickels, about six inches deep. We had one minute to collect all the cash we could and shovel it into our little buckets until the time ran out. I had such a blast! Napster is just like that for me now.
We all know what Napster is, so no need to explain but I'm afraid the glory days are going to be short-lived. I discovered Napster very late (only in June of this year) but since then, I can proudly say I've been sleep deprived in a major way! I also told everybody I knew about it and they too, are now sporting dark circles under their eyes.
As the courts battle out the question of facilitation of copyright infringement, I have to say that through Napster, I've been exposed to artists and songs that I would not otherwise have heard. For example, there's an old, old song that I knew called "Signifyin' Monkey" by a guy named Oscar Brown, Jr. I found that song (miraculously) and then went to see what other stuff Oscar had on the menu. I found several really great songs from this guy who works in a genre of music that I am not familiar with at all and normally, would never be exposed to. I rarely buy CDs, really, as I am a news junkie more than a music junkie but now, you can bet I'm going to run down to Tower Records and buy a few of his CDs. Would Oscar have been able to sell me a CD before this? No way. He has Napster to thank for my business and so does his label and his publishing company.
This is where the RIAA and the other powers that be are missing the boat. Of course, you go to Napster to d/l your favorite songs first but in the process of poking around in the files, if you're open to a bit of diversity (which most people are, I think), many people find music and musical styles that they weren't aware they liked because they never had an opportunity to hear them. The next logical step is to go and actually BUY the stuff.
Napster claims (and rightly so, I believe) that people have a tendency to download a buttload of songs and then later on, delete them. Napster claims that this must mean people are "sampling" songs. That's probably true to some extent but there could be another reason, as well. What they don't say is that in a lot of cases, those deletions are probably occurring because mp3s eat up disk space like nobody's business and unless you want your hard drive full to capacity, you'd better delete the ones you're not that crazy about.
But whether I ever delete Oscar's songs from my computer or not is not even the point. The point is, by letting me have those few songs for free, I'm going to go out and spend money on this artist that I never would have if it weren't for Napster. As far as the RIAA, Metallica, Dr. Dre, etc., are concerned, I expect them to be greedy and money-grubbing but what I don't expect is this stupid, blind greed, where they're so panicked at the very idea of possibly losing some money, they go blundering into the courts like stormtroopers, demanding that this "thievery" be stopped. Please. If they'd look at the big picture, their perspective might change.
The whole point of these lawsuits is moot, really, anyway. Now that the cat's out of the bag, people will d/l music from whatever source offers it for free, whether it's gnutella or any number of other free sites. Can't stop technology.
Needless to say, I'm really hoping this is not a case of Dead Napster Walking. If it is and we lose Napster, se la vie--but I've had a wonderful time shoveling those mp3s into my bucket!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
gogogopher
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Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 6 members
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