everydayisamixtape

Emusic, I need to talk to you about something. We’ve had a pretty great time together over the past four years. I first heard about you in 1998, an all-you-can eat music service that sold actual .mp3’s instead of some sort of gimped to hell WMA, liquid audio, or RM file.I was intrigued, but silly silly me ignored the concept of paying for digital music files for a long time. Besides, if I wanted MP3’s I would just buy the CD. Still, I mentioned you in research papers I wrote in high school and college, and occasionally stalked you online. We finally met after a long night discussing the ethics of sharing MP3’s. I had stopped buying CD’s, and only bought the occasional B-side on iTunes. You had changed since I first heard about you, but it was still worth the wait. Things started out fast, I think it was around 50 tracks a month for about ten bucks? Those were crazy times. You said it was time to change, but you tried to stay the same for me as long as you could. Things eventually slowed down, but you gave me plenty of warning. In the end, I didn’t mind. You always helped me find at least 4 albums that would end up being on my top ten list for the year, in addition to stuff I already loved. Even at the worst point, I was still only paying 50 cents on the dollar for what it would cost to buy through iTunes (and that’s great!). But things have been changing in other ways. It’s not that I don’t like any major label music. I love Radiohead, still occasionally rock the odd Nine Inch Nails track, and own more “embarrassing” albums than I would like to count. I’m not trying to be pretentious about this… it’s just… See that logo up there? That’s why we were together. You helped me find countless independent artists that enriched my life, that I might not have found otherwise. Under normal circumstances, I would be ok with you taking on Universal, Warner, and Sony catalogs, but you’re doing this at the cost of the Beggar’s group. That means no more Merge Records, no more Domino, no 4AD, no Matador, no Rough Trade, no XL. No Slack Motherfucker. No Game of Pricks. No Stereo. No Sugarcube, not to mention countless bands that have become recent favorites (like The Morning Benders, who I discovered via you). Subsidizing the availability of U2 at the cost of labels that were quintessential in developing the culture of independent music like Merge is where I draw the line. If you don’t carry the music, what motiviation do you have to include them in features, or dozens, or album of the year lists? None. I think we should see other people. I’m excited to see that there is a lower-cost iTunes alternative with an immense major catalog, that’s just not what I need right now. There are a lot of people out there who are perfect for you, and all the press surrounding the Universal catalog thing might help you find them. Competition with iTunes is good for everyone, and will encourage the industry to keep innovating. Me? I have a confession to make… I’ve been buying A LOT of music directly from bands via BandCamp. I meant to tell you, but I just wasn’t satisfied sometimes. I hope you understand. Maybe it will work out, maybe it won’t and we can talk about getting back together someday. I’ll be back to pick up my “To Download list” and back everything up when the new site goes live, please don’t throw it on the curb. Thanks for 4 great years, and good luck in the future. -Kevin 

Emusic, I need to talk to you about something. We’ve had a pretty great time together over the past four years. I first heard about you in 1998, an all-you-can eat music service that sold actual .mp3’s instead of some sort of gimped to hell WMA, liquid audio, or RM file.I was intrigued, but silly silly me ignored the concept of paying for digital music files for a long time. Besides, if I wanted MP3’s I would just buy the CD. Still, I mentioned you in research papers I wrote in high school and college, and occasionally stalked you online.

We finally met after a long night discussing the ethics of sharing MP3’s. I had stopped buying CD’s, and only bought the occasional B-side on iTunes. You had changed since I first heard about you, but it was still worth the wait. Things started out fast, I think it was around 50 tracks a month for about ten bucks? Those were crazy times. You said it was time to change, but you tried to stay the same for me as long as you could. Things eventually slowed down, but you gave me plenty of warning. In the end, I didn’t mind. You always helped me find at least 4 albums that would end up being on my top ten list for the year, in addition to stuff I already loved. Even at the worst point, I was still only paying 50 cents on the dollar for what it would cost to buy through iTunes (and that’s great!). But things have been changing in other ways.

It’s not that I don’t like any major label music. I love Radiohead, still occasionally rock the odd Nine Inch Nails track, and own more “embarrassing” albums than I would like to count. I’m not trying to be pretentious about this… it’s just…

See that logo up there? That’s why we were together. You helped me find countless independent artists that enriched my life, that I might not have found otherwise. Under normal circumstances, I would be ok with you taking on Universal, Warner, and Sony catalogs, but you’re doing this at the cost of the Beggar’s group. That means no more Merge Records, no more Domino, no 4AD, no Matador, no Rough Trade, no XL. No Slack Motherfucker. No Game of Pricks. No Stereo. No Sugarcube, not to mention countless bands that have become recent favorites (like The Morning Benders, who I discovered via you). Subsidizing the availability of U2 at the cost of labels that were quintessential in developing the culture of independent music like Merge is where I draw the line. If you don’t carry the music, what motiviation do you have to include them in features, or dozens, or album of the year lists? None. I think we should see other people.

I’m excited to see that there is a lower-cost iTunes alternative with an immense major catalog, that’s just not what I need right now. There are a lot of people out there who are perfect for you, and all the press surrounding the Universal catalog thing might help you find them. Competition with iTunes is good for everyone, and will encourage the industry to keep innovating. Me? I have a confession to make… I’ve been buying A LOT of music directly from bands via BandCamp. I meant to tell you, but I just wasn’t satisfied sometimes. I hope you understand. Maybe it will work out, maybe it won’t and we can talk about getting back together someday.

I’ll be back to pick up my “To Download list” and back everything up when the new site goes live, please don’t throw it on the curb. Thanks for 4 great years, and good luck in the future.

-Kevin 

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