I want MY music. I want it fast, organized, high-quality and now. This is not too much to ask, and I, a consumer, have been begging for it for years.
Before BitTorrent, Napster or CDs, there was the mixtape. I would spend hours listening to the radio and when a song I liked came on, I recorded it. It was MY music. I choose to keep the notes, the voice, the rhythms with me for all time. I would mix and match songs according to my mood and the occasion. I would swap tapes with friends with similar tastes. And if they were lucky, they might have received one as a gift. Of course being a kid, I didn’t have a lot of money. But nothing says I care more than a well crafted mixtape (and no, I’m not ripping off Nick Hornby).
Then came the CD with its shiny new cover and it’s obvious similarity to the venerable vinyl record. But this was the 90’s. A new time, a new era, full of ones and zeros. Anything digital was all the rage. So I paid $20 a pop for a piece of plastic that did sound better than a tape, but was still inferior to a vinyl record. Granted, the CD came with a small booklet full of useful information: more pictures, sometimes lyrics, and even the name of the sound engineer from that song I never listened to. With a mixture of mass marketing and an era of economic prosperity, YOU, the labels, reaped record profits and I was left with piles of CDs containing just a few songs of enjoyable music.
In the end, I was left unfulfilled. I returned to the trusty mixtape to create the album I really wanted. Sure it was lesser quality and I couldn’t magically skip to the next song, but I at least had the songs I wanted in the order I wanted. It was my music my way. At the end of the 90’s, the party was over. The floodgates were open and a sea of unlimited free music was unleashed upon us. But this wasn’t a revolution. People didn’t storm the castle or burn down the walls. It’s the same evolutionary process that brought about the transistors, computers and the internet.
As the technology advanced with cheaper disk space and faster web connections, I wanted more. First there was Usenet, full of silly chatter and annoying trolls, but I could download free music. Then there was IRC with better file downloading but added viruses. Each successive iteration provided faster downloads and more content. The tide of progress couldn’t be stopped so technology finally reached a tipping point where the will, getting the music I want, found a way, Napster.
In truth, Napster changed everything for internet users. Before, advanced internet users had to download from large, clunky servers that might not have the data you wanted, or use a command-line interface to connect directly to files you wanted. What Napster did correctly was provide an adequate interface to content that was searchable and downloadable. What Napster neglected to do was filter out all the junk that people tossed in the system. Despite their drawbacks, what made Napster and other P2P networks even more worthwhile was recordable CDs. Now you had the best of both worlds: the crisp, clean digital sound of a CD along with the malleable, personal nature of a mixtape.
During this era of free music, a connection was broken. I was no longer a customer. I became a common theif and had to be dealt with immediately. You tried suing me and that did not work. You tried suing my little siblings and grandmother and you lost my respect. You did not ask me what I wanted or what it would take to change my ways. You could have created a new and better system with higher quality files and organized information. You could have created a faster system with special content like videos or live concerts. You could have done a lot of things, but you chose to ignore me. That was your decision, but now I have made mine: I WILL have my music.
There is Bittorrent which lets me download massive amount of music with a click of a button. There are decentralized P2P networks which let me find the exact song I want without being sued. There are social music sites where random strangers and I can share our individual tastes with each other and the world. There are programs out there that let me organize, tag and correct the gigabytes of music I have on my hard drive, and portable music players that can carry my entire library and fit in my pocket. I do this because I still love music and listen to it everyday. Now I download music and create playlists instead of buying CDs and burning mixed CDs. I do this because you drove me away and made me an outcast. Now a new era is upon us and you have to decide what your next step will be.
It’s starting out with a trickle: Radiohead, Trent Reznor and Barenaked Ladies. But that’s only the beginning of your troubles. When I finally build a system that let’s me listen to my music when, where and how I want it, I will need you less. When I can easily share and broadcast my music with friends or the world, you will see my influence. When I can discover the music I like or find music I never knew I would like, I will be empowered. And when I can finally pay the people directly who create, perform and produce the music I love, you will be nothing.
There are some who claim that they can do these things already. That they can provide a solution to my problems. I will be the judge of that. In the meantime, I refuse to wait for a solution because I am the solution. I choose to build the very system I pleaded for you to build. I have built Wikipedia, Flickr, Digg, Last.fm and Grooveshark. These are just the beginning and more is coming ahead. You can be part of this future if you really want. Just remember, I will have my music, but will YOU be part of the system?