Does MP3 actually rule?
Many people say "Yes, sure", it's even their way of life - they
are always carrying their cute little mp3 players, have Gigs of music on their
hard drives. Personally I don't think someone should use mp3 files beyond
the scope of their little desktop speakers. You can't play mp3s in the discos,
right? Also I prefer playing real audio discs on headphones... But that's
just about perception. Everybody is different. Let's assume I'm a quality
maniac.
But mp3 is so popular. It may be not the best audio format. Who cares (besides
me)? Quite a few people. I can tell you somebody that really cares about mp3
and its wide distribution. The soundrecording corporations.
Everybody knows that the mp3 technology (or its likes) costs them excessive
amounts of money every year. Millions. Billions. The companies are in some
kind of panic. They always claim like "If nobody pays for music, the
artists will die starving. Buying the CD of your favourite group will encourage
them to continue create the music you like". Of course they are right.
Let's trace the way music should be distributed thru some opposite viewpoints:
The soundrecording company:
- You hear just a song somewhere, you like it. Maybe you buy the single, maybe you don't. You hear another one and decide to buy the album. Usually the rest of the albums turns out to be crap, you listen only the two (or three, whatever) hits and then it collects the dust somewhere in your 'original CD' collection.
The typical mp3 geek:
- Sees a top-20 chart or just sees that the new album of his favourite group is released, searches his favourite site, finds what he/she wants and gets it (in a matter of minutes/hours, usually shorter than going to the store and buying the CD). If the rest of the album turns to be crap, he/she may simply delete it. The worst case - the CD will collect the dust, but at least the CD stack will be 8-10 times smaller (1 mp3 cd may hold 400-700 mins depending on the bitrate)
OK, so what's my opinion? Do I support the sound-recording industry or the mp3 pirating technology. You guessed correct. Why?
- I don't mind buying
a few original CDs as sometimes they worth the bucks. I really do it sometimes,
but that's just an exception, because I know the group very well and I am
pretty sure they've made another bone-breaking album.
- You buy one CD and you are happy that part of your money will feed the group
you like... hm... think about it ... how many percent of what you give really
go to the original artist(s)... I don't know either, but its pretty low. Most
of the money feed the fat asses of the bureaucracy between you and them!
- I don't think that the few hits from an album of some new-made "star"
are sufficient for the general public to decide whether the album is good
or not. There should be free mp3s of the whole album (all songs, full length
at acceptable quality (112 kbps at least)). Users should be able freely to
listen to those songs and if they stay convinced that the album is great,
OK they can buy it.
- Nobody likes to buy something without testing it. The sound recording companies
precisely try to force this. If mp3 is a way of fighting their ideas, I agree.
- The corporations MUST accept that sort of piracy: the dealers who sell "audio"
discs that are actualy created from mp3s. Yeah. They must accept it. The only
dealers that must be prosecuted are those, who claim that they sell original
CDs (i.e. with the real CD quality). That is, the man who sells them should
inform its customers the source of the sound and give them the opportunity
to consider spending more money on the real thing. So if they don't want quality
- buy from him. But they must KNOW that. I'm not sure if there are some detecting
software on the net that makes that kind of check - whether a CD is created
from mp3 or is copied from the original CD. I'm sure it can be done ('coz
I know how to check it, but it's complicated).
- The recording industry must understand, that people who download mp3s, burn
them on CDs and sell them get their money the same way an internet provider
does - they make a bridge between the 'data' and the 'users'.
- Personally, I think that producer's creations like Brithney Spears don't
deserve any money. Nor do the fat & rich musicians who actually create
their music. They are rich enough.
- And the 'illusions' ( Jennifer Lopez or Christina Aguilera or ... blablabla...)
may go and take part in a X-rated movie, where they are way better at. Most
of them can't even sing (take Tatu for example). Not that it is easy :)
- Most of all: There are many people around the world who will never be forced
to pay for commercial sh!t. Hey, that's like you are forced to pay for your
TV and you pay for watching the advertisments as well! So mp3 may not be the
best format, it may has flaws, but as far as the customer's right is concerned,
mp3 rules the world!