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home > lifestyles > college wisdom
Downloading internet music is here to stay
By Joshua O'Connell
Posted Monday, May 13, 2002
Record companies love to blame college students for the downturn in sales they're suffering. Indeed, year-to-date sales are down for the second straight year.
But college students can't be blamed for looking for alternatives when the long-standing solutions aren't as worthwhile as they used to be.
Legalities aside, there are a few reasons why the Internet is becoming the best tool for getting music.
- Radio homogeny. Twice in the past week I felt like I had deja vu when three radio stations were playing the same song at once. Playlists are shrinking. Risk-taking is out. Airing the latest Britney Spears song over and over is in.
So, instead of turning on the radio, people are turning to their CD players for entertainment in the car. It's nice that the music can go from Internet to computer to CD, and then pop right into your car CD player. It's a little more work, but at least you won't hear that "big hit" for the millionth time.
- CD prices. Unless you shop around, if you walk into a major chain store you're likely to pay up to $20 for a new release.
Consider the fact that an average album recorded in the '60s or '70s would hold, on average, 10 songs. Songs have gotten a bit longer, but if you get more than 12 tracks on a CD you're lucky. Most artists don't want to provide a lot for that $20.
- The decline of singles. When I was a kid, I'd buy singles because I couldn't afford the (then) $10-$15 for a full tape or CD. Singles were nice - at most, $3 for a couple of songs by an artist I liked. Now, it's all or nothing - buy the whole CD or get nothing. If you like the latest 'N'Sync song but hate everything else they've done, downloading sounds like a great option.
These points are proved by some of the bigger sellers. Now That's What I Call Music!, a collection of songs put out every three months, reads like a hit list of artists that you'd want to buy individually. But when all the tracks are together, finally you have a reason to purchase the CD. No wonder they've been selling millions of each release.
As long as record companies make it difficult for us, we're going to download. For an industry concerned about their sales declining, they sure haven't heard the music we, their customers, are playing.
This column originally ran May 13, 2002 in the Connecticut Post.
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