Digital Music Sucks

 updated 1/29/06

Like many tech savvy New Yorkers with an abundance of recorded music and a limited amount of space, a few years ago I jumped at the chance to rip staggering piles of CDs to MP3, stick them on a computer, and play them on my stereo via a simple Y cable.

Then, when it became legal to download music through online music stores like the now reformed Napster, Musicmatch, or even iTunes, I started doing that. The cost is nearly 50% less then retail and the convenience is unsurpassed. I was pretty bummed when my neighborhood record store closed up shop, but the truth is I only buy discs when something I want is unavailable online, and that isn't often.

I said aloud, Digital music is good.

I bought my first MP3 player, and then another. I even lusted after the iPod mini for a bit, not that it was ever a sensible device for me. I use a Rio Forge which is great for runners and bikers and I like it just fine. Whereas the iPod apparently sends out the message, "Mug Me" the Rio Forge says "Don't mess with me, I'm an athlete." Well, maybe that's an overstatement, but still.

I praised digital music loudly to all that would listen.

That first MP3 player was purchased two years ago and since then a slew of products and services have come on the market. Some of these are good (Napster), and some of these are great (Emusic) and many are forgettable (I forgot them). Nonetheless, the vendors of the music, of the software, and of the hardware are doing an awful job juxtaposing an array of bewildering choices in the market, none of which really work together, none of which really do what I want, and all of which tick me off to no end. Most of these problems come down to vendors taking ineffective steps to address their fears of the competition and of course, bootleggers.

The most obvious example of this is the online music stores which all use a form of digital rights management (DRM) in order to keep you from putting their wares on the internet and robbing them of future sales. Fair enough, except all it does is inconvenience the typical user by forcing them to verify ownership every time they want to transfer the music to a new computer, a new MP3 player, or God forbid, play it in a competing music player. Sometimes you can't even do this. For instance, tracks you buy from the iTunes store are incompatible with any other music player, an example of Apple's apparent mission to be absolutely incompatible whenever possible.

Other times, when you should be able to activate DRM, it just doesn't work, don't ask me why. It seems to happen constantly. Send an email off to MusicMatch or Microsoft and see how quickly you get a response. Meanwhile, the typical user can't listen to the music they paid for when and where they want. Stupid.

Fortunately, there's an easy way to get around this, not that the online music stores would like you to know. Burn the music to a CD and then rip it back to MP3 or WMA or whatever, bye bye DRM. I'm sure the music pirates and the people for whom Free Music is raison d'être have no idea how easy this is. Meanwhile the average customer is just bewildered and wants to know "Why don't things just work?" The end result is often that they blame the wrong product or service for the problem and then make poor decisions based on that. That is, if they don't just give up altogether.

My biggest complaint though is reserved for the manufacturers of the hardware that is supposed to make it more convenient to play hard drive based music on my stereo, commonly called Digital Music Receivers. There are a slew of these devices out there, all of which seem to work basically the same way, finding the music on your computer or network via a wireless connection and then allowing you to access this music through some combination of your stereo, television, and the device itself.

While I have to admit this is a workable application, it defeats the whole purpose of wireless technology by forcing users to be in front of the home entertainment center if they want to use the system. If I find this inconvenient, and I only have a one bedroom apartment, imagine how annoying this is if you have a 3 level brownstone!

Fortunately, there is a solution to this too and it's from our good friends at Apple Computer. Released last summer, the Apple Airport Express is one of the best buys ever. Not only does it allow you to play music over your wireless network to your stereo and control it with your computer, but it also functions as a wireless router with a built in USB printer port for wireless printing. It's a wonderful device…unless you want to use anything other than iTunes to play your music. D'oh!

Yes, in typical Apple fashion, they have released a wonderful device which you can only use their way. If you want to stream music from Napster, Music Match, or the ubiquitous and top notch Windows Media Player 10, forget about it. From what I understand, it wouldn't be that hard to do either, but Apple won't make it happen. If they did, you might not use iTunes with your iPod and that's no good for them. Another scratch against Airport Express is that not all that many USB printers are compatible with it, including the popular Epson Photo 1280.

Apple is not really to blame though, their product is excellent at what it supposed to be and wildly popular as a result. The fault lies with the many competing vendors who have not released products that will work with the other players and services and release Frankenstein lash-ups instead. If you're thinking about lying in bed and streaming music from Musicmatch, Napster, or Windows Media Player to your stereo in the next room, you're out of luck for now.

Until these vendors get together and put the people purchasing their products ahead of the thieves and the competition, so are we all

Entire Document (print, email, or web page) Copyright 2005-6 by Steven M. Lastoe. All rights reserved.