Intro & Attitudes...
From March 2003 to August 2003, I conducted a series of informal interviews, experiments and research in the general field of digital music. I had originally planned to publish these findings in one article, but I soon found that I would need to do several segments.

The first segment will deal with some general terms, viewpoints and current trends. I'm aware that trends today may change drastically before this entire article is published, and in fact there have been some sizable developments since I started. However, the themes discussed here will probably be important for some time. It may also be useful to have a record of the current environment for future generations.

This article, or small quest as it turns out, started with the idea of trying to find out, for myself, where I stood on the topic of digital music. Digital music is a broad topic, but by the term I mean any music that is available on the Internet, streamed or downloadable, as well as the physical products of CDs which are also digital, but have a more tangible form.

The problems or issues that I wanted to work out for myself could be summed up by some of the following buzz words:

Downloading
File Sharing
Peer to Peer
MP3
Compression
Piracy
Copy-protection
Copyrights
Artist Rights
Consumer Rights

As someone involved with music on a number of levels, I knew there were many sides to this discussion. Here are some of the hats people wear, and some basic viewpoints/goals to go with them:

Artist: Creative drive, development, exposure, need (great or less urgent) to make money

Listener: Wants good selection, easy to use, no hassles

Record label: Sells records

Online portal: Wants to provide good selection to customers

Computer anaylst: Wants to make money off of music industry, solve technical problems

Unlike most discussions, this one does not involve two defined sides. There may be, multiple gray-areas of understanding depending on what group above you come from. As a person wears multiple hats, additional complexity and subtlety is added.

Speaking as a songwriter, producer and artist, I certainly would prefer that people purchase my CD, because:

a) Better sound quality
b) You get the artwork/lyrics
c) You have a physical backup
d) No ripping/naming hassles
e) Income from CDs is encouraging to artists

However, as a music collector and buyer, I understand the reasons people might want to avoid CD purchases.

a) most people's ears aren't refined enough to tell the difference in quality

b) some CDs don't include lyrics anyway, or the artwork is not impressive; or
artwork is provided in another format on-line (screen savers, desktops, icons, picts, etc)

c) some people enjoy making backups of their MP3 files, and even a physical CD can be damaged

d) some people actually enjoy the process of ripping CDs and naming files

e) CD income is a sticky subject. As an artist with several records available, I know that CD sales are a function of live performances.

My wife and I recently saw a Latin band, and while I "might" be able to go on-line to get their music in MP3 format, I don't have the time or the inclination to do so. It was worth the price of the CD (purchased at the gig) to show our support of the band and to get the CD autographed.

Speaking as a musician (one who plays several instruments and sings, not always for professional reasons):

I would like the opportunity to obtain MP3 copies of songs for the purpose of learning a song, especially after I have either purchased a song book or have some or most of an artist's catalog. It is my opinion that musicians who carry on the tradition of performing and interpreting other people's work should have some unique, if not special, rights when it comes to this whole discussion. That may be radical for some, but it's just the way I see it.

If I learn a Cat Steven's song from a CD that I own, and I perform that song at a show and a listener goes to Wal-Mart the next day to buy a Cat Steven's disk, good for Cat (actually, Yusaf Islam).

If I find a song on the Net and learn it, then do the same gig, and someone buys a Cat Steven's CD, Cat still benefits. (this is still assuming that my performance is so inspiring). OK, Cat missed out on my purchase of the song since I found it on the web, but I'm kinda playing middleman here spreading the word about Cat. Consider the MP3 file my commission...

Speaking as a music fan…

I spend hundreds of dollars on CDs every year. Probably more than I should. My wish list contains a host of CDs I would like to get. I am selective about what I buy, but occasionally I get a "dud." I want to have the option of contacting someone I know and asking them if I can get a copy of a song before I buy the CD.

Speaking as an information technology professional...

In the late 80s, one of my favorite activities was to make mix tapes off of Top 40 programs, rap stations and public radio. I couldn't afford to buy music all the time, so I would often visit friends and select music from their collections that I was interested in, and we would make compilation tapes.

Back when CDs first came out, I couldn't afford a CD player. I was stuck with analog cassette tapes until after high school, and my first CD player was probably on my computer. Back in those days of tapes, friends would make me copies of CDs on tape. And even back then there were concerns that such activity would hurt the industry. It didn't. Tapes and CDs are apples and oranges when it comes to quality and functionality. Eventually I gave in, and now I own over 8 CD players, and over 700 CDs.

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