But no matter how badly I feel for Used Kids or Magnolia Thuderpussy, I'll never be able to look back from downloading. There is just so much OUT there...and online, you can actually FIND it. Record store gurus may know music, but they know THEIR music. I can count on one hand the number of times a record store employee actually pointed out a band I hadn't heard of before and that I enjoyed. (The most extreme example I can think of is the time I had a record store owner talk me into buying a John Tesh record. "I think you'll really like him. I mean, the guy is married to Connie Sellecca and had a walk on role on Star-Trek, The Last Generation!" Who can argue with logic like that?!)
So, screw you, record stores! I'm surfing the Long Tail! In the past 5 years, I've discovered and bought more music than I had in the rest of my music listening years combined. Here are three of my recent favorite spots to search...
- Last.fm asks you to install some of their software on your computer (I've had it on mine for almost a year now, with no ill effects) which will track all the music you listen to. While that may sound dull, I can't help but find it endlessly fascinating. The more data they collect on me, the more music I have had recommended, either through their on-line "radio stations" (individually built based upon the tracks I listen to most) or through my "neighbors" (other members with similar tastes to mine) It's become my site for music discovery and tracking. I'll either tag new artists I discover with something descriptive (usually "good recommendation", so I remember to check them out when I have the time) or I'll check out their sample tracks on their artist home page.They even have fun widgets you can embed in your site. (The "Top Artists Last Week" chart on the right nav bar is supplied by Last.FM!)
- Next is the bizarrely titled but fantastic You Ain't No Picasso blog. Run by a music fan from Kentucky (Matt Jordan by name, apparently) it covers the gamut of fantastic bands and musicians. I've found hip hop, Girly Rock, Alternative weirdness and my current favorite group. Best of all, almost every post comes with a fantastic sample song! (Make sure and stay on top of the posts, though...some of the MP3's don't stay up for long!)
- And finally, there is eMusic. As soon as I ran across eMusic, I knew I must join. Pure MP3's. None of this M4P crap you get on iTunes. Absolutely no DRM...play your MP3's wherever, however you want. $9.99 for 30 songs a month (I actually upgraded to the 50 songs for $14.99) It has it's drawbacks...mainly that they only have rights to a limited amount of music...but I have yet to have any trouble downloading my 50 songs a month (usually, I'm chomping at the bit, waiting for next month to arrive so I can pick up more) I think it's the best deal on the net for music, and it's given me a legal outlet for my music fixation. (I'm finally clean! No more illegal downloads for me!)As stated before, the amount of music online is enormous. The days of the local record store are over, and I can't imagine that the giant music labels can be too far behind. Local, passionate musicians have their outlet right here, online. These are the places I've been finding them.
And I'll never be fooled into buying a John Tesh album again.
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