grouse (3)

- in what is apparently going to be a long series.

I've always been a fervent supporter of the illegal downloading business, and newly-launched website Soundbuzz should convince law-abiding music lovers that I've been right all along. For a couple of months, I've been searching in vain on Kazaa for a particular Uncle Kracker song (Kazaa tends to be flooded with fake, non-working copies of Top 40 hits) - so when I heard about the $1.99 a track offers on Soundbuzz I figured why the hell not. I registered without too much fuss and managed to find the song in a couple of minutes - the only 2 good things I can say about the process. Once I had paid for the download, Netscape stopped cooperating with me, and I wrestled for a good hour with the system before figuring out that for some reason it only likes Internet Explorer. Fair enough - I switched browsers, completed the download, and realised unhappily that I had been given the file in .wma format. Which in itself would not be bad except that my iPod, thanks to Apple protectionism, only takes .mp3s and .wavs. So I try to convert the file and find, again to my great displeasure, that the song has some lock on it and can't be changed from its original format. Perfect. iTunes (the Apple music store) doesn't work outside of the States, and the other mp3 paysites out there don't offer the kind of music I like to listen to (Most of my downloads nowadays are alternative/a cappella/instrumental). Ergo, it's back to good old illegal file-sharing.

See, that's the thing. Music piracy continues to flourish because even when people try to be honest, they're thwarted every step of the way. I give the RIAA and their affiliates and their lawsuits two thumbs down. Boo. Booooo. Kazaa forever!