Music: November 2003 Archives

I think I stole that subject line from somebody recently. Oh well. Anyway, I'm sitting around tonight, watching "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and surfing the web when I should be writing. Anyway, wandered on over to MP3.com, which will be going away real soon now, and started downloading stuff. I was pleasantly surprised to find Q-Tip's "Vivrant Thing" in the hip-hop section. I then decided to take a look at the country section, since I like some stuff that could be considered country. I had forgotten how funny country music titles can be. I just had to click and download "Growing Marijuana in My Back Yard", "Bury Me At WalMart", and "The Boob Song" — I mean, WTF? I was less pleased to see one offering called "Victim of Abortion"; I haven't listened to it, but let's just say that maybe not all of MP3.com's songs need to be preserved for the ages. Maybe I'm being unfair; it could be a really great song. Somehow, I doubt it.

But I'm betting the ones about boobs and WalMart are fun to listen to. I just have to figure out some way of hiding them in my iTunes playlist so other people don't find out I listened to them. Oops, too late. :-)

Article in Wired about the ability to share your music lists via iTunes... and the ability of other's to pigeonhole you as a result of your musical tastes (or lack thereof)

"This one playlist had a lot of German techno," Aubrey said. "We predicted this was a kid wearing a mesh shirt who wanted to be a Nazi." At a party shortly afterward, Aubrey recognized the playlist and asked whose music it was. "They pointed to this kid in a mesh shirt with a swastika on his arm," Aubrey said.

Judging from my iTunes list, I wear a lot of mismatched clothing, have multiple personalities, and am registered with several clashing political parties. And the tattoos! Oh dear. (Goes back to listening to Badly Drawn Boy.)

--> "ITunes Undermines Social Security", Wired News, November 12, 2003, www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,61177,00.html

Though I've heard of Fairport Convention, I'd never really heard much of Richard Thompson's music before. He occasionally gets played on KFOG's "Accoustic Sunrise", and that's about it. Since finding his latest album on the late lamented EMusic, though, I've been listening to "The Old Kit Bag" over and over and over. Good album, and I'm also (perhaps unfairly) always impressed when somebody who's been making music for the better part of four decades still sounds fresh and inspired.

I was also very interested to learn today that he's a practicing Sufi Muslim! According to this site, he introduces one of the songs on his album, "Outside of the Inside" as "a song about how the Taliban see the West". I don't completely buy that, though — the song hits much closer to home, with its lyrics denouncing various great thinkers of the West. I mean, who seems the most anti-science and culture, lately? If you answered the American religious right, you get a cookie! I suppose that's what makes it a great song though... it could be about any fanatic, anywhere. And it shure sounds purty, too...

I was thinking about my sense of musical aesthetics (or lack thereof)... puzzling over why I think some music is beautiful when other people might not (Neil Young), yet am left cold by music that is inarguably pretty (Sarah Mclaughlin).

And I blame my parents. They tend to listen to a different set of musicians and genres than me, but they exposed me to two key musical influences: 1) Randy Newman and 2) Stephen Sondheim. Those two gentlemen are masters of the sweet melody and the not-so-sweet subtext. Randy Newman can sing beautifully of slave ships and broken marriages, and Sondheim writes about thwarted loves, regretted choices, dead-end lives, and ways of life that have been swept away. He's covered everything from the opening of Japan to the West in the 1800s to the inner lives of presidential assassins.

The songs I like, while they are different genres (folk/rock/alternative/country?), are often similarly somewhat melancholy, even a little twisted. A new favorite of mind, Richard Thompson, gets inside the mind of a religious fanatic in "Outside of the Inside", Dar Williams waxes rhapsodically about life by the sea and then gets slapped down and told to get over herself by an actual fisherman, in "The Ocean", Kirsty Maccoll gets nostalgic about an illicit affair in "Titanic Days", and... I'm still not sure what "Pineapple Head" is about, but those Crowded House boys sure sang it like they meant it. Even a beautiful song about how we are all worlds within worlds has the improbably title "You Little Shits." Why? Why not?

I think my ears have been trained to need a hint of a sour note, not just unleavened sweetness. Sometimes pretty is just too... pretty. Sorry, Sarah M.! (This probably also explains why I'm not that thrilled by Andrew Lloyd Webber either.)

Dear Emusic Folks,

It is with great reluctance that I am writing to cancel my subscription. I've been a very happy Emusic customer and have enthusiastically recommended your service to everybody I know for the past couple of years... but that time has ended. I had recently paid for a year of service, but I would like to end my agreement and be refunded the unused portion of my subscription.

Here are the reasons I am cancelling:

1) The new download plans are not attractive or flexible. 40 songs for $10 or 65 songs for $15, and no other options (save some rumor of a $50/month plan, which is not realistic for most people's budgets.) You can tout the "per-track cost" all you want, but I doubt that people download mainly individual songs from EMusic -- and what good is 2 1/2 albums a month? The hit single has never been your company's strength, anyway.

2) The downloading functionality has pretty much stopped working. I keep having to hit Resume over and over, and sometimes I download empty sound files. Yes, I'm sure that's because people are downloading tons of stuff before they leave, but why didn't you anticipate that before making your announcement? I understand that you're also running ads to entice new customers to the service. Given how poorly things are running at the moment, it seems unwise to give a bad first impression like this. Why don't you fix your technical problems first before you try to grow the service?

3) The new attitude towards your customers is contemptible. EMusic had never done as much with the service as they could have, but the discussion boards and music lists were a good start. Finally, the passionate music fans could communicate with each other, and believe me, they were telling other people about this great thing too. Taking down the discussion boards was a good way to avoid hearing the inevitable complaints from your customers, but it also sent a clear message that you didn't care what your paying customers thought. Since that letter, there have been NO communications from Emusic -- although I do see press releases in the news about your new plans. You'd think you'd be trying to convince people to stick with you and telling them about your new features, but no. It's also nearly impossible to find any contact information about your company. I fail to see how alienating yourselves from your paying customers will benefit your bottom line... you have effectively gotten rid of a key component of your marketing and your word-of-mouth is not going to be good.

In short, you're asking customers to pay the same amount or more, in exchange for reduced value, nonexistent customer service, glitchy software, and a lot of frustration. You're taking a terrific service and running it into the ground. I'd rather not watch the carnage.

If you ever resolve these problems, believe me, I will certainly consider signing up again. The music selection has been terrific, and it's a pity that it's being managed so badly. For now, I will be taking my business to iTunes.

Sincerely,