Sitting at home grading web projects this morning. Gerald’s got the digital cable radio playing, and this is the first time we’ve (well, I’ve) listened to the “Party Favorites” channel. Too fun. From R.E.M.’s It’s the End of the World As We Know It to The Bangles Walk Like An Egyptian to Jerry Lee Lewis’ Great Balls of Fire , it’s an unending, commercial-free stream of upbeat music that’s ideal to hum along to while doing unpleasant tasks.
This is the kind of thing that makes me really like the new Apple Music Store. If I hear a song that piques my interest, I can hop online and buy it for .99. Instant gratification. I like instant gratification. Patience has never been my forté. And in my life these days, time is at a premium. I don’t have time to go to the store and find the album I want. I don’t have time to launch Limewire and search for a downloadable version of the song. Apple’s made it fast, easy, and reliable.
I understand Joi’s concerns about “giving in” to DRM. On the other hand, after spending a good bit of time (a) testing out the the impact of the DRM scheme, and (b) reading about it, I don’t find Apple’s implementation unreasonable or intrusive. At the end of the day, I can still do everything I would have done with a “non-protected” MP3—burn it to a disc, make a disc from a playlist, share it with a friend, play it on my iPod.
The music selection hasn’t been a big issue for me…probably because my tastes aren’t really cutting edge. My first test was to look for Little Feat, and I found lots of their stuff, which made me happy. (I don’t need it, since we own all of their albums…my husband is buddies with the band. And yes, they’re still touring. Still one of the best live bands in the world. And coming to Rochester next month. Woohoo!) Then I went looking for the song I’d heard at the drag show the night before. Bingo! Less than five minutes later Apple had my credit card number, and I had Bette Midler singing “I’m beautiful, dammit!” on my computer.
Like many others writing about this, I’d like to see the price drop a little, but for now, the convenience and novelty make it worth the .99.
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