I've been playing with the iTunes music store on my Windows PC. This is supposed to be the great hope for selling music over the Internet so people stop stealing it using Kazaa. The trouble is, I haven't been able to find a single song I want to buy yet. Here have been my searches thus far, all of which came up empty:
Earflaps
Amadou et Miriam
Neko Case
Ani DiFranco
I find it truly surprising the last two aren't on there. I suppose they are independent labels, but they are big names. Reports from independent labels have been encouraging, although in an ideal world artists, not labels, could sign up directly with Apple to sell their music. This is the true promise of digital music distribution, to allow unknown bands to market their music for almost zero cost. After all, no CDs must be pressed and the incremental cost of a Web page and track library is almost zero for Apple, or at least sufficiently low that unknown bands might be able to pay to play. But then Apple might alienate the big labels it needs to keep the service running, although I sort of doubt that.
I just find it funny I can use Apple iTunes on my home PC, bought used in summer 2001, but my Apple iMac at work, manufactured brand new at the same time, is incompatible with the program.
Now I've got KALX-itis. This happens from time to time. You hear a song on KALX, in all likelihood some 12-inch piece of vinyl the DJs friend bought in an eastern european flea market, and you can't find it anywhere, not at Amoeba, not at Rasputin, not on Amazon, not even on Google or Kazaa. If anyone sees Earflaps, email me.
iTunes Music Store also doesn't have Manu Chao, by the way, who last time I checked was on a major label.
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