more thoughts on thoughts on music

More thoughts on "Thoughts on Music"

One claim that really irks me is this claim that people are forced to

use DRM. I really resent this. Nobody is forced into DRM. Simple

reason: You can always go buy the CD. They sell them online. Place

called Amazon. Have you heard of it? And it's almost always cheaper to

do it this way. Has this not occurred to you? Jesus. Wake up, people.

But even if there were no CDs, nobody would be locked in to iTunes.

Friends, you know not whereof you speak. I bow to the Buddha inside

you, but if you don't like the iTunes business model, don't buy your

songs on iTunes. It's as simple as that. Nobody is holding a gun to

your head. I'm amazed by the level of hysteria and outrage over this.

Folks, it's just music. It's not like I'm Harry Lime hoarding

penicillin and little babies are dying. Nobody needs music. Okay? Yes,

we love music. Music is great. But you can simply decide not to buy

it, and you'll manage to survive. You're not gonna die if you can't

buy the new Paris Hilton album.

If you really want to devote your outrage and anger toward a worthy

cause, go stop the war in Iraq. Or Iran getting nukes. Or the genocide

in Darfur. Or AIDS in Africa. Or poverty everywhere. I mean, look, in

the list of real problems in this world, DRM ain't even on the top 10.

But for some reason it's the one thing that really gets spoiled,

middle-class, bourgeois white people in the United States and Europe

-- people like Richard Stallman -- worked up into a lather. They think

this is just the biggest evil in the world. I hate to say this but if

you are one of these people, your outrage only demonstrates what a

narrow, selfish little person you are and what a tiny, sheltered life

you lead.

To put it another way: If DRM is the worst thing you have to deal with

in your day-to-day life -- if your biggest problem is that you can't

make your iTunes songs play on a Zune -- then you should take a minute

to thank God for giving you such a wonderful life. And you should

immediately get on a plane to some part of the world and do something

good for another human being.

Or consider this: Instead of spending a few hundred bucks on a

frivolous piece of electronic gear only to have that device cause you

years of outrage and anger, forgo the music player and send your money

someplace where it could feed a kid for a year. Honestly. Shame on

you.