music - fischerspooner

I'm listening to Fischerspooner right now. I found a blog that posts links to random music that you can download somewhere on the net. So I downloaded the whole album. It's wonderful by the way.

However, I'm breaking the law technically by doing this. I don't mean to add yet another voice to this debate but here goes. I downloaded the album and liked it so much it's in my Amazon.com shopping cart. It drives me crazy that I can't listen to more music this way. I used to go on insane buying binges when Napster was around (and illegal) because I could listen to so many new bands. I still go on binges but it's probably a third of what I used to spend with free Napster around. I don't own a single downloaded music file from those days. The stuff I didn't like I deleted, and the stuff I liked I ended up buying the CD. I'm a good law abiding citizen.

Can't I get an exemption from this illegal downloading thing? I have over 1,000 CDs and albums. Shouldn't that be enough? One of these days someone is going to find the model to get this right and someone is going to make a lot of money. Napster is kind of close but their selection is crap. iTunes sucks because I can't listen to the full album before buying (it's like shopping for clothes online). I can guarantee you it won't be one of the big music companies.

I'm thinking of a paid Napster-like model (with a much bigger selection) with the ability to apply your monthly Napster subscription towards music purchases at the end of each month. In other words pay $15 bucks a month to listen (but not own) everything and that gives you the right to one CD of your choice at the end of each month with the option to buy more. That way you get to try out everything and not feel like you're empty-handed when you end your subscription. I can guarantee I would be feeding more than the $15 bucks that Napster wants per month for their service. Ah but the selection...