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Has P2P Influenced Your Music Tastes?
Whatistehmatrix asks: "About 5 years ago, when I first found out about KaZaA, it was somewhat 'underground' and had less than 1 million people. I soon discovered there was an unbelievable amount of music open to me. Instead of getting the music I always heard on the radio, I always sought out the music that was previously unavailable to me [Japanese pop & rock, overseas techno, etc]. Well, fast forward to today, and I actively buy CDs from groups I fell in love with from the songs I found on P2P. I was wondering, if any of the Slashdot community used to/still uses P2P programs to try out music that isn't heard on the radio, to expand your tastes in music from different countries & cultures?"
I find music streams to be much more useful for discovering new music (here's one from a couple of weeks ago that I immediately went out and bought). As a push medium, it's much better for bringing things to your attention that you didn't know about. P2P mostly assumes that you already know what you're looking for, which allows you to hear music you've read about without making you buy it but doesn't encourage discovery by itself.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
You may not find that 'hidden gem' just by listening to store music. Not all stores carry all artists. P2P usually does though. I've actively sought out and bought music I found from artists I wouldn't have known about if it weren't for P2P.
That's not to say that I've liked all I've found. The good are far less than the bad. I'm glad I did find them though.
Yep, I never spell check.
More incorrect spellings can be found he
If it wasn't for P2P, I never would have discovered Massive Attack. Now I own all of their albums on purchased CD's. What shit-for-brains in the RIAA thinks that P2P is bad for business?
I recently found out a great way to pre-sort the good bands from the crappy ones. If the song you just downloaded is a 30 second loop or 3:15 of silence, then it typically means the band sucks and is in it just for the money (no talent or art). Thank you RIAA for helping us choose.
I had never really purchased that much music before. But here's the funny part: between 1999-2002 when I was really into Napster/Kazaa and other P2P networks I actually bought more music than ever before. Why? Because the stuff I really like to listen to I have to have in a CD. A downloaded MP3 just doesn't cut it for me in most cases. So I went out and bought the whole CD for those one or two songs I wanted. In some cases I found even better stuff, and in others the rest of the CD was crap, as is mostly the case. But them's the dregs.
I'm not going to try and make the point that music sharing promotes CD sales, because I don't think it's true regardless of my personal experience, but there's definitely something to say about a worldwide, diverse network of people who share their music. Back in the day you woudl find the most incredible stuff on Napster. Today (on the other networks) it's difficult to find anything beyond the top 40 crap, which is ironic considering that's precisely what the *AA people are trying to get off the networks.
...but iRate has certainly changed my taste in music, and without any paranoia about opening services to the 'net.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
- A friend can hear a song somewhere in the US, can tell me about it on the phone, and I can download it, even if the record store or radio stations here never heard of it.
- Looking for something, you always find something else you weren't looking for
- I LOVE the various versions of the same song, that you'd never hear or. Plus remixes.
- If you get a shard of lyric of a new2U song, you can find the title from google and d/l it to hear the whole thing, including determining who the artist is.
Downside of P2P:-
"All this machinery making modern music can still be open-hearted" (Name that album
Before P2P, I would only purchase "sure thing" albums that I heard on the radio and thus already loved and wanted to hear over and over. The thing about P2P is when it's all free you are able to aquire an entire album that you aren't sure about yet (since there is no monetary risk involved), and listen to it therefore letting it grow on you. You get the opportunity to take a chance on several bands that you might not otherwise purchase the CD. One example is the band "The Mars Volta". Nobody, and I mean nobody, heard this band the first time and though "I love this!". I downloaded some tracks and it took me a few listens before I realized it's pure genius. Only then when I loved the album did I purchase the CD (and on the day their second album was released I was first in line, without having to hear any of it). The same is true with many hardcore or metal bands that get no radio airplay. My musical tastes have grown greatly because I have a chance to hear all kinds of artists that I otherwise would not take a chance on.