Let me get one thing out of the way: I hate music piracy. I hate it because it is eating away at the industry like a fat tumor that has been left virtually untreated for literally a decade. The problem is worse than it was in 2000 with Napster - today, any song or album is usually available somewhere on the Internet for free. It's a big place, after all. I hate piracy. And I do it all the time.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a heavy user. I mostly pirate a song here or there if I haven't heard it, and I'm more likely to if it's more than a couple of years old. Or, it might not be on iTunes. But the fact that I'm making excuses just shows that I'm barely taking this problem more seriously than people who do it chronically.
If people keep downloading music for free, then that means artists can't sell their albums. If artists can't sell their albums, then that means they have two options: stop making music, or figure out incentives.
I'm not talking about bonus tracks or iTunes digital booklets (the former can be just as easily pirated and nobody cares about the latter) I mean things that you can never get through piracy that people would actually care about.
Look at how iTunes sells movies. In many cases, the downloads include foreign dubs and subtitles, and you can skip around chapters like a DVD. Apple's iTunes LP seems like a step in the right direction, which can only be described as a music album with DVD menus. It features unique designs that match the album, more computer-friendly liner notes, trivia, and bonus videos.
At least, it did seem like a step in the right direction. I literally just checked as I'm writing this, and Apple seems to have abandoned the concept for some reason. Either that or it's really hard to find. Either way, it doesn't seem to be catching on.
Okay. So I ask you, the readers: now what?
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