Everyone and their mother downloads music illegally. I’m a self-admitted criminal, but my recent love affair with old music and vinyl records has set me on the right path. The problem is, those who download music only download music. Sure, they may buy the new album from their favorite band, but I imagine the average youngster downloads at least 90 percent of their music. I could never figure out torrents, so I don’t have one. Although they do sound appealing, I prefer the high-fidelity sound on old vinyls and those few new albums that are properly produced. Plus, I actually like having my music in a tangible format. Digital is nice, but certain aesthetics are always sacrificed. Who doesn’t appreciate unwrapping a new CD or pulling a vinyl record out of its sleeve?
Still, illegal downloading persists, but Google is trying to do something about it. The company realizes that, when people attempt to download songs on torrents, their search engine is the most popular. Thus, Google has just released a feature that permits users one free spin of their desired track. The user is then encouraged to purchase the song through services such as LaLa and MySpace.
“The best way to address that [torrent-searching] situation is to provide a really great and comprehensive and fast, excellent music service,” says R.J. Pittman, a product management director at Google. “We really feel the way is to make it much better for people — and that’s going to have a positive impact on music industry.”
With the new system, Google users will find a large “play” button at the top of the results page when they search for an artist, song or album. They’ll also get one free stream, as well as “buy” links to LaLa, MySpace, Rhapsody, Pandora, iMeem and others.
One advantage for Google is the search giant didn’t have to make deals directly with the labels to get the music — they simply let LaLa and MySpace, who already have such deals, lay the groundwork. Labels, contending with another 20 percent drop in CD sales this year, according to Nielsen Soundscan, have been more aggressive recently to remake themselves in the digital age. “They have been supportive [of the Google deal],” LaLa’s Ralston says. “They understand there’s a new world out there.”
I don’t think this will decrease downloading, but it might put some money back into the artists’ pockets.
