I picked up Radiohead’s “Hail To The Thief” on Friday, and when I first flipped it over and looked at the case, I got a bit concerned. Plastered in the upper-left corner is a warning label about it being “copy controlled” and a hardware compatibility chart and probably subliminal messages about how if you pirate it rabid weasels will eat your eyes out or something. Well nuts, I didn’t want to buy an album I couldn’t rip, since I just toss the CDs into a big box in the closet now.
This was the first time I’d encountered a ‘copy protected’ CD though, so I was curious and took it home anyway. A half-hour later I had 14 error-free MP3s on my drive. However, other people who bought it legitimately haven’t had as much luck even with regular CD players.
What was the point of all this again?
I believe the best assessment of the total chaos the music industry is currently in was made by Camillo ‘Chino’ Wong Moreno of the Deftones:
“…I don’t think copying music is such a big deal; I mean, so what if somebody copies a song? I think if you make a CD with 10 songs where people want all 10 songs, the albums will sell… …People will support the bands they like…”
In closing, fuck Metallica. Thank you. :-)
Bruce Dickinson also agrees.