CathyMK:

Interesting discussion about changes in how music is consumed. I’ve been listening to and buying music since the mid-70s, going through LPs, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, CDs, and now downloads. I have to say, iPods/ mp3 players are one of the best things that’s happened in my life as a music listener! I still can’t get over the fact that a tiny little box has my entire music collection on it, and I can quickly and easily flit from song to song and album to album. Even disc-mans weren’t anywhere’s near as easy to use. And yes, I am starting to cherry pick albums on the one hand, but on the other hand, the instant gratification of being able to preview an entire song or even album, and then immediately buy and download it, leads to a lot more impulse purchases, and to buying parts of albums when I simply wouldn’t buy the whole album. I think Lala.com is a great idea- you can listen to anything once free, then pay a dime a song for unlimited streaming, then pay a similar price to iTunes to buy it outright (and DRM-free). If I’m on the fence about an album, it’s worth it to pay for the streaming so that I can listen a few more times before I make a decision. (Of course I usually buy from iTunes, using MJ’s link!)

Oh, yeah, this is about the Idols- well, I hope that they allow their albums to be on Lala, Rhapsody, etc. I think it’s the future of the music biz, and it’s better to find a way to make new technology work for you than to try to keep things from changing.