An Oasis In A Desert Of Greed ?

[GhostShip]

Please give this company a thorough look over, you wont believe it otherwise    

http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=970

Many musicians feel the music labels are the real thieves, as very little of a CD sale is actually seen by the artist. Ask a file-trader why record labels are evil and the continuing lawsuits will probably be the answer. Ask a knowledgeable consumer, and the incorporation of DRM (Digital Rights Management) would likely be the source.

However, what if a record label existed that had none of these associations; perhaps one that understood that a CD was a thing of the past? Maybe one that thought DRM was draconian in its presumed guilt, and believed the musician/consumer relationship was a two way street? Surely the only place such a record label exists is in fantasy land.

Not quite. Meet Magnatune, creation of founder/owner John Buckman.
Magnatune is indeed an experimental record label. Believers in Creative Commons, it gives extraordinary power to both musicians and consumers. Unlike most major record labels, it has several unique qualities that separate it from the association of "evil."

Magnatune doesn't believe in the physical CD. As many in the file-sharing community have grown to understand, the CD is a cumbersome and outdated relic of the 70's. Instead, Magnatune encourages it customers to download albums. Interestingly, the consumer can choose the price. After listening to an album, the consumer can then choose to pay as little as $5 per download.

The downloaded tracks have no DRM attached. Files are available in a variety of formats, such as FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and VBR MP3. Once downloaded, the consumer is free to transfer the music to one or one thousand MP3 players, CDs or trade on file-sharing networks.

http://magnatune.com/


Besides wanting to shake this innovative companys CEO by the hand I think I will head over to take a peek at the offerings, this for me is a great and original strategy that excludes the layer of corporate greed that has taken over the audio/video marketplace.

Artists are treated fairly in respect of their work (and take note RIAA that is why we purchase their music, the company logo at the bottom has no relevance to many of us), and no longer need to accept being forced into exclusive lock-in contracts for any future work, this is no less than a revolution for all concerned  

[Kadabra]

And what if you are just unable to have a credit card ?

(like me   )

[GhostShip]

Hmm that is always a rather unfortunate way of allowing social division in the community.
I suggest you write an email to them and expain that not everyone is as privileged as they seem to think and to allow an alternative system to be used for payment.  

[Kadabra]

No.
In fact, i really prefer buying good old CD and making my own MP3 with CDex using the settings that i want to (type, quality, etc).
I also buy a lot of DVD but i'm not good ripping those and even if i was, i can't upload more than 10 Go per month...
I share more Jpeg files (mainly wallpapers) than anything else.
But i'm getting out of the subject.
 :roll: