The best $10 spent in a long time

By Joel Myhre (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, November 10, 2007

A couple of months ago, I wrote about how pirating music has been taken to a new level, culminating with a huge fine of a Minnesota woman for copying songs on the Internet.

As a person in charge of a business that has been dealing with the problems of everyone expecting to have everything on the Internet for free, I supported the efforts of the record company setting an example of those who download pirated music.

So when it came to the recent experiment by Radiohead, I was all ears (or clicks, as it may be.) The idea was that the band would allow their new CD, “In Rainbow,” to be available to fans by way of the Internet. But rather than ask for a set price, the band instead put a blank space where the price should be. You, the purchaser of the music, were to decide how much the downloaded album was worth to you.

That’s actually a tougher question than it may seem. As I was ready to hit the “download” button, I had to actually ponder what I should put in that spot.

Clearly, many out there left the spot blank, and proceeded to download the CD for free. There were reports that 60 percent of those who downloaded the CD chose to pay nothing, but the band’s publicity person is denying those figures, according to a recent article in MTV magazine.

In my mind, a free download wasn’t right. And it’s not because I felt there were stealing issues involved. I’m a big fan of Radiohead’s music. I admire the fact that they wanted to get their music out to the public in a revolutionary new way, without the help of the big record companies who for years have controlled the careers of artists. Their music has value to me, and they deserve to be paid for it.

On the other hand, there has to be a limit to that value. I decided to check out the cost of a good-old-fashioned CD that you purchase at a record or discount store. Clearly, a regular CD is worth more than a download. You get a nice box, a cover with all of the lyrics on it, and apparently, better sound quality, (though I have a hard time telling the difference.)

The going rate for a brand-new CD these days, it seems, is around $13, which is down about $3 or $4 since the last time I bought a CD. Clearly, the lagging music industry has taken its toll on CD prices. Having the album two months before its release date is worth something, but not having all the goodies that go with a CD reduced the value.

Some argued that you shouldn’t feel the need to pay as much because the already-rich artist gets all the money, and there are no production costs involved. I don’t buy that argument. I am paying for the music, and the artist alone created that music. If the artist can collect all the money, more power to them. There are cases of undeserved wealth far worse than the Radiohead example. Writing good music is a lot tougher than it seems.

So after some wrangling, I decided $10 was a fair price. Of course, because the band is from England, I had to convert dollars to pounds. Taking a stab that one pound was worth about $2, I put “5 pounds” in the blank.

After a couple of days of listening to some great new Radiohead songs, I can honestly say, that $10 (or $10.46, as it turned out) was the best – if unnecessary — $10.46 I have spent in some time.

Joel Myhre is The Journal’s general manager. E-mail him at joel.myhre@fergusfallsjournal.com