I read recently that Metalica aren't gonna release their stuff to places like this, because they don't like the idea of people downloading just one song. It's an 'artistic' thing, where the album is intended to be a 'whole' experience. There were a few others that are taking the same stance (Lincon Park is another).
They will have to bend on this, I'm sure of it. I think if you follow things to their logical conclusion, the way music is released is going to change drastically. No longer will albums be made... people don't seem to want that. Instead, like is happening, singles will be released.
Why bother recording and releasing songs that aren't going to qualify as radio friendly singles? They won't be bought. They won't be downloaded. So bands won't go into the studio to make albums... They'll instead jump into the studio every time they think they have a single on their hands (when the A&R guy nods), quickly cut the track, release it to one of these download sites, and that's it. A buck a song and away you go.
It's total suckage.
Dumb shrecking listeners like some of you seem to be... the ones that whine "Whaaa I liked this one Christina Gagulara song I heard in my car, and when I bought the album there was all this....other stuff that I didn't like. What a waste of money!"
So you win... You get the happy catchy pop songs that radio adores, and won't be confronted with the other songs that you don't understand. Albums like Dark Side of the Moon and OK Computer are no longer going to get made. Why would they? Nobody's gonna download that obscure track #8.... so nobody is going to pay for that track to be recorded and distributed. Why would they? Just so happens though that those obscure tracks happen to MAKE an album what it is... But whatever...
This is my story and I'm sticking to it.
