GG and Napster

["Anne M. Marble" <amarble@sff.net>]

The other day, out of curiosity, I downloaded Napster, just to see what it
was like. Honest, I wasn't going to download anything. (For one thing, I
have one of those old-fashioned things called a 56k modem.) I searched to
see if any Glenn Gould songs appeared. Boy, did they ever! The maximum
number of hits was 100, and I found 100 right away. I didn't keep
searching,
but I'm sure I would have found more. I was surprised to find so many hits
on Glenn Gould there. The way the articles talk, everybody who uses
Napster is a youth downloading Everclear and Metallica.

I like the idea of being able to download songs on the Internet. After all,
you can't always find what you want in the stores. And downloading a single
track to sample it lets you know if it's something you might like.
Unfortunately, it appears that Emusic.com, which allows you to purchase
downloads _legally_, doesn't have a single snippet of Glenn Gould
available. "Glenn who?" <sigh>

I wonder what Glenn Gould would have thought of Napster. Glenn Gould was a
very forward-thinking recording artist. He preferred the technology of the
recording studio over the concert hall; he didn't mind making multiple
takes; he didn't mind experimenting with microphone placement; shucks, he
didn't even mind the idea of listeners editing his preludes and fugues. Yet
even he wanted to be paid for his work. ;->

On the other hand, perhaps GG might have liked the idea of using the
Internet to share experimental work with listeners -- such as recordings
and sound documentaries the record company might not have wanted to
release. (Remember, this is the guy who put his own money into "The
Solitude Trilogy.")

BTW people who don't like Napster will probably enjoy this site:
http://www.stopnapster.com/
I'm not sure I agree with everything they're doing. But they do have links
to sites where you can legally download music.

P.S. Recording artists aren't the only ones who are keeping a concerned eye
on the Internet. Today, with very little work, I found a place where I
could have downloaded the newest Dean Koontz novel for free! They also had
electronic copies of the first three Harry Potter books. Sitting in a
newsgroup, waiting to be "plucked." Of course, there's no telling what
viruses could be in those files... :-<

------
Anne M. Marble
amarble@sff.net
I report spam (thwack!)