Why I hate the record labels

The other day I was looking to buy the new Franz Ferdinand song, "No You Girls." I like it, it's pretty catchy. I went to my default store — the Amazon MP3 Store — and found out it was selling for $1.29. Bummer. I was hoping for 99 cents. So I checked Lala.com. Same price. iTunes. Same price. Now, $1.29 is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things. The NYC subway costs more than that. But something about paying $1.29 for a single made me angry. Back in the day (early 90s), I used to pay $3 for a CD single which included the song I wanted along with 3 other songs. But today, $1.29 for *one* digital single just doesn't feel right.

And then I read this NYT article. (Summary: the record labels want to charge night clubs, restaurants, and even fitness clubs a royalty fee for playing music in public. They're already doing this in Australia and looking to expand to China, Italy, and U.S.) And that's when I decided I am never paying over $99 cents for a song. Ever. In fact, I'm taking a break. Unless a friend lends me an album, I'm just not buying new music (or attending any shows). Stupid, greedy record labels.