cereal : soy milk :: mp3 : pirating?

Having downloaded Radiohead’s new album yesterday, Hail to the Thief, I cannot wait until it comes out June 9 so I can buy it.

To some, my previous statement is a contradiction in terms. There are those that would have you believe that if you download/share/rip mp3’s, that you are betraying the musicians that stand behind the music’s creation. But I disagree.

I am a music consumer. I have a line item in my monthly budget for music purchases. I have a CD collection that rivals those of most small radio stations. But like any consumer, I am smart about which I consume. I do some research — sometimes reading interviews from CMJ; asking my friends; or listening to the music review on Fresh Air; sometimes, I go out and listen to a few songs.

I like listening to music, and while I have a hard drive with some thousands of songs, but I also like to have that artifact in my hand, that jewel case with shiny plastic disc and liner notes (ah!). But that doesn’t mean that I won’t seek out those artists for whom I cannot wait and download a handful of mp3’s. But that also doesn’t mean that I won’t buy their CD when it hits the streets.

Buying the CDs is also selfish, I’ll admit. I don’t care how well tracks are ripped, they will never approach the quality you will find in a studio-produced record. Music is a big part of my life, and I’m not going to listen to shoddy skipping, hissing versions of my favorite songs.

There have been times that I’ve been turned off from an album from tracks I’ve downloaded. Massive Attack’s new album, for instance. Crap. Pap. Rehash of Mezzanine. But I also knew that one of the founding members of the band left. And so I would’ve listened to it anyway at the record store and made (chances are 9.9 out of 10) the same decision.

(In case you were wondering, instead of the Massive Attack album, I bought two records from a local band, single frame ashtray. Good stuff. Listened and downloaded several tracks they had on their website.)

I think recorded music is at a crucial place in our hypermedia world. It’s not so much that record sales are down as a result of file-sharing. I believe record sales are down because there are so many other entertainment options for the consumer base.

Let’s break it down. If you had $20 to spend, would you rather watch a movie, buy a DVD or a compact disc? Watching a movie’s not on the same level, I suppose, because you don’t own any movie that you see at a theater. But with a DVD, you get (for the most part) two hour’s worth of awesome audio with a crystal clear picture to boot. With a CD, you get a dozen tunes and a book. No pretty pictures.

Some artists have gotten wise and begun offering carrots to their fans. The Foo Fighters, Fischerspooner, and the White Stripes (to name a few) have begun offering bonus DVD’s, etc. with their newest albums. That’s the kind of thing that’s going to get those shrinking record sales out from behind my Gnutella connection and into the record store. Plus it’s nice to see videos without that annoying MTV screen garbage. My TV’s not that big so it really shrinks down my experience.

19 more days. June 9.

For the last two Radiohead albums, the band has released art-rich deluxe packagings with Kid A and Insomniac. I can’t wait for the new album. The cover art looks great.