Not that we would ever cheer, even a little, about major music labels being in a bit of trouble about their price control methodologies, or some of their other alleged behaviour in the entertainment market, but this one is quite interesting. 

It's almost in the realm of "I told you so". 

From a News Limited report, it seems that they are in possibly a little trouble for price fixing. There are some other charges that stem from that, which, under US law and depending on what state in which the charges are filed could be rather akin to those charges laid against certain kinds of ethnic businessmen in the early twentieth century... I think they involve the terms racketeering and collusion and conspiracy. Then again, I barely understand Australian law, let alone other foreign laws. 

Check out the article (link at the end of this post) and find out how you're not only getting screwed for poor audio quality but you're also getting screwed on price.

Based on the prices which are mentioned in the article, it means that the cost for a whole album would exceed retail value for the disc at a mass retailer - even at the online wholesale price which you can't access. You can't access it because the online seller wants to make a mark-up too. That's right. You get screwed twice. 

Stop being stupid. Do your ears a favour. Go buy a CD. Listen to it on a decent stereo. Live the music. Feel it. Do it old school. Make a drink of tea or whatever suits your mood, put the disc on, lean back, relax, hit play and really listen. Enjoy what the mastering engineers have done, listen to the mix, hear the air around the instruments and enjoy the characteristics of real sound in free air. 

That, and stop bacteria increasing in your ears at up to 800 times more than normal. i.e. pull your damned ear phones out! 

Want to be more sensible? Support a local label. An indie or import label in your own region or country. I won't tell you who - you can find them. They're mostly owned and staffed by awesome people working for not much more than the love of the music.

Listen to music for the love of music, not just because it's some pretty guy or girl or something in-between. It's about the music.

Do something even more adventurous. Go to a record shop. A real store where they sell real discs. Not the mass market fast-food version of music shops. A real music shop. The kind where the dude or gal behind the counter knows almost every single artist and track in the shop and has a near encyclopaedic knowledge of the genre they specialise in. If you have never done it, be afraid - it's a connection to music that you can barely imagine. If you have done it before and haven't done it in a long time, then just go do that nostalgia thing. 

After all, it's about the music. Isn't it?

Go on. I dare you. 

Oh - here's the link.