The season for giving…
A happy Xmas to one and all. My hunch is that if you’re reading this, it’s very likely you’re the one in the family who understands iPods, and therefore has probably been beseiged with requests for advice/ help/ free music since mid-November. No? OK, it was just me then. (yes, I’ve written about this before)
Actually, this was all done (mostly) unbegrudgingly. I didn’t mind when one friend phoned up on a Thursday having bought an iPod after a slightly excessive lunch, and wondered if I could fill it up wiht music by Sunday so he could take it away on their holiday. He’s a good friend, who’s done plenty for me, has a small child and doesn’t have a pc set up at home. A text message from their hol as they were enjoying listening to Burning Spear in the sunshine was thanks enough.
I also didn’t mind helping a work colleague sort out an iPod for her husband. Especially as a) I ordered it using my Amazon associate number and b) She then gave me some CDs that I didn’t have to be ripped which I errr…thought I better keep on my laptop for reference. However, I failed to get the software to work on her laptop, so that one’s going to come back to me.
I also used Xmas presents as a rather gratuitous way to buy people CDs that I suspect they will only ever half like because I sort of want them myself, but felt they were a bit too obvious (Maroon 5, Snow Patrol, Keane and Dance Decades if you must know). I ripped them, repackaged them, and passsed them on to their new homes.
However, I’m starting to have a few pangs about this low scale piracy. The story of the Beta Band’s 1.2m debt, made me feel almost err, guilty. So I’m now implementing a new regime: if I give you some digital music you like, and you don’t already own it…BUY THE CD. It doesn’t matter if you never open it, or play it.
Obviously, if it’s Keane…they can probably survive if you don’t. The Beta Band, however, might be rather appreciative.