Macenstein

Posted by iGor

Almost since its inception, Apple’s iTunes music store has been nice enough to bless us with anywhere between 1 to 3 free downloads a week by largely unknown artists. With today’s latest free duo, Apple has now given us 298 free iTunes songs (not counting audio books), spanning the musical rainbow from jazz, to hip hop, to classical, back to hip hop, to rock, then over to hip hop again, to instrumental.

While the types of music vary (slightly), there is one constant that unifies each of these tracks.

They are all horrible.

With the exception of June 1st, 2004’s “Run� by Snow Patrol, not one of the free songs featured as a Discovery Download or Free Download of the Week has earned a spot on my iPod.

Because these songs are free and I am cheap, I have downloaded all 298 free tunes so far, and I will download the next 298. But with each passing week, it becomes more and more obvious that with music, like most things, you get what you pay for.

I consider myself to be open to new music and not exclusive to any one genre. iTunes tells me my library currently consists of 7885 songs, or nearly 22 days worth of music. I have everything from “Rap� to “Country� to “Oldies, Japanese�. So how is it possible that someone with as diverse a musical taste as myself finds only ONE song out of 298 worth keeping?

Simple. The free songs on the iTunes music store are uninspired garbage. As an artist, having your song listed as a free iTunes song of the week is a sure sign that record execs have given up on your current release, and are trying desperately to generate ANY kind of buzz around it, even if it means giving a track away for free. While the record company may know the album is dead in the water, they are hoping to at least get your name out there, implanted into our subconscious so we might be more likely give your next disc a chance. Sometimes this works (as with Nelly Furtado), sometimes it doesn’t (as with all the rest).

Now before any of you point out that music is subjective, or go back through the archives (2004, 2005, 2006) and tell me which free artists you liked and which tracks I am giving short shrift to, let me just say, “You are wrong�. The free songs (for lack of a better term) stink. Sure, music is subjective, but it is obvious that after the first month of free downloads (where Apple was able to get tracks from known artists such as Foo Fighters, Courtney Love, and Counting Crows) the quality of the free songs has dropped with each subsequent week.

We are currently at a quality level so low, I shudder to think what next week’s free songs will be. As we approach the 300 mark, perhaps it is time Apple considered not just giving the songs away for free, but actually paying us for each free download we are willing to listen to. Lord knows I lost 15 hours of my life listening to these tracks, and that’s not counting the harmful effects listening to horrible music may have had on my long-term lifespan.

I think I may have been better off smoking for those 15 hours.