Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, here. But whatever.
I really like Radiohead. They recently released a new album. I went to their website last night, and paid for a legal download of the album in mp3 format. I’ve had a lot of appreciation for their business model, as it’s evolved, and I really see myself as mostly a “pirate due to circumstance” when it comes to music – which is to say, it’s troublesome being a resident of South Korea wanting to use US- or Europe-based legal music download sites. Admittedly, I haven’t tried in a few years – so laziness is a factor, too. But – anyway – I decided to buy a legal copy of the Radiohead album.
I did. I paid my 9 bucks. And I got a confirming email. And then the download didn’t work. The link sent me to somewhere in Japan. That didn’t help. I tried something else. It said my email wasn’t recognized. This morning, I monkeyed around a little bit on the website, looking for something resembling customer service.
Then I had a little epiphany. I had paid for my album. I could just download it now, guiltlessly. Within 10 minutes I had located a torrent and downloaded Radiohead’s The King of Limbs. Good album. Guilt-free piracy.
