Volume 96, Issue 25
Thursday, October 10, 2002
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Get burnin', kids
Planet
Me
Chris Hodge
Graphics Editor
Ask yourself this question: am I a sap?
If you're not sure, here's an easy way to find out: go home and browse through your CD collection. Do you own any "greatest hits" CDs? If you do, you are a sap. You've unnecessarily blown your precious income on CDs that you could have otherwise created from the comfort of your home. Fret not, though, it's not too late to learn from your mistakes – and here's how.
First, it's important to understand that greatest hits CDs are a money making scheme. They provide an easy way for record companies to cash in on a band's popularity during the Christmas gift giving season, rather than going to all the trouble of investing money into new bands.
Secondly, an alternative is closer than you think. It's called the Internet – look into it. Unlike what you may have heard, it's not as complicated as you might think. You, John Q Student, can learn how to rip songs, browse MP3 trading software and burn CDs.
Record companies often complain that burned CDs mean less money for the respective bands, but do you really think that a band that can afford to release a greatest hits CD really needs more money?
The Rolling Stones have already made a fortune from the song "Start
Me Up." Microsoft spent millions in order to use it in their campaign
launch for Windows 98. Now the band will cash in again when it appears
on their greatest hits album, Forty Licks. Are Keith Richards'
blood transfusions getting too expensive for the band to afford? Do they
really need more money? Of course not.
And who was given the authority to decide what is considered a greatest hit and what is not? Airplay does not necessarily mean quality. "Elevation" does not appear on U2's new greatest hits collection, even though it is considered by many fans to be one of the band's greatest hits.
If you burn your own CD, you can put whatever the hell you want on it. There is enough room on a burned CD to burn the entire track listing from U2's new greatest hits CD and a couple of Shania Twain tracks if you so desire.
So don't be a sap. Quit spending your pocket change on recycled music and get burning. It's cheaper than buying CDs and you're less likely to get arrested for it than if you were to steal them.