Mix Turtle: More Paving of the Way to Free Music

July 21, 2008

Welcome, new visitor! My name is Ari, the man behind Aries9. Here I share my thoughts on music and life, so you can get to know me and my music. Thanks for visiting!

I just discovered a new mp3 search site — Mix Turtle.

It uses Ajax to find songs you’re looking for, load it and play it for you. You can make play lists of the songs you found.

I just did a search on Tool — I could find the entire Latelarus album, create a play list with the same song sequence as the album. Amazing album. I’ve been meaning to spend more time with Tool — I heard their earlier material but never got them. Now I do.

The challenge with Tool is that they don’t distribute their music with any digital services, at least the last time I checked. I used to be a Napster and Rhapsody user, but they were nowhere to be found there. They’re not on iTunes, either. The same thing with King Crimson.

The challenge with these bands (that make challenging music ) is that a 30-second excerpt really doesn’t give me enough of a glimpse of their extended and complex music so that I can gauge whether I like their music.

I don’t know where MixTurtle finds music. I don’t know whether the sources are legal or not. But somewhere on the web, somebody is posting playable full-song file of these music. And now it can be found and played.

Think about it. This web site, a mobile broadband internet, and a mobile internet device like iPhone — and you now have access to any music out there, for free.

It’s been said before, but here’s another sign that those of us in the music industry have to think of a new business model. If you make and release recorded music, it will find a way to get distributed. To fight this tide of time is to miss out on new opportunities that are coming up.

Change is neither good nor bad by itself. You can make it either. If you’re used to the old way of doing things, then this change is uncomfortable, to say the least. If you are refusing to change, then that may mean your activity becomes unsustainable.

But there are opportunities, too.

One thing is for sure. Consumers always want to win. So having access to music freely is a win for consumers. I am a listener and appreciator of fine music myself. I like having the free access.

But if the consumer wins so completely that it makes producing of fine music unsustainable, then consumer loses, too. And consumers know this. They are not dumb.

As always, you start with making unique music. And you go find your audience — they are out there, the world is big enough for any well-executed music. And the artist and fans together find the way to make the producing of that music that they love sustainable.

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