Liz Galinovic just wants to listen to Bernard Fanning's new album - without using illegal methods. Is that too much to ask?
Oh how the internet has changed our lives. It's virtually, no really I mean virtually, ruined everything from publishing and the music industry to getting away with human rights abuse and destroying the word 'secret' in top secret government nefariousness. Just to name a few examples.
Technology is just so frightening and awesome all at the same time. I can skype my friends on the other side of the world, talk to my mother on the phone, for hours, for free, in a different country, and last night when I needed to go to the toilet during an episode of NCIS, I paused television. I mean, that's like making time stand still while I pee.
People go on about jet packs and hoverboards but the day I can teleport from London to my best mate's wedding in the Hunter Valley, getting out of bed half an hour before the ceremony starts, will be the happiest day of my life. And no doubt the happiest day for a lot of asylum seekers. Ha, imagine that. You couldn't exactly have a government disingenuously banging on about how they're only trying to put a stop the dangerous leaky-boat-journey-by-sea. And it would really give the fear-mongers something to squawk about (I am copyrighting this excellent premise for a no doubt award winning scifi/political thriller so don't even think about it).
So why can't I listen to Bernard Fanning's new album? Like, without having to illegally rip it off the internet somewhere?
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When I moved to the UK I kept my iTunes as Australian. This was partly because I was too lazy to change all the settings, I hate updating the damn thing, and, I thought it best given that I listen to and write about Australian music.
You know, I'm really happy to pay for music. I know, such an anomaly, a purist you might say. But not so much a purist that I still buy CDs. No I revel in the easy access perks of digital sales. CDs get scratched, lost, the covers break, unless you're OCD you slap them haphazardly on a shelf in no particular order and then there are those who can't be arsed putting them back in their covers, which brings us back to the first point – CDs get scratched and lost.
But, I no longer have an Australian debit card. I still have the account, but my card has expired. And I just haven't got around to sorting all that shit out. I'm not gonna lie, I can't be bothered. And it really hasn't affected my life until now – iTunes won't let me purchase Australian music without a new expiry date.
So I went to Bernard's website thinking that surely, in the modern world, I can purchase a digital download that isn't some kind of virtual prisoner in its country of origin. But Bernard Fanning will only let International buyers purchase physical products. And I don't do CDs anymore, plus having to wait 10-14 working days for my physical product in the age of Instant Results is annoying.
I had this same issue with Vance Joy's EP and I wasn't the only one. Internationals wanted to know when it would be released in their country so they could buy it. But at least, AT LEAST, Vance Joy lets you listen to the EP on his website.
Spotify and its ilk might be a solution but I just don't see why, when we have things like Spotify, and with all the other technology flying around, it should be so difficult to be able to purchase a digital download from another country with a foreign debit card. It's not very helpful in the great battle to combat illegal downloading is it? I mean, I could be wrong, but if the industry opened up its border a bit, it might make a few more sales. It just seems like musical racism to me.