How long will society accept ringtone providers exploiting our children?

Ringtone providers are the 21st century equivalent of con artists and shysters. They peddle their wares to impressionable teenagers eager to keep up with the latest trends and unwise to know when to stop.

It seems every prime time TV show is now a carrier for ringtone adverts. Their message is simple, "Buy now so that you aren't left behind." Teenagers race for their phones and dial the number and instantly they're rewarded with a ringtone of the latest song.

However, they managed to miss the fine print at the bottom of the advert stating that it is a service that will continue to send messages (for which they will be charged for). And the only way to stop it is to sms the company back, if you happened to remember their phone number, with the words "Stop now O Mighty Ringtone Provider" (all case-sensitive of course!) Failure to get the syntax right and the charges keep coming.

Sure, this is the blatant extreme. But what about those seemingly once-off purchases? Even in this example (pictured above), the only time you come in contact with a price is when you have chosen that must-have song and are about to download it. Then, and only then, is the price revealed albeit in faint grey font!

Ringtone providers are flawting what little legislation there is that regulates this industry. They prey on teenagers irrational thoughts and trick them into purchases that are exploitive at best. Not to mention the price of these ringtones being exhorbitant - ($6.60 for a piece of digital bits when a CD single costs less than $5 and includes an actual physical product!)

When will governments see that this is hurting our young people and legislate accordingly?

Posted by Stuart at 5:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It wasn't that long ago that downloading music from the internet looked like it would finally ruin some of the mainstream recording companies. Napster (the old version) and the music download software Kazaa were gaining in popularity, and notoriety. Every country with interests in copyright wanted them shut down and every week a new article would appear concerning a new legal battle.

That was then, this is now. Napster is now just another music downloading site among the plethora.

So, in an age where music, video and any other media is virtually on demand how do we go about obtaining it legally. For starters, if it's mainstream and popular and you can get if for free - chances are that it's probably not legal. Secondly, if you don't have to agree to the site's registration agreement then it's most likely that the media has been copied.

Having said that, there are many sites which do offer free music and video that don't require payment or registration. However, these usually offer less well-known bands or genre's which are not popular such as indie, folk and world music.

To erase any doubt, I decided to compile a list of sites where you can download music legally. Some are global while others are restricted to certain countries. I hope it's a benefit to you.

Continue reading "A-Z sites to download music legally" »

Posted by Stuart at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)