Edited Version
This weekend, I'm heading to Los Angeles for the first time in over two years. To My Surprise is playing at Roxy on May 17. If you live in the area, the show will be well worth it. The band rocks with a high energy set featuring some seriously catchy riffs. Fan site, The Worlds Too Small offers tons of other background on the band.
As I mentioned in the last issue, most of my online music purchasing now takes place at
Napster. The user experience is better than anything else I've tried and the prices compete with all the other major retailers except one. PC World recently featured an article comparing the prices of iTunes and Wal-Mart. The discount retailer
defeated iTunes by a wide margin in a comparison of Johnny Cash songs.
What PC World doesn't say (and what I haven't been able to verify) is whether Wal-Mart only sells edited versions of tracks, just like they do in their physical CD store. I long since vowed to never purchase another CD from Wal-Mart, specifically because they only sell censored versions of CDs. It's not that I need to hear four-letter words. I don't like someone else deciding what I should or should not listen to. Besides, there are many cases where the censored words are simply a part of the culture being represented by the song. What's offensive to corporate executives in Arkansas may be part of everyday conversation in Iowa. My point is, the discounted price may mean you are getting a version of the song deemed appropriate by someone, rather than the full song.
Would you purchase edited versions of music from an online store?