Jake Ludington's Digital Lifestyle

None of the music download sites have any comprehension of exclusivity. It's as if they think we're all morons and don't realize there are alternatives to their services. Every time I find a so-called EXCLUSIVE track in a music store, a quick search of any other store turns up the same track.

Take the new Slipknot single, Duality, for example. I first ran across the EXCLUSIVE track while browsing the selection of songs in the MusicMatch downloads. Guess what? Napster has it too. So does iTunes. So does MusicNow. I won't even bother to check other sites. MusicMatch and Napster both claim the track is an EXCLUSIVE, which I assume means they want us think it's only available if you buy it from them.

If a music service truly offered exclusive tracks available nowhere else, I'd be more inclined to purchase at least that one track from the service, offering me an introduction to the way the service works. As it stands, I'm inclined to ignore the designation of exclusivity and assume I can get the track at the place offering the best deal. The deceptive marketing just drives me back to something more familiar.