Re-Get On Your Boots
Sometimes fact-checking fucks you up.
I wanted to make sure that the U2 track was not in the iTunes Top 100, which it isn’t, but in doing further research, to make sure I was right, I searched on "Put On Your Boots" instead of "Get On Your Boots".
The track still IS available at the iTunes Store and it’s NOT in the iTunes Top 100.
So, you can see the effect their Grammy performance had on their sales…Â NADA!
Meanwhile, while I’ve got your attention, at least those of you in the U.S., who believe you live in the greatest country in the world, with the best infrastructure and all the best services and features, I’ve got to hip you to Spotify.
My inbox started to fill up a couple of weeks ago. Heads were exploding in the U.K., just like they did when SNL parodied Oprah’s car giveaway years back. But I couldn’t check it out. Because Spotify doesn’t work in the U.S.
Let me ask you… If the companies are worldwide, if the Internet is worldwide, how come we can’t buy stuff from around the world? Oh, that’s right, we’ve got to STEAL IT! Because you need to ignore the future, you need to live in the past.
But Spotify is not the past. Spotify is everything MySpace Music wished it were, and could be, if the guys who ran it and the major labels didn’t have their heads so far up their asses.
You see Spotify is a separate application. That looks so similar to iTunes that you wonder if Apple has a look and feel lawsuit. And it works just as well. But you don’t have to buy anything!
Imagine an iTunes Store where you could instantly stream all the songs, but didn’t have to pay for them.
Well, not all the songs. Some have been removed since Spotify was launched. And, if you pay a small fee, you don’t get the ads…
Yes, I’ve experienced Spotify. I got a special invitation that allows me to use the service in the U.S.
Holy fuck.
To think that the labels fought file-trading for ten years and decimated their business. Why bother to steal when you can use Spotify?
Sure, you can’t take the songs with you. But you can listen to anything you want, instantly, on your computer.
And, I don’t know how intrusive the ads are, my version is ad free.
And it works via P2P. Yup, they wanted to kill the technology, saying it was evil. But technology is not bad in and of itself, it’s just the utilization that may be bad or evil!
When Spotify hits the U.S., the story is going to be gargantuan. Instant uptake will take place. You see we’re moving towards the future, it’s almost here.
And when AT&T 3G is in more places, or the iPhone is available on Verizon, which has far superior 3G coverage, you’ll be able to stream your music to your iPhone, just like with Spotify, but on the go (everyone believes Apple has this technology ready to go). You won’t NEED to own the music. You won’t bother stealing it, because you can’t steal EVERYTHING!
The future is right around the corner. Despite the rights-holders fighting it for years. And it’s going to benefit the public AND them.
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Original paragraph from "Tramdock", BEFORE erroneous fact-checking:
"Same deal with U2. The band thought that it was immune to public opinion. That it could will a hit single. But despite opening the Grammy telecast, "Get On Your Boots" isn’t even in the iTunes Top 100."
P.S. The fact that I got the title wrong proves how unmemorable the U2 track truly is. And, as for parading the lyrics on the screen behind the band during the Grammy telecast, that just evidenced Bono’s hubris. Sometimes it pays to leave the lyric sheet out, it’s best to keep the public guessing. Of course, this works best when the music itself is memorable. Which, of course, is not the case with "Get On Your Boots".
