Digital Download Aggragators (or Digital Aggravation)

My oldest son's band just recorded its first CD. Two of the bandmates are now working on sound mixing and "cleaning up" the files from their recording sessions. Another bandmate is working on T-shirt design and production. They've printed CD jackets and they've produced several CDs for sale ($7! And, if you hurry, you can own one of only a few autographed editions).

Last night I asked the boy how we could celebrate this accomplishment. Because I'm headed to a record release party for another band, with a concert and a "meet and greet" session, it had occurred to me that we hadn't officially recognized the "birth" of his first CD.

"Money would be nice," he replied. He would also like our help to research and evaluate digital download aggragators. These are, in short, companies that work between small bands and Itunes, to negotiate and provide support for digital downloads...for a fee.

This is definitely not something I have much experience with. In fact, I've recently rejected Itunes and digital media libraries all together.

I'm no longer a fan of E-books. I'm done with music downloads. What was once digital enchantment has become digital aggravation.

I don't want to fight pop-ups, malware, buffering, and advertisements all day long. I don't want to see the oversexualized and sometimes violent images that creep up so often, even on reputable news sites.

Instead, I love to listen to entire albums start to finish. It's pleasant to lend them to friends, or to pass them on to charity imagining that someone else, a complete stranger, might enjoy the same experience.

A live concert? Even better! I'm really looking forward to tonight's City Harbor release party.