sony music makes a case for not being as evil as previously thought

awhile back i had a few choice things to say about sony music and their neanderthal attitudes towards music distribution and digital rights management--as in, observing that sony music generally does everything it can to make *owning* sony music music as odious as possible, the artists, doing their best to make *listening* to their music as pleasant as possible, get caught in the middle. (wheatus going so far as to name one of their albums "suck fony"). of course, i'm proud to say i successfully thwarted sony's pain in the ass cd formatting to successfully download my perfectly legal bought-and-paid-for copy of rachael yamagata's happenstance to my itunes library, which i've enjoyed immensely ever since, but that's the first and last time i'll do business with them that way, so, since then and up 'til now, it's been a sort of a standoff. up 'til now.

this week, on amiestreet.com, sony music has released huge portions of their catalog, and, in a further move to make nice with the listening public, cut the price on 28 of their most classic to a bargain $4.99. right on top is the gem of the collection: one night stand--sam cooke live at the harlem square club, 1963.

WOW

i have loved sam cooke since forever in a way that transcends loving almost any other music i've ever heard, but this is a revelation even to me. i'd heard it before, that, live, sam cooke was a vocalist that put almost every other to shame, but i'd never heard him that way to know of which people spoke. and this recording literally jumps out of the speakers and proves it beyond all shadows of any doubt. amazing. and $4.99. and completely free of nasty DRM headaches that otherwise make you hate having bought it from sony. no, this time, i have loved buying it from sony. and you will too. GET IT!

and that's just the first of 28. there's transformer by lou reed. the first songs by laura nyro. gratitude by earth wind and fire. sweet tea by buddy guy. stand by sly and the family stone. great classic stuff by django reinhardt, blood sweat and tears, billie holiday, the isley brothers, harry belafonte, weather report, bill withers, muddy waters, elo, duke ellington and count basie, and the list goes on. all $4.99.

here are more artists whose albums are just $9.99, just in case you have other faves:

Audioslave
A Tribe Called Quest
Alice In Chains
Angie Stone
Bad English
Béla Fleck & The Flecktones
Ben Folds
Ben Folds Five
Benny Goodman
Bessie Smith
Beth Orton
Black Kids
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Blind Willie McTell
Bob Dylan
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band
Carole King
Charles Mingus
Chris Whitley
Citizen Cope
Cowboy Junkies
Daryl Hall & John Oates
Dave Brubeck
Dave Matthews Band
David Bowie
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Earth, Wind & Fire
Fiona Apple
Franz Ferdinand
Fugees
George Michael
Imogen Heap
Indigo Girls
Jaco Pastorius
James Brown
Jamiroquai
Janis Joplin
Jeff Buckley
Jefferson Airplane
Johnny Cash
Kings Of Leon
Landon Pigg
Lauryn Hill
Leonard Cohen
Mark Ronson
Matisyahu
Meat Loaf
MGMT
Miles Davis
Modest Mouse
Nina Simone
Outkast
Patti Smith
Pearl Jam
Peter Bjorn And John
Peter Tosh
Phantom Planet
Q-Tip
Raekwon
Rage Against The Machine
Ray LaMontagne
Robert Johnson
Roy Orbison
Shuggie Otis
Silverchair
Simon & Garfunkel
Sir Mix-A-Lot
Slayer
Soul Asylum
Spin Doctors
Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble
Taj Mahal
Teddy Pendergrass
Tenacious D
The Allman Brothers Band
The Bad Plus
The Clash
The Offspring
The Stone Roses
The Strokes
The Strokes & Regina Spektor
The Ting Tings
Thelonious Monk
Tori Amos
Travis
Willie Nelson
Wu-Tang Clan

enjoy!