Why isn't there a site like Netflix for music?

[kopper]

I friggin' love Netflix, especially now that I've figured out how to have separate queues for my own movies (separate from my wife and kid's lists, I mean). I also really dig how it also gives you the option to watch a movie right there on site, right away. It makes me wish there was a (legit) site like that where you could "rent" albums from bands, so that they're sent to you in little mailers. Then you can sign in and rate them, and recommend them to your friends and all that. Is there such an animal? Or is there something (oh, like our good friends at the RIAA) that is preventing such a website from starting? I mean, you can rent CDs from the library, so what's keeping this sort of service from coming online?

[Wipeout!]

Hate to mince meat here but unless yer library charges ya to check out CDs (late fees don't count!) yer not really rentin'...yer just borrowin' ...now if libraries started carryin' cool garagepunk CDs, ya could just inter-library loan a kickin' CD fer free (here again unless yer library charges fer that sort thing...and they shouldn't unless they're money-hungry) ...not knockin' yer idea, but once commerical interests and the RIAA get involved we might as well call the whole party off

On an aside: Once I get a TV set (again) I just may join Netflix!

[kopper]

Ah yes, that's true... forgot about the "renting vs. borrowing" aspect. But you can also check out movies from the library. I guess I'm still missing what the big difference is between renting movies vs. albums, but then again I'm still pretty hungover from last night and my brain's not quite firing on all cylinders just yet.

[Ryan Katastrophe]

I think it would be easier for bootleggers to rip the shit off. Maybe that's why?

[Wipeout!]

That's true but goin' back to my "library" thread, couldn't anyone just "bootleg" a book by photocopyin' the whole thing? The cost for a rental company to purchase a video fer instance, due to its mass commercial use, is crazy, yet fer libraries it is much cheaper (if there is any added fee at all) fer the same video even though "pirates" can dupe both the same...cuz libraries are non-profit they can get away with alot more (though they still are accountable to copyright law and the such) and that's why we need a World Music Library (...yeah that sounds great and hippy)
...a non-profit Netflix?
...now I'm just ramblin'......

[kopper]

I'm pretty sure libraries still need to purchase books, videos and records/CDs (unless they're donated).

[Ryan Katastrophe]

Well plus there isn't a huge debacle going on with people copying books like there is with file sharing/bootlegging.

[Wipeout!]

Very true but I'm willing to bet that libraries can get movies on DVD a helluva lot cheaper that what Blockbuster has to fork over.

[Wipeout!]

check this out...books are the next frontier of free access if Google gets its way...which I ain't entirely opposed to...wish something similar to this was possible fer music...and here we are back to Kopper's original dream idea.

[Bill Streeter]

This has been thought of before. But they were shut down pretty quickly because it's illegal to rent out music recordings. Besides people would just be ripping everything to their harddrives anyway. The reason rentals work so well for movies and not music is because people use them differently. Movies are most often watched once and music is listened to over and over again. So it's much more economical to own music (because it's used over and over) than it is to own a movie which typically only gets used once.

[kopper]

I dunno about that. There are some movies that I'll watch multiple times. Hell, I remember one weekend a friend of mine and I watched "Strange Brew" and "Slapshot" about a dozen times each.

[kopper]

Bill sent me this link. It HAS been done before!

[Bill Streeter]

I wasn't talking about absolutes here. Of course there are a few people who will watch a lot of movies over an over again and we all have a couple of movies that we like to watch again and again. But thats not the norm. Most people will only watch a movie once.