Please Don't Go to Trial Tonight.

My favorite band, The XYZ Affair, released their new EP, Trials, today. It's sounds a bit more synthesized than their first album, but the harmonies and the riffs and the lyrics are all there, so I'm rather enjoying it. The band's website says I can "stream the entire EP on our music page and our MySpace." But here's the thing: sure, you can stream the songs at their website, but if you have a look at the page source, the code being used to stream the songs contains direct links to download the songs. I've seen this same code used on a ton of sites to stream music, and the mp3s are always there to be downloaded if you know where to look.

So, yeah, I downloaded the songs for free. To be blunt, I consider files like this to be fair game. There are tons of widgets that can be used to stream songs while making their download impossible. I don't know why so many sites use this code instead. For what it's worth, the band is releasing one of the three songs as a free download at Stereogum.com, a site I visit a lot, and I wouldn't be shocked to see the other two pop up eventually at some of the other legitimate mp3 blogs and online music stores I get all of my free music from.

The only reason I've even heard of The XYZ Affair is because four of the ten songs from their last album are free downloads at different sites. When the band came to town last winter, I went to their concert and bought their album. When I go to another concert coming up I'll probably buy a T-shirt or something. Heck, maybe the songs are intentionally downloadable; the band's losing the three dollars I'd have spent on the CD, but gaining my presence at a concert and a T-shirt purchase. Because, to be honest, I already have way too many T-shirts.