Got my Mojo workin’
One of my favorite euphemisms for stealing music online is saying you’re “sharing.” Rose by any other name and all that.
But damned if I’m not hooked on a little application called Mojo. Developed by Deusty Designs, Mojo is a sort of hybrid of an instant messenger and file-sharing application. You have a buddy list of sorts, and when a buddy is online you can view their iTunes library and download songs from it.
Awesome.
I’ve rationalized the ethical quandary of stealing sharing music in this fashion by imagining Mojo as the modern equivalent of taping a CD (or tape, LP or 8-track, depending on one’s age) from a friend, which we all did back in the day. With it, I’ve picked up all sorts of cool crap.
From Unpainted Huffhines (who first told me about Mojo), I’ve picked up the Avett Brothers and the Raconteurs. I’ve gotten a bunch of old-school (read: Diamond Dave-era) Van Halen and “Totally 80s”-style pablum from Johann. My friend Steve has hooked me up with a bunch of stuff I slept on back in the day: British shoegazers like Ride and My Bloody Valentine and the manic-depressive Wedding Present. Fellow pal Eric has given me a ton of rarities from two of my very favorite bands: Ween and Tortoise.
The downside to all this, of course, is that now my 30GB iPod is too small to hold all the musical goodness.
So what are you waiting for? Go download Mojo and get your steal on! When you get it installed, add “AnonComm” to your buddy list. I normally leave Mojo on all the time, so people can steal from me at their leisure. Try to ignore the embarrassing children’s tunes (Dora and the frightening Jay Jay the Jet Plane) and Mrs. Communist’s poor taste in music (Indigo Girls, 10000 Maniacs, et al).
May 20th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Sounds interesting, but almost too good to be legal. Are there any plans for litigation against Mojo or its users?
May 20th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Sounds interesting, but almost too good to be legal. Are there any plans for litigation against Mojo or its users?
May 20th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Re: legal action… Not that I’ve heard. This really is no different than me giving a CD I own to you to rip into your iTunes. Mojo just eliminates the middle man.
Re: legal action… Not that I’ve heard. This really is no different than me giving a CD I own to you to rip into your iTunes. Mojo just eliminates the middle man.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Sounds awesome … can’t wait to try it tonight!
May 20th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be cool until it reaches critical mass, user-wise. Then the lawsuits will start - and since it sounds far less anonymous than other p2p “sharing” apps, it shouldn’t be too much work to track sharers down.
You may think it’s no different than giving a CD you own to someone to rip, but you’d have to spend a lot of money to prove that in court.
Cool, if you think it’s worth risking a couple hundred thousand dollar fine
Personally, I’d go for other less-visible trading methods…
May 20th, 2008 at 11:39 am
EJ: Eh, whatever. I’m not prevented from taking my iPod to a friend’s house and loading up that way. I’m not sure if it matters legally, but tracks with DRM protection are not downloadable.
May 20th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
It ain’t stealing if it’s on the internets; you know that!! Besides, at nearly $20/CD nowadays, I really don’t feel too gosh darned awful about it even if it is “stealing”.
Which it ain’t.
Oh, AC– if my “‘Totally 80s’-style pablum” is just that, then why’d you bother?!
May 20th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Johann: “Am I Livin’ in a Box” ain’t exactly Pulitzer material, is it? We love it precisely for that reason. Not trying to offend. We all have our guilty pleasures.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
No, it’s not Pulitzer material. But then, if it pleases you, then don’t feel guilty about it. (***SEE DISCLAIMER***) As I recall, I very boldly announced the last time you mentioned guilty musical pleasures (or, more specifically, guilty anti-pleasures, I think it was at the time) that I have 11 Bay City Rollers songs on my iPod. Just because I think something sucks is no reason for someone else not to listen to it, and visky versky. I LIKE my Totally 80s-style pablum, thank you very much.
Just not “Living in a Box”, off the album Living in a Box by the band Living in a Box.
***DISCLAIMER: Um, that’s really only pertinent for one’s choice in music, or movies, or what have you. Or at the very least, it’s not meant to be an all-inclusive statement. Just felt that needed some sort of caveat… there ARE some things that bring SOME people pleasure for which they absolutely SHOULD feel guilty.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Lawsuits! Litigation! … That is so 2000/01…I’m no expert, but I have a feeling that if you can’t ’share’ material purchased for download via iTunes, Amazon, or the like, then the recording industry is just as interested saving their money these days, as well. It’s a dying business.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Oh…and I downloaded Mrs. C’s 10,000 Maniacs collection…I think some of those CDs are out of print now.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I love “Living in a Box.”
I think there is a certain point at which you have to pay for Mojo … that is, when you want to peruse, shall we say, the catalogues of more than the first three people you’ve befriended.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I believe that’s correct…I’ve gotten popups about purchasing additional access to buddies/playlists, and I assume the software will eventually expire, anyway. That’s not how I want to make friends, so I just ignore it. I’m not sure how much I want to manage something like that, especially when you’re paying to browse through the catalogues of 10 to 15 people. Then it becomes a mess, and you all end up with the same shit.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I paid for it. I got three licenses, so I can hook two brothers up if’n you want.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Well, I’m approaching the same problem you’re having. I had to dump my movies and podcasts off of my iPod in order to free-up space to sync all of my music. I’m not really looking forward to having to pick and choose what I want on there, more than I’m already beginning to have to do. The touch needs to have at least a 150 model come out, before I want to look into buying another, etc…Man, I think I only have around 50gb of space left on my new laptop. The ‘03 pbook is still running strong…but slow. It’s max’d out. I’m dreading the day I’m gonna have to start leashing myself to an external HD, which I only use for the Time Capsule app. and Firewire cable… I may have to look into the functionality and usefulness of the hardware piece they have for sale now, or whatever it is. I’m under the impression it’s just good for wireless automated BU though; haven’t studied up on it too much…But having a terabyte sitting on a shelf to pull off of when needed just seems really, really nice.