Regina Spektor

My coworker Meredith is a curious sort. She has the amazing ability to monitor 50+ sites on a very regular, even daily basis. She is the queen of RSS feeds, news alerts, and who-knows-what-else to assist her in this quest. I often receive articles about the online recruitment industry, pop culture, and random news of interest. She's a good person to know.

Yesterday she sent me a link to perezhilton.com. I don't usually frequent the site, especially at work, but decided to check it out. To my surprise I found a new song from singer/pianist Regina Spektor. Regina probably deserves her own post with an obsession label. She's got a Tori Amos-thing going on, what with the piano playing and the hair, but brings a different perspective to the keys. I first fell in love with Fidelity (via YouTube) then went crazy for Samson (via YouTube). Her voice is great, her music beautiful, and her look singular.

I followed Meredith's link and found an in-line player for a new song called The Call. I pushed play and sat back at my desk. From the opening bars I was in love.

I picked up my iPod Touch, started the iTunes Music Store application, clicked search, and typed in Regina Spektor. The Call came up. I was ready to buy, ready to give my money to the man so I could listen to the song again and again. (Me obsessing about music is another post.) Album: Prince Caspian soundtrack. Cool. I can support the Mouse. I clicked to view the tracks on the album. BAM! It hit me. The little icon next to The Call: album only. What?!? I haven't seen the movie. I don't know if I'm going to see the movie. I am a sucker for movie soundtracks, but I need to see the movie first. I want to give you my money and you are limiting me? Haven't we learned anything about digital media? The expectation is that the consumer can access whatever they want whenever they want. I can go to YouTube or the link Meredith sent me above to listen to the song. I want to support this artist. I want to buy the single. Why won't you let me?

Yes, I understand Disney is using this as a ploy to push complete album sales. A quick glance of the user reviews of the Prince Caspian soundtrack on iTunes shows a similar sentiment regarding a song by Switchfoot on the album. Why. As one who can access the music in other ways, who was willing to pay, I was annoyed.

Regardless of the Mouse's marketing ploys, this is one great song. Go, check it out. Give it a listen. And when the pull their heads out of their derrieres, maybe we can buy the song and listen to it again, and again, and again...

Update: Have been listening to the song on endless repeat. I'm up to 25 plays. It takes 64 listens to be in my Top 25 Most Listened. 100 gets you in the top 5. And in first place with 141 listens we have Apologize by OneRepublic. Odds on Regina conquering the list?