This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to explore London. While there, I came upon a stunning find: London’s Musical Mecca is under attack. The British have held their ‘stiff upper-lips’ through Saxons, Romans and Nazi-Germany, but can they stand strong against the likes of the greedy EMI Records? Copy-protection schemes are ruining the ability to enjoy music in Britain.

As I walked down the streets and marveled at the mass of humanity that is Picadilly Circus, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.

The Beatles, Muse and countless other musical sensations walked down the very streets that I was walking down. Their music shaped and was shaped by the grand city and country that they loved. Their music spoke of freedom, of change, of “let[ting] it be.”

Now those great messages are being perverted in attempts to squeeze a few more pennies out of retro songs. The great rock band Queen used to stand for letting yourself go, stomping and clapping and screaming along to its songs to your heart’s content. With its song “Another One Bites The Dust,” it brought light to the AIDS epidemic; something that, at the time, was anything but profit-motivated.

While in London, I purchased “Queen Live at Wembley Stadium” expecting to be able to have an accompaniment while singing “We are the Champions” on my next train ride. As soon as I got back to the hotel, I popped in the disc, hit play and got ready to rock out. Unfortunately, no rocking occured. The Discman only said, “Error.”

I figured that perhaps my Discman was too old and simply couldn’t play my new acquisition. Unperturbed, I booted up my computer, popped in the disc, and got set to rock once again. Much to my dismay, the rocking and rolling was again put on hold so that the special player for the CD could load onto my computer. Apparently there would be no uploading the songs on the CD into my computer or onto my iPod (if only I had one), because the only way to get at the music is by using an incredibly clunky built-in player. The CD won’t play in a regular CD player, a car or on any computer that has a user who refuses to install the player because of fears of spy/adware.

EMI, in an effort to fend off copyright violations, has managed only to vex its normal consumers. Its copy controls did nothing to enhance my listening experience; they merely detracted from it greatly and relegated its CD into being a coaster far too quickly.

Its copy protection scheme did nothing to prevent copying for fair uses. Those who would have gone to the Internet to download songs still will and will have a better listening experience than those who forked over their hard-earned dollars to listen legally.

Music isn’t supposed to be solely for the money. It’s about the freedom of expression. Unfortunately, EMI doesn’t seem to understand that. In fact, its Web site states copyright is there so the “copyright holder is the prime beneficiary of any commercial exploitation of the work.”

This is the fundamental flaw in EMI’s copyright scheme: music isn’t about exploitation and any attempt to make it so will only make consumers less likely to buy its product. EMI needs to listen to their artists. As Queen used to sing: “Fat Bottomed Girls” [and not money] make the rocking world go round.