...I have decided to drop by local car dealerships and "share" some of their cars. I will simply drive around in them without paying... it won't really be stealing because the car companies make a hell of a lot of money. What are those idiots crying about anyway? Hell, they make more money than the music industry and all musicians!!!

How much did you pay the photographer for that avatar pic you're using? I hope you made sure it was a public access photo before you selected it.

Ha well your analogy breaks down somewhat when you consider that a car dealership will allow you to take a car for a test drive... whereas the only way to test out a new album and see if you like it enough to buy it is to download some MP3 files from the net.

My view is: people who are a fan of an artist and have the financial means to buy a CD will buy the CD anyway. They want the tangible part of the product, the inlay card, the lyrics, the case, as well as the higher-quality audio. If the record industry is losing out it is only because consumers are now able to make better informed purchasing decisions.

If you want to sell more music, make better music. According to recent studies (*) in the UK album sales are up this year whilst single sales are down. Makes sense to me.


(*) No I don't know which ones

Anxiety said:

It is, indeed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm against piracy but I'm not against fans swapping music with each other. I've discovered some great new stuff that way and made purchasing decisions because of it.

How about i make a copy of the car and you keep the original? Would that be ok? You still have the original car so whats the problem?







audio tape copies edit
[This message was edited Tue Sep 16 7:17:50 PDT 2003 by CtheUncanny]

i think the labels would be smart to create online radio stations or file sharing sites that allow people to record low grade songs (just like the old days when we all would record songs off the radio)...that way, you can sample new music but if you want a quality print you go out and buy it...

ian said:

Yes, and if the industry would manipulate filesharing habits into a model which would work to their advantage, rather than trying to alienate consumers with outrageous scare tactics, they would be able to make MORE money while at the same time embittering LESS people.

I typically only download tracks from filesharing sites that I believe are either extremely rare/out of print, or that I believe are "homemade" remixes (most of which are pretty brilliant) - once in a great while, I will download something from an album I'm on the fence about purchasing. Maybe if it were easier to find new releases that didn't cost $15.99 or higher, I wouldn't go to these measures - but the bottom line is, because of filesharing, I have indeed made the decision to BUY new music. Of course, because of filesharing, I've also decided to pass on other new releases...

This year, artists like Radiohead, Annie Lennox and David Bowie have all set up "listening booths" for their new albums. Maybe if this were more of a standard, it would prevent casual filesharing moreso than the tactic of suing pre-teen girls and senior citizens.

sosgemini said:

YES!

I've always wondered why advance releases of new albums meant for in-store play or music critics don't have some kind of audio watermark, like an inobtrusive-but-present voice that breaks in over the music at certain intervals that gives the release date of the album...like DJs already do over music on the radio. If labels distributed low-grade tracks like this on the P2P sites, fans would get their precious fix of free music, but all they could really do with it is have a listen to a crappy version with someone talking over parts of it. If they wanted to boom it in their cars, make copies for friends, play it at a party...they'd have to buy the real deal.

ian said:

Me too...it's essentially free marketing...

Anxiety said:

Lets start an online petition requsting this from the labels...Whats that one site thingie for petitions?

Bitch all you want, but there's no stopping the New Era.

ian said:

There are samples on many music sites so that you can listen to a segment of the song and see what you think.

teller said:

That's what I think about car theft as well... if more of us do it, it will be the norm and won't be a crime anymore!

:LOL:

IceNine said:

You can copy music as easily as you can breath. You can't duplicate cars easily.

With digital media, you're talking about an old licensing proposition that is incompatible with a new reality. The business model has to change.

IceNine said:

:LOL:


Wait... How do you file share a car? Wouldn't it take days to download??




FIAT edit!
[This message was edited Tue Sep 16 8:20:05 PDT 2003 by Chico319]

Chico319 said:

The easiest way to do it is to go to your local dealership in the middle of the night with various tools... you will break into the car and hotwire it... next step: drive!

teller said:

Indeed. Or at least, update the old business model to support and encourage business from the new one. It absolutely is possible to make money from all these fans spreading word-of-mouth recommendations via MP3...

teller said:

Would it be cool if I could easily duplicate Stephen King's latest book and give it away to many millions of people?

IceNine said:

Well, the books wouldn't sell any less because of it anyway. People like buying books, reading them on paper, and putting them on a bookshelf. A digital copy isn't as enjoyable. It might be nice to sample a chapter or two before deciding to purchase the book tho. I'm all for it!

ian said:

Very Well Said Old Chappy!!

ThaHumanBody said:

Well thank you sir!

ian said:

Damn you!

IceNine said:

I've pirated your otter avatar and it feels good! I encourage you all to try it!

ian said:

You evil prick!

I will have someone steal your best shillaly for that!

ian said:

I agree with that and would like to add that, altho' the law is on it's side, the recording industry created the same kind of law that doesn't work anymore and so it needs to come up with a legitimate alternative to filesharing before it cries out that hundreds of millions of people are nothing but a bunch of "thiefs" and starts sueing every juvenile in the whole damn world. In other words the recording industry needs to stop acting so stupid, lower their prices, make better music, come up with a system that works, offer enough music for a reasonable price and in general stop whining.

CtheUncanny said:

That is indeed what happens, copies are made, nothing is "stolen". Don't get me wrong either, I do not support that people just download and download but don't ever pay the creators and rightholders. However, neither am I in support of the RIAA or their bully practices.

$$$
[This message was edited Wed Sep 17 1:07:21 PDT 2003 by Abrazo]

The MP3s I've downloaded are either recordings that are no available for sale, or albums that I wouldn't pay to listen to.
The ones that are worth buying, I'd still buy. Unfortunatly, none are worth buying these days.

Heavenly said:

You have a point there... the vast majority of music today sucks and is not worth anything. *this is merely my opinion*

in order to support the troops

ive decided to lob a granade at my head