Did anyone notice the feeding frenzy that ocurred with the "preview" of Prince's new songs last week -- songs on unauthorized "share sites"; some offered via notes and email others downloaded from the radio podcast --

Granted, the quality of the recording by those means leaves alot to be desired, which matters not so much to those of us who will buy the speculated CD, but couldn't those "cloudy" transmissions also hurt an artist if the general public hearing them believes that, that is as good as it gets?

Of course there are others who would not buy a CD ever and are happy with the notion that they "got over" by claiming these likely "unfinished works" -- but isn't that what it all boils down to -- further chipping away at the quality of our lives, substituting rayon for wool? Talk about a "Colonized Mind"

Is there still any question in your uncolonized mind as to why ANY artist would not want to curtail or eliminate these forms of infringement and theft?

it's all free publicity. if your material is good enough people will buy
your album.

if your album is filled with 3 good songs and 7 bits of rubble, it's mho
that you don't really deserve my money.

i feel like i've paid more than enough through the years for albums that
were filled with shitty material.

through the internet i've heard many albums in full before going out to
a store to buy my own physical copy, because the album was solid.

if an album doesn't interest me or if it's simply not good i'm not going
to bother with it.

that might be unfair to the artists but that's simply how things are in
this day and age.

another thing is availability. if everyone had their own website where u
could download their new material in exchange for $ i would buy more than
i do now. i really dislike itunes and i prefer to log onto an artist's
own site, give my details and download.

look at NIN, radiohead, Wendy & Lisa. i love the way that works, you see
their product, you give your details and 5 mins later without leaving the
comfort of your home you're listening to a new album with new artwork and
everything included. that's how i want it.

anyway, i've always downloaded everything new from prince as soon as it
hit the internet but i've also always gone out to buy it once released.
eventhough i don't listen to half the stuff anymore after 2 spins lately.

if anything the internet is a way to hype stuff and get people interested.
mass hysteria on a local scale.

it hurts some but overall i think it's good promotion for everyone.

IstenSzek said:

Exactly.. show me a cd !

This is a good point Twinkly. I wouldn't burn my own cd if I had the means 2...Some of us are picky 4 the quality recording. When I would buy cd's in the past, if I didn't like them I would just eat the 12 dollars and get 2 bucks on an exchange. Sadly the record exchange business is slim, however these companies also had cd players to play the music before U bought it if U want 2. The Rock-n-Roll Hall of fame is like that, even 4 brand new albums.

Internet exposure 4 unknown artists' promoting their work can only help them get started. For people like Prince that kind of generosity can prevent some sales, however, I think it was a good idea 4 Prince 2 only release 4(5) songs...That's a decent number. With a cd we believe there will be at least 10 songs.