stealing music, and the future of copyright

its not stealing its file sharing, its no different than me going to a music store, buying a tape, and then letting a friend get a copy, its just on a larger scale. artists are just going to have to come up with new ways to get paid for their services, and i am sorry if this cuts out producers and record companies, which ironically have bled these artists dry for years. artists may have to do this crazy new thing to get paid, called "touring". I know i know, its a crazy concept, playing your songs in a live format called a "concert". then you can sell, the musicians products at this "concert" to generate more revenue. Album sales are so insignificant for the artists anyway, thats why you never hear them bitch about it, unless its metallica who sells millions of records, and might be affected more financially.

 

I'm not about to read this entire thread but the way I see it is...

1) I download a song, or listen to the preview on iTunes or Youtube.
2) If I like the song, I download/sample more from the same album.
3) If I like at least 3 or 4 songs from the album I go buy the CD.
4) If the rest of the album sucks, the record company/artist can suck it for trying to rip me off with 1 good song and 14 terrible ones.

 

I think that copyright laws are too strict, that is all.

 

It isn't stealing. It is copyright infringement, and that is illegal according to this country's Law. Is it immoral? I believe that's up to the individual.

 

This is a nice theory, and it can and does happen on occasion, but this definitely isn't the way it usually goes. Usually, there is much more time that goes into it (weeks to months to years even) until the artist finally has what they believe is their finished product. And some of them go damn near crazy trying to get at what they think is the best.

I think that a lot of times the bulk of a great song comes in a day or two and the artist knows they've got something great (although the artist never can predict when that day will come). But finishing the song is another story (there's getting the words right, creating a part for each instrument, choosing which technology/instruments to use (which can seem endless these days, etc.) But that's not really telling the whole story about the weeks and months they spend creating stuff and not discovering a song they thought was great (in their own heads anyway).

I mean, the creation of music, etc., has a big mysterious aspect to it. If you were to force a bunch of bands to write songs over a three week period and make a CD, I guarantee you that most of the CDs would suck when compared to their regular stuff (even if you think their regular stuff is sucky). There would be a couple of groups that might do something pretty good, but most wouldn't. There's usually a lot of good timing involved with good music. I could pick up my guitar or go sit at my piano and force myself to create something, but most of the time it wouldn't be near as good as when I create something at a time when I feel the urge to do it. Of course, I'm not a professional (not now anyway...professional loser maybe), but I think that's similar to how it goes for the majority of musicians.

I've heard a few songwriters say they can't take credit for writing the songs. You know...that the songs just somehow come to them or they write themselves. So I guess martin could take that avenue and say that he isn't really stealing from anyone since a number of them say they don't really write the songs. But he'd need every artist on board saying that for it to hold up and I know they don't all feel that way. I don't know how the unknown entity would feel about him stealing the songs.

Oh, and someone mentioned that they can't believe music is still as expensive as it is. Really? I mean, I guess everything is relative. Let's say you go to McDonald's or whatever fast food joint and get a large order of fries. I don't know what the prices are exactly, but you likely pay around $1.79 + tax routinely. And most don't think twice about that price. You enjoy the fries for about 10 minutes and some hours later shoot them out ur azz like a bottle rocket into the toilet never to be seen again (at least not by you anyway after flushing). I don't think that much goes into frying potatoes (although there is some labor and ingredients right there on the spot).

Compare that to buying a song on iTunes. Most songs are like .99 to $1.29. Now, once you buy the song that likely took a long time for a number of people to finish, you won't have to worry about it exiting your azz in an impressive fireworks display a few hours later. In fact, you'll pretty much have it and be able to use/enjoy it until you basically kick it. And if you've bought the actual CD, if you get sick of it at some point for some reason, you can resell it for a few bucks unless it reeeealy sucks.

Sometimes I get cranky about CD prices just because I usually expect the price on most things to go down with different technological advances. But when you really step back and look at it, I think that with all things considered, it's not really bad at all. Especially not when comparing it to many other things we spend more money on and never really think about or enjoy as much.

 

i dont think martin planned on resurrecting the discussion. he was just gloating.

anyway, this issue has largely been put to bed. the main plaintiffs (RIAA) have decided to stop going after individuals. stupidly, they are just trying to stop technology now.

now im going to go listen to some music that my wife bought (dont tell anyone that i didnt pay for it.)

 

I agree with you on this point. I have frequent arguments with another LSU-employed research associate who insists that all information ought to be free. Good to see that there's one who actually has his head squarely on his shoulders on this issue.

 

Not sure why.... XBOX downloadable games only mean no $14.99 used copies at your local retail shop. Streaming media may mean the end of local retail shops as we know them.

 

gloating on his games available for download.

and he has no use for "mortar and brick establishments" or whatever.