"Ethics" of Downloading Music?

Another example:

Ebon had a track on James Zabiela's CD... finally gettin some recognition. The CD went on to sell more than ANY Electronic CD did that year. Due to piracy, RIGHT as Ebon was set to get his first check for royalties--the label folded.

NOONE made any money. It's not just smaller labels... Sounds in Motion didn't even break even, and that sold LARGE numbers of records. See, it's kindof like stealing gas here in the states... the gas stations aren't making any money on the gas... they have to charge that much to break even. One fucking idiot drives off without paying, and that is an entire days gas profit. Multiply that by 500,000 idiots, and we have an oil crisis.

Have you ever tried to have a record cut for yourself? I have. I looked into the costs/rewards ratio's of running a small independent label and having distribution worldwide...

promo is free, you ship it out to world class DJ's and if it's quality they play it... but the risk is that some asshole posts a 320k rip on SLSK.

figure, if you want 500 copies of a record(and that is EXTREMELY limited) you are going to pay about 5 grand, for the production, the promotions, the LEGAL TEAM, the mastering, the actual plotting of the vinyl...

sell that for 4.99 a piece, or even 10.99 a piece in the states... only a GOOD record will sell, mind you...

Oh wait... RIGHT before it gets an actual release, and some poor producers dreams come true, YOU bring it to a crashing halt, because you didn't want to pay 4.99 for a piece of vinyl.

bravo. way to support your favorite artists, which are now giving up on music to bag groceries, because at least they can afford equipment to produce for themselves and thier friends that way.

shame on you all.
 
Originally posted by Kataklysm
I still advocate supporting your artists

right - and to me that's the core of the argument.

the internet is the most powerful disintermediation agent we've ever had but the record companies are entrenched and they've been unable new thinking to this new landscape.

i still get the feeling (and it's only a feeling) that a lot of people download music free telling themselves and others "i'm sticking it to the man" when, truly (and cynically), they just want something for nothing and wouldn't pay for it under any circumstances, deserving artist or not.

alasdair
 
^^true!

I download mixed sets and things that I have yet to hear. I only buy things that I have downloaded, and if I cannot preview it, I'm not going to pay... however, I don't keep things on my PC that I didn't pay for either.

And the things I share, I've ripped at 96k anyway... so you'd be better stealing from someone else, and previewing from me :P
 
There was music before there was a recording industry... In fact, could I suggest that historically, before that little dog squatted by a gramophone, as a musician you were more likely to get a regular job in performance? Now it seems the majority of musicians romantically aspire to the lifestyle and celebrity made possible by the recording industry.

Don't jump on me! I'm being a devil's advocate. I use mp3's to mix live using Ableton. I've never been paid for a gig, but just in case I do, I've bought all the tunes I use.
 
AuralAssassin said:

figure, if you want 500 copies of a record(and that is EXTREMELY limited) you are going to pay about 5 grand, for the production, the promotions, the LEGAL TEAM, the mastering, the actual plotting of the vinyl...

sell that for 4.99 a piece, or even 10.99 a piece in the states... only a GOOD record will sell, mind you...
Click to expand...

According to this you're going to run a loss with or without file sharing. But hey feel free to attack your potential audience for not paying to have your piece of plastic shipped around the world.

It's not the audience that should be taking a long hard look in the mirror... its the artist
 
i download shitloads of music with absolutely no guilt. this is because i spend plently of money on vinyl when it comes to dance music and the other stuff i download sells enough to make the artists plently of money anyway.
 
yes, massive... very good reading skills you have there, bro...

I think the point being made, is that it's hard enough in THIS style of music specifically to sell records... especially the GOOD music... because it isn't commercially viable...

so if I view someones shared files and see a lack of major artists, but 9000 files from small labels, it tends to piss me off.
 
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