sealing music

[krampus]

Since the days of napster I have stolen as much music as possible. I figured that if I liked a band I would go see them live and buy a T-Shirt and that is how they should make their money. And a popular band like U2 or P dity then I wouldn't even think about paying as they make enough money anyway. Its just music, why should I pay when I can download for free?

I heard an interview with the lead singer of cake on NPR the other day (a band that I like a lot, have all the albums, but never given them a penny), I guess they have a new album out, an album that they recorded in a solar powered studio (a side note but I thought it was cool). I noticed two things; 1. the guy is old 2. he is a bit tired of the relentless culture of wastefulness that we have all fallen into. He made a comment that got me thinking and even to change my opinion on stealing music. I don't remember the exact quote but he basically sad that they were going on tour because they needed to make money, but going on tour is about the most non environmentally friendly thing a band can do, and second, he is old and tired and doesn't enjoy the on tour lifestyle anymore. This got me thinking that these bands who have a creative fun style, bands that I really really like, will quit making music if they can't gain financial support. All the enjoyment I get from the wide variety of music I love and cherish will be left in the hands of P-ditty, all because the masses failed to give support.

I think I will start buying albums from now on, particularly from the small time singer/songwriters who deserve something for their efforts. I may still steal from the P-ditties

[pkananen]

I do buy all of the music I listen to, but I wouldn't use the word 'steal' to describe what you are doing. It may be unethical and unlawful, but it's not stealing. Stealing implies that the action causes the party to suffer loss of property or value.

[climb2core]

You can make up all the bullshit logic that you want to make you feel better and sleep better at night. But it is clearly stealing and illegal. Why do you think Napster got shut down? Not making any moral or ethical judgment about you.. but at least have the balls to call it what it is. And as far as justifying stealing as ok when you are taking it from the rich... Then it should be ok to walk in and steal something from one of Warren Buffets store, surely it won't affect him?

[pigsteak]

it has creative content and it belongs to the musicians....of course it is stealing. at least krampus is honest about it.

[pkananen]

What did they have before someone downloads a song that they don't have after?

I didn't say it wasn't wrong. It is wrong and you are violating laws. I don't do it. But it's not stealing. It's copyright infringement. The difference may be trivial to some, but it's important that we not let the debate get phrased with the word 'steal'.

[krampus]

Honestly, I would probably sleep just fine after steeling from warren buffet

[pigsteak]

I like it..using the words honestly and stealing in the same sentence with a straight face...

[krampus]

honor amongst theves piggy, I never stole from a man who's eyes I could see.

But thats not the point, I do think downloading and hard drive music exchanges are ok, they can't be controled and can expose people to a great deal of music that they never would have heard otherwise. but when you do find a song or an album that brings something positive to your life, don't forget that you got that for free and should probably buy a shirt or an album in hopes that they will have the means to produce more life enhancing art.

[toad857]

Right--what about the sharing between friends? Best buy & others made millions of dollars selling CD-Rs, and we act as if people weren't copying & burning music CDs with them. The same could have been said back during the cassette-tape days. If that sounds familiar to you, consider that you've been outplayed by the giants of the digital music era (e.g., iTunes & the like)---it is 2011 and you no longer have the ability to make a mix-tape and share it with a friend.....so does the room feel like it just got a bit smaller to you?

At least when I bought a CD I was allowed to copy it, move it from car to car, lend it to a friend, etc. After all, I BOUGHT it, didn't I? No longer--itunes & the like have taken control of that. No more sharing (even with yourself). [On a similar note, did you know that if you go to the apple store today & buy a new iPod, you won't even be allowed to put YOUR OWN music on it until you give them a credit card--even if you have no intention of using the itunes store? I recommend amazon for mp3s.]

My take: Napster & its sibling programs were a backlash to the greedier elements of the music industry--how many times did you fork over $15 bucks for a CD only to learn that the majority of its songs were just 'filler' content? Did you feel ripped off? Napster originally catered to people who just wanted one song at a time (which, until recently, was not an option for the honest consumer). And it was very difficult to find any lesser-known artists... only the huge ones were showing up on the napster programs.

Anyway, I just started buying individual mp3s from Amazon. 99 cents isn't too bad for a song, especially when I can preview it beforehand. It's a happy compromise, I think. And the best part is that all they give ya is the mp3 file--not some apple-encoded file that restricts when & where you can use it.

The music industry never would have allowed such a thing pre-napster.

[bcombs]

DRM is not a bad thing, it just creates a different kind of consumption model. I'm at the other end of the spectrum. I would never pay $.99 for a single song just so that I can say I own the DRM free MP3. I use a subscription service (I use Zune Marketplace, but there are others like Rhapsody, etc...) for $14.99 a month I get all you can eat. As long as I pay the fee I can use the subscription on 3 devices. So at my PC, in the car with the portable player, or in our living room with Media Center I have access to an enormous library of music. If I like a song, I grab the album, same charge. If I like the album I grab all the artists' albums, same charge. I turn on the DJ feature, choose a song I like and it pulls down songs like it in the same fashion as Pandora, same charge.

I can't see a scenario where I'll stop liking music, so I doubt I would ever cancel the subscription.