What do you think of illegal music files sharing?

Question

Some things I want to say:-

-Music files being shared every year are worth 4 billion $.

-CD sales could have been less with no illegal sharing because after a period of time, people get to buy CDs of music they heard through sharing.

Answer 1

Wrong question; It should have been asked as "What do you think of music files sharing."

Illegal? The way the question is asked, I could easily say that my friend was listening to it in NY and I was in Cali, and he sent me a snippet. Is that sharing? Yup. Illegal? By current terms, yup.

You are right - music file sharing is worth 4 billion a year.

The marketing, ticket sales, dvd sales, merchandise sales is almost $100 billion.

Who's being greedy?

Answer 2

If your stats are correct, $4 billion in (shared files) is only a small fraction of the total vaIue, so I don't see it as a threat to any of the performers or to the recording industry. If anything it actually boosts the interest and sales of hard to find music. For example, you might come across one or two old songs from an album that you haven't heard in a long time and you want to buy the whole album.

My point of view is this = If I buy a CD, it's mine, and if I want to share it (free) it's my right to do so. I don't think it's my right to copy and sell tho. People have been duplicating and sharing cassettes long before P 2 P file sharing was available. As far as I'm concerned there's no difference.

Here's another interesting point. If I stick a dollar in a juke box and play a song for my own enjoyment and pleasure, shouldn't everyone present who enjoys hearing it share my cost of the juke box?

I certainly don't feel guilty when I copy and share a recording, nor do I have any sympathy for the recording artist, they charge obscenely inflated prices for a ticket to a concert, CD's are also overpriced, and a lot of the performers are too ignorant to stay off booze and drugs. Here's a few examples;
Hank Williams - died from an over dose of herion
Elvis = died from prescription drug abuse
Janis Joplin = OD'd on drugs
Glen Campbell - drugs and booze destroyed career
There's dozens more, I'm sure you know some.

Answer 3

I personally don't really have too much of a problem with it. I know a lot of people out there are downloading a lot of music, but here's the way I look at it:

A lot of people consider file sharing or music downloading (without paying) to be "stealing music", but really nothing is being stolen. All that is happening is that the person's pc is obtaining a file. The file is simply computer data. The music companies don't own computer data. Someone had to have purchased the music to begin with, and probably uploaded the song to their computer from a cd. The music company was paid for that individual cd/song/file. This person then decides to share the song with some friends. Well, it is their file, they bought it. So, why not? It is like letting a friend borrow a cd (kinda). I understand that the difference is that they get to keep it. This is an overly simplified explanation really.

As you pointed out, I think that many of the people that download music online wouldn't go out there and pay for the cds if they had to. The music companies aren't losing as much money as is claimed for this reason. One benefit for the musicians is that, because of the file sharing, they get their name out and get audiences listening to their songs that otherwise wouldn't have been. I understand that many people feel that "stealing" profits from the bands is detestable, but really there are some benefits to it.

With all of that said, I still promote the purchase of cds. I personally buy the majority of my music on cd. The bands can't make a profit if only one person buys their song(s) and then makes it available to the rest of the world. Downloading in moderation is what is needed.

Answer 4

There is a big difference between the following three things:

MORAL
ETHICAL
LEGAL

Is it moral or ethical to produce and sell tobacco products that kill people - HELL NO. But it is LEGAL because the powerful tobacco industry got a "law" passed that works in their favor.

In the case of music, the powerful recording industry has been able to invent very agressive "intellectual property laws" that are designed to maximize the amount of money the recording execs and "artists" can take from the rest of us. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT IS UNETHICAL OR IMMORAL TO SHARE MUSIC - JUST "ILLEGAL".

Do recording stars DESERVE more money for the work they do? NO - they are having a ball while the rest of us work at a dumb desk all day!

Do recording stars make enough money now? YES - they are spoiled megarich stars whining because they only have 10 cars instead of 20.

Would the quality of music suffer if recording stars made 10 times less? NO - the good ones who are passionate about self expression would do it anyway.

Are most superstars really that talented? NO - most, like Brittany Spears are just people with decent voices who are the beneficiaries of massive marketing campaigns.

Do recording companies and music stars own the alphabet, the words in the dictionary, and the notes on a keyboard - NO.

In summary, NOTHING could ever make me feel bad about sharing music because there is nothing ETHICALLY or MORALLY wrong with it and the INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS are just the method by which the rich and powerful recording industry extracts maximum dollar from

'Nuff said.

Answer 5

Well, the problem actually started with record companies charging waaaaay to much for a product that doesn't really cost that much to make. They spend too much money in advertising their product and therefore passed the cost to the consumer who eventually said.. **** them. Let's not pay for this product at all. You're making it seem as though the prices of CD's are high because of illegal filesharing. There's some truth on that, but if they sold their product cheaper, people wouldn't be so tempted to get their stuff for free. Furthermore, you have artists that have a couple of great songs on a CD!!!! That's just stupid. Of course people are just going to want to download those few songs only. The problem is a bit more complicated than you think... and I should know. I'm a DJ who knows a lot about the music industry.

Answer 6

First of all trying to put a money figure on this is BS. Not every song downloaded would have been purchased.

Secondly, the RIAA and its overseas counterparts want you to believe that you"re stealing by downloading. More BS. Copyright infringment and theft are 2 very different things. Did you walk into a music store, and pocket the cd?

Next, don't believe that you're screwing the artist out of millions of dollars...for the most part you're not. With rare exceptions, the artist typically makes only about $.30 for each cd sold. They make most of their money on tour and thru merchandising. Its some guy who wasn't talented enough to play music, who now sits in an office and relies on his wallet to define him who's losing money.

As far as I'm concerned, the internet should be treated as a giant library. I don't pay copyright or lisencing fees to photocopy pages out of a book. It's all a matter of greed.

Some of these companies that cry foul (SONY I'm talking about you) also manufacture and sell cd burners and blank discs!

Something else to remember: the industry didn't see this as a problem when people were copying to tape. It's only now that digital and lossless copies can be made that their panties are in a bunch.

Answer 7

I think file sharing is OK. As long as you don't overdo it. I used to have a case of 50 or so Cds (all store bought). Someone busted into my car and stole them. From then on I burned most of my CDs, but I still go to the store to buy 2 Cds a month, so that I don't feel like a cheap ***. That way i'm still contributing to my favorite music artists.

Answer 8

The whole point of file sharing is to see if you want to buy something or not. The other reason is that you may just want that song, and so far file sharing is not illegal or many sites other than Napster would be down for the count! Also, a lot of site want you to pay for the song you download or the movie that you download- at least a one time subscription fee for it so it is not illegal.

Answer 9

I support illegal file sharing though I have probably only downloaded 3 songs. The real pirates are those scumbags who charge us an arm and a leg for a cd then turn around and rip the artists off.

Answer 10

maybe if it didnt cost $20 to get a CD that you will only like 3 of the songs....people would stop file sharing