2006-12-22 10:24:26 · 11 answers · asked by chat all you want 3 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music
Frankly yes and no and here is why:
The music industry has undergone tremendous changes in the last 30 years. In the 70's bands toured to promote their album sales and most of their income was generated from those sales (not the tour itself). Hence, why I can remember tickets costing anywhere from $1.01 to $12.50 apiece for the major bands (Zeppelin, Aerosmith, etc.). Even accounting for inflation a ticket today is much more expensive.
Now it is almost completely reversed (CDs are used more to promote getting people to see the tour). Record companies don't like this because with the spread of the internet, they aren't really needed anymore. Check out any local band that has been together for a while - they all make their own CDs now.
The consumer is the big winner for a change. They can get music and pick and choose by song rather than paying for an album or CD which in many cases has only filler songs that aren't as good (although sometimes there are undiscovered gems). In some cases, artists are willing to give songs away(once again look to local band websites). Even if you pay the standard rate of about $1 a song, it works out much cheaper than $12.99 or more per CD.
Furthermore, what about the fan (such as me) that has 100's of albums. Should I have to pay again for the same songs just because the media has changed? The artist and record company have already received their money from me once!!!
So I guess my opinion is that there should be a small fee for newer releases (if the artist wants to charge), but that it should become free long before the copyright runs out as a matter of standard practice.
2006-12-22 11:15:32 · answer #1 · answered by Lee W. 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There is nothing actually wrong with downloading music from the internet - as long as you pay for it that is. There are many sites you can buy music from legally online and the artist still gets the profit. Such as iTunes and Apple. They have download tools where you can pay at the same time.
If the music is being "illegally" downloaded from Peer 2 Peer programs or "shareware" then of course its going to bad for the artist and i definately dont agree with it. They lose profit from all the time and energy that they have put into their material.
2006-12-22 10:49:45 · answer #2 · answered by gr33n_3y3d_grrl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO!
First of all calling it stealing is a misnomer. It is negative spin put out by the recording industry. Stealing is when you take something from someone, and deprive them of it. If you download some music that you were not going to buy anyway, you have not cost the artist anything.
Let me give you an example. In 2003, I wanted to make a dance mix for my car. I used some software called Mixmeister to produce a beat mix recording. I downloaded a bunch of music that I used to listen to, and used some of it to make a mix for my personal amusement. If I had purchased every song I downloaded it would have probably cost me $500 or so. Often I would download tracks that I thought was the right one, only to find it was not. Some of the tracks I already owned.
If downloading was not an option, I would never have even attempted to make this mix for myself. So did my mix CD cost the recording industry anything? No. Of course not. But technically, I broke the law and stole from them.
Let me give you another example. When Eminem first came out I heard one of his songs on MTV. I then downloaded a bunch of his other music to see if I liked it. I liked it and ended up buying several DVDs and every album he released.
In another example I used to use an illegal download site that is now closed. It had a facility to suggest songs I might like. Since I had downloaded some Radiohead it suggested a band I had never heard called Muse. I later went on to purchase three Muse albums and some additional Radiohead. I would never have even known about Muse, were it not for this download site.
When it comes to downloading the reality is that record companies are out of touch and unwilling to get behind new technology. If they had been looking out for fans rather than their personal greed, they would have cashed in on the whole Internet downloading thing years earlier.
Let us also not forget the reality here. You talk about the poor artists losing money. But that is just a line put out by record companies. If you download a song, you are not hurting anyone. The only time you are hurting an artist or a record company is if you ONLY download stuff and never buy it. If everyone did this, there would be a problem. But most people I know who download always buy the CD or DVD if it is good.
Musicians have a lot less value then nurses, firemen, etc. But look at the insane amount of money they make. They don't need all of it. More people should start stealing from them, so they start making the money they deserve-considerably less
Musicians don't make money off CD's, they make money off of concerts and merchendise. The only people making money off of CD's are the record execs. If you want to help them buy more Tshirts.
Fundamentally it is just as unethical/illegal to borrow a CD from a friend to listen to, or copying music from the radio, or recording movies to video and lending them to friends, but the majority of people find it acceptable
And finally since I'm not going to buy their music anyway, so it might as well be free. Everybody are doing this all the time, so I guess downloading music will be here to stay for a long time if not forever.
2006-12-22 13:05:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If I made music, I wouldn't care if people downloaded off the internet because it would tell me that my music was popular.
Also, I'm pretty sure that artists get the most money through tours and concerts. And they're rich already, I'm sure that it doesn't really affect their career if their music is downloaded for free. At least, not that much.
2006-12-22 10:43:44 · answer #4 · answered by Jamathy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is definitely bad for the artist, because there are hundreds of bootlegged copies of their cds floating around that they didn't get paid for. I am sure that pretty soon they will find a way to prevent this from happening. It really isn't any different than taping a song off of the radio though, if you are old school and still have a tape recorder.
2006-12-22 10:27:45 · answer #5 · answered by Mommy To Be in April 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes I think it is wrong to download music, I think that the artist got a record deal based on their talent and should get paid for the cd's that they sell.
2006-12-22 10:40:53 · answer #6 · answered by kayla_s_76437 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I live in Serbia and I don't have a single legal software,song,movie etc.on my computer. That's a good thing for me cause I got those things for free but for the authors that's a disaster, those people live from their work!
2006-12-22 10:31:14 · answer #7 · answered by boyan_boba 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
obviously bad for the artist if they're downloading illegal copies - legal is ok for artist!
2006-12-22 10:25:51 · answer #8 · answered by ♪ Jackielynn 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I guess it depends...
It would be bad for the artist b/c s/he wouldnt get paid...
but it would spread their music and help them gain popularity....
2006-12-22 10:27:27 · answer #9 · answered by Word 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its not wrong and it has pluses and minuses for the artist
2006-12-22 10:27:01 · answer #10 · answered by jayson 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋