There's lot of issues tied to this. I have downloaded lots of albums over the years I admit. But my CD collection has at least tripled, if not more, thanks to it. As it has enabled me to check out bands I never heard before. So that can be a positive. But there are lots out there who never go out and buy a CD because why pay for something when you can get it for free? I've even been ridiculed for being CD's in the past :/ But the worst part of piracy, is that someone is making money who doesn't deserve to be making it in the first place. I've known people to buy dirt cheap dvds of pirated movies, some that hadn't been released in the cinemas at the time, just because they are cheap. But why should the people making these inferior copies be making any money from something they had no part in creating? With the music industry, while people may not pay even a cheap price for the pirated music, they are bombarded with ads galore. So the hosting website is making money when they don't deserve to. And the bands get nothing. That's the biggest issue IMO. And I'm not talking about just illegal download sites. Youtube aka Google is just as guilty. You can't watch a clip without the fucking ads yet Google is the one making the money and not the bands. It's time Google start giving some of their money back to the bands who earned it. They CAN afford it. Late last year I read an article online about a Australian Metal band called Blood Duster. They had just released a new album but only on Vinyl and only 100 or 200 copies were made. And each one was pressed with a SCRATCH into it, delibrately. They talked quite a bit about piracy and mentioned Google/Youtube more than once. It was their way of saying if you are gonna take from us, we are gonna take from you, in their own twisted way. So the only way people can hear that album is to see them live. Pretty fucking drastic but it serves a point. Bands like Metallica aren't gonna be hurt by illegal downloading as they get their money back and more from touring. File sharing, Youtube, etc helps to get there music out there and bring more people to their gigs and people then pay a premium for it. It's why bands like the Eagles, Kiss, etc won't die because they make a fortune from touring. But it's the up and coming bands that are hurt. If they are only getting small fees for performing live and little or nothing from music sales how are they meant to survive? The internet gives them a chance to get their music out there but it costs money to get studio time and hire an engineer and producer. Something that the labels usually provide. Labels can also help with promotion. But labels don't care about the music, only the money that can be made. Which is why they whore out clone after clone of talentless wonders from shit shows like American Idle yet real bands who play their hearts out and create original music remain unsigned. Plus piracy doesn't seem to be going anywhere and the industry has been slow to act when mp3's have been around for close to 15 years now. If they give people more and better alternatives to the current digital market and piracy rather than just trying to prosecute then people might become less cynical and the industry might grow. But then pigs might fly too. The internet could replace the labels altogether though one day so it would be in their best interests IMO.
My only hope is that their continues to be musicians out there who are relevant and continue to push the industry along, rather than just suck the life out of it. And as a consumer I can help play a part in that. All this talk reminds me, I need to go download some music. Legally of course
My only hope is that their continues to be musicians out there who are relevant and continue to push the industry along, rather than just suck the life out of it. And as a consumer I can help play a part in that. All this talk reminds me, I need to go download some music. Legally of course
