Effects of music downloads on the industry

[funkymatt]

didn't read the entire thread, but a VERY small percentage of the cost of a CD goes to the actual artist. if you want to support your favorite band, buy merchandise and go to their concerts.

 

[UncleWai]

I buy used cd for the bands I like. I like to listen to Japan music, I always dl japan mp3 to try, if I enjoy them, I go buy the CD. CD quality > mp3.

 

[Staples]

No where do you get as biased results from this question.

All the people who download and have 30k songs on their computer and never buy a CD will tell you that illegal downloads are helping the industry (which they clearly are not). Someone like me who actually does buy a song or two from iTunes once in a while but rarely listens to music will tell you that mp3s don't help the sale of music at all. When I was younger and used to download songs, I sure as hell did not buy CDs and no one I knew did either. My younger brothers sure as hell don't and all ther songs are mp3s off p2p.

 

[tailes151]

Originally posted by: Staples
No where do you get as biased results from this question.

All the people who download and have 30k songs on their computer and never buy a CD will tell you that illegal downloads are helping the industry (which they clearly are not). Someone like me who actually does buy a song or two from iTunes once in a while but rarely listens to music will tell you that mp3s don't help the sale of music at all. When I was younger and used to download songs, I sure as hell did not buy CDs and no one I knew did either. My younger brothers sure as hell don't and all ther songs are mp3s off p2p.

I could't find more biased results huh? What if we did this poll at say the RIAA's headquarters. Or maybe on the forums for torrentspy. Sure, these results are biased -- as are all poll results. It's not like I'll be using these results to actually overturn the law; I'm using them to make an interesting speech in a college class.

I used to download music all the time, I also used to buy cd's all the time. I now download quite rarely and only of bands I don't know, otherwise I buy their cd or get it off LaLa. I dont think illegal downloads are helping the industry. I'm not arguing that. I do however believe that downloads are not hurting the industry anywhere near as much as the RIAA claim they are.

-- Only 20 more results people =) --

 

[DigDug]

Been very nearly broke, lacking the discretionary income to buy the cd anyways (this is probably the most common case these days, and an internet connection is pretty much a necessity to find a job, so the argument that having internet=having money is false).

While its clearly not a lost sale as the RIAA would want us to believe, this example brings up a point. Why are we to assume that someone has an inherent right to hear the music?

If I were to sneak into a concert/movie theater/etc. and get caught, is it a valid argument to say that I'm too poor to have bought a ticket anyway, and therefore that, combined with the fact that the concert is not ruined by my addition to the audience, reason enough for me not to be punished?

 

[DigDug]

When I was younger and used to download songs, I sure as hell did not buy CDs and no one I knew did either. My younger brothers sure as hell don't and all ther songs are mp3s off p2p.

My thought is that the this behavior HELPS us all as the only "artists" it really hurts are those fabricated by the record companies themselves. If purchasing fell through the tubes, then the Britney Spears and Ashlee Simpsons of the world would cease to be a viable "product". Those who write music for the love of the music would continue to do so anyway. We need to kill music-as-a-media-commodity, and hopefully all this Britney Aguileria and Christine Simpson ****** will go away.

 

[BoomerD]

Sounds like most of you also support softwate piracy too. After all, if you download it, someone still has the original copy, so you haven't stolen anything of "real value", right?

Why would artists make music if they can't make money on it? Who do you think pays for all the production costs involved with CD's, shows, etc? NOT the artist/band...the recording company. So many of you talk up capitalism as a good thing...except it it's gonna cost you money. I see most people trying to justify this "sharing" as something that's ok, but if it were your music that was being downloaded instead of bought, I think you'd quickly change your attitudes about it.

 

[Kirby]

If had the money to buy CDs, I would. But since I don't, I download them. Going without music is not an option.

 

[nageov3t]

I think music downloads completely crushed the market for selling singles (anyone even still remember those?).

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Why would artists make music if they can't make money on it? Who do you think pays for all the production costs involved with CD's, shows, etc? NOT the artist/band...the recording company.

The record company fronts the cost of production, but they make the artists pay it back.

There are many artists out in the world that make music for the sake of making music. (read the message on this artist's page: Streetlight Manifesto)

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Staples
No where do you get as biased results from this question.

All the people who download and have 30k songs on their computer and never buy a CD will tell you that illegal downloads are helping the industry (which they clearly are not). Someone like me who actually does buy a song or two from iTunes once in a while but rarely listens to music will tell you that mp3s don't help the sale of music at all. When I was younger and used to download songs, I sure as hell did not buy CDs and no one I knew did either. My younger brothers sure as hell don't and all ther songs are mp3s off p2p.

depends who you hang out with, i knew people who would never buy anything and others who owned hundreds of cds even when they copied a few mp3s. i have hundreds of cds and i started mp3 when no one else i knew knew what it was and my harddrive was only 400mb(mid 90s). the industry with its wicked behavior sueing people and putting out only drm inferior product for downloads has massively slowed my more recent cd purchasing though, very hard to support such behavior.

 

[0roo0roo]

macrovision response to steves jobs open letter on drm shows how full of crap they are
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070216-8865.html
funny marketing speak -> plain english translation
http://daringfireball.net/2007/02/macrovision_translation

 

[imported_Imp]

Don't support legalizing, but if you download it, whatever, doubt you'd buy it anyways and most of the crap people download is the mainstream stuff (i.e. Britney, Ashley, Kevin..*shudders*). Some of the CDs I get are from indie people, one of whom owns and distributes her own stuff, so I'm more than happy to give them my money. Other stuff I just want a hard copy.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Staples
No where do you get as biased results from this question.

All the people who download and have 30k songs on their computer and never buy a CD will tell you that illegal downloads are helping the industry (which they clearly are not). Someone like me who actually does buy a song or two from iTunes once in a while but rarely listens to music will tell you that mp3s don't help the sale of music at all. When I was younger and used to download songs, I sure as hell did not buy CDs and no one I knew did either. My younger brothers sure as hell don't and all ther songs are mp3s off p2p.

I like music and don't like paying. Therefore, it should be legal to download

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Imp
Don't support legalizing, but if you download it, whatever, doubt you'd buy it anyways and most of the crap people download is the mainstream stuff (i.e. Britney, Ashley, Kevin..*shudders*). Some of the CDs I get are from indie people, one of whom owns and distributes her own stuff, so I'm more than happy to give them my money. Other stuff I just want a hard copy.

That's the opposite of me. I used to buy mainstream CDs, but now download MP3s from more obscure artists (and don't buy any CDs)

 

[Gillbot]

I would pay for the songs I like so long as the $ went to the ARTIST. I just can't see buying an entire CD which is highly overpriced and might have one good song on it.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Gillbot
I would pay for the songs I like so long as the $ went to the ARTIST. I just can't see buying an entire CD which is highly overpriced and might have one good song on it.

I'd support that if the artist took a huge loan to get his music on disc, marketed himself, and pressed the disc himself.

Amid all of this, are many artists complaining that music companies took a risk on them and now make lots of money?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: newmachineoverlord
the article from ars is good. Critical flaw in RIAA mainline arguments that so often get parroted:

The RIAA assumes in all their estimates that every download equals a lost sale. There is no evidence to support this assumption, as someone who downloads a song could have:
A. Already bought the cd, but keep it in their car, and dling is faster than walking outside.
B. Been very nearly broke, lacking the discretionary income to buy the cd anyways (this is probably the most common case these days, and an internet connection is pretty much a necessity to find a job, so the argument that having internet=having money is false).
C. Not been sure of the name of the song and just dled it to verify before buying.
D. Been so thrilled with it after dling that they went and bought a copy afterwards.
I know of dozens of cases where people purchased legal copies of games they had already tried by "piracy" first. I know of no cases where people didn't buy a game just because they were able download it. Filesharing is a highly effective form of advertising, as it gives people a chance to try out the product without restrictions. I first tried out warcraft I with a friend who got a pirated copy, and because of that my brother and I bought all three Warcrafts, both expansions, Starcraft, and Diablo I and II +LOD. Thus the most likely effect of filesharing is a positive effect on sales. There has never been any evidence whatsoever that filesharing has a negative impact on sales. Don't forget to read about the situation in Canada where it's legal. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050410-4795.html


The RIAA and MPAA also try to get people to equate downloading as stealing. This is clearly false, as stealing involves removing physical property so that the owner no longer has it. This is obviously not the case with copying files. Stealing is not equal to filesharing. If you can download and use a copy of my car or bicycle, that's fine with me. Just don't steal it, as then I wouldn't have it anymore.

Fun Facts: Technically, the very act of listening to music creates an unauthorized copy of that music in your brain as a memory in violation of copyright law! Thus if you follow the RIAA's arguments to their logical conclusion, it is already illegal to even listen to music.

Have they actually claimed that every downloaded song is a lost sale? The estimates I've seen seem incredibly low if they consider every downloaded song to be a lost sale.