Is Downloading Music for free Wrong??

[Mr2Spyder2828]

Is downloading music for free wrong? What do you think?
If you say it is wrong then should those who do download songs, go to jail or pay for those songs?

Napster is now offering songs for 1$ and they say that it is Leagal. I think that this is great and will cause artists to want to produce better songs than just one good song and filling the rest of their cd with crap.

[DGB454]

I think it's wrong. They should pay for them.

[Spec2 Girl]

I don’t think it's wrong. I’ve downloaded songs from bands and liked them so much I've then gone out and bought the album. If it wasn’t for being able to download the songs I probably would never have actually gone and bought the album.

[BP2K2Max]

Originally Posted by Spec2 Girl

I don’t think it's wrong. I’ve downloaded songs from bands and liked them so much I've then gone out and bought the album. If it wasn’t for being able to download the songs I probably would never have actually gone and bought the album.

i agree. unless you download all the songs off the album and have a good cd burner program that lets you adjust the buffering between songs it's not the same as the cd. i mostly get Mix tapes and things like that and the cd won't sound right with a 3 second gap between each song. there are also some songs and albums that are either too rare to obtain a store bought copy or were just never officially released. i own 6 cd's full of unreleased tupac shakur songs thanks to downloading mp3's.

[taranaki]

I can't put an exact time frame on it,but to me it depends on how long the song has been published.

Sir Paul Macartney really doesn't need or deserve any more royalties for 'Let it be',nor do I particulary want to pay the ridiculous markups charged by the recording companies,but I wouldn't download a new release.

[DGB454]

Songs are a recording artist living. When you download a song it takes away what his ability to make money off of that song. What if you could download any software from the internet? Would that be right? What about movies free?
If you want to hear a song before you buy it then you can go into just about any retailer and listen for free.

[darkness]

Originally Posted by BP2K2Max

i agree. unless you download all the songs off the album and have a good cd burner program that lets you adjust the buffering between songs it's not the same as the cd. i mostly get Mix tapes and things like that and the cd won't sound right with a 3 second gap between each song.

you know most cd recording software can actually remove the 2 second gap or so between songs.

I perfected that when I was recording DJ sessions for friends of mine. it's quite easy to do .

[Spec2 Girl]

Originally Posted by DGB454

If you want to hear a song before you buy it then you can go into just about any retailer and listen for free.

What does it matter either way if you end up buying the album anyway?

[replicant_008]

I think it is wrong...

But MOST IMPORTANTLY - Don't pirate local artists - most of them in NZ or Australia are as poor or worse off than you are (especially after they try paying back the recording advance for the studio time and the gear).

I have lots of CDs - especially hard to get imported titles that I have to bring in. I don't lend them - after spending all of the money to get the titles without contributions from freeloaders - why should I give you the music that cost me big bucks that you may really like... buy one yourself.

If you want to listen to a new release - hmmm radio, go to the music store. Don't kid yourself with I got this track, must remember to buy the album sometime...

Some of those B-Sides and other 'crap tracks' are what makes an album what it is. There are plenty of tracks I have that were never singles but ended up being some of the music I have come to love the most (eg One Tree Hill off U2's Joshua Tree or The Flood by Peter Gabriel or some of the more obscure Hed Kandi tracks).

[DGB454]

Originally Posted by Spec2 Girl

What does it matter either way if you end up buying the album anyway?

Not necesarily. Do you always buy the CD you copied the song from? The retailer pays for that CD that is being used as a demo.

[Spec2 Girl]

Originally Posted by replicant_008

If you want to listen to a new release - hmmm radio, go to the music store. Don't kid yourself with I got this track, must remember to buy the album sometime...

I can’t speak for other people but if I like at least 3 songs from an album I will buy it and I will buy it the next time I go shopping. I would never download an entire album either. If I like a song that’s on the radio from a band I then download another couple of songs from that album and if they’re good I buy the album, if not then I don’t bother and delete the songs. I’ve bought a fair few albums that way and have also saved myself some money from not buying crap.

[Spec2 Girl]

Originally Posted by DGB454

Not necesarily. Do you always buy the CD you copied the song from? The retailer pays for that CD that is being used as a demo.

That all depends on whether I like the other stuff on the album. If I didn't then I wouldn’t buy it if I listened to it in the store either.

[Oz]

Truly depends. I have heaps of music I ripped from an online radio station - it was free anyway, I can just listen to it at my leisure now. Equally, the majority of the artists I have downloaded/burnt 'illegally' I have gone to see them live and paid a more than fair price for that - and then contributed some more in terms of merchandise.

If you are ripping artists off blind, it's pretty wrong. If you are grabbing some music for personal listening pleasure and wouldn't have bought the legitimate CD anyway AND you are supprting them in some way - can't really see the problem.

[TexasF355F1]

Originally Posted by DGB454

Songs are a recording artist living. When you download a song it takes away what his ability to make money off of that song. What if you could download any software from the internet? Would that be right? What about movies free?
If you want to hear a song before you buy it then you can go into just about any retailer and listen for free.

You do know that they hardly make anything off of albums right. In some instances they only make 1/2 a cent per album. They make all their money touring. A number of artists have actually come forward and complained about it. DMX said on camera that the album he released sometime late last year will be his last ever b/c he is leaving the music industry. He's tired of putting in all the hours of writing music and other things and only make some change off of each record that sells for $15.

Now think about it. About $2-$3 max to make a cd and they charge anywhere b/w $12 and $18 per new cd. So A few cents goes to the artist, while the rest goes into the pockets of the cynical bastards of the RIAA.

Technically speaking it is stealing. But its also a crime to charge 3 or 4 times as much as it costs to make a cd and distribute it. I haven't d/led songs in a while b/c there is nothing out there that I want or desire to have right now. If I knew, however, that the artist was getting a lot more of the money than some change and the cd's were cheaper I would go out and buy albums.

[BP2K2Max]

Originally Posted by DGB454

Songs are a recording artist living. When you download a song it takes away what his ability to make money off of that song.
If you want to hear a song before you buy it then you can go into just about any retailer and listen for free.

that's not their only source of income though. they make more money from going on tour than anything. not to mention clothing lines, product endorsements, shoe deals, movie soundtracks, video game soundtracks posters, t-shirts. they're far from starving.

The only reason cd prices dropped recently is because of the mp3 craze. they'd still be 18.00 for a cd if people weren't ever doing it. my local record stores sell blank casettes at the counter. what is the implication? buy a cd and tape it for a friend. they're only pissed cuz now no one even has to buy the cd in the first place.