Is downloading music really that bad?

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Is buying a used CD any better than downloading it?

Yes
13
46%
No
15
54%
 
Total votes: 28

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NordicStorm
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by NordicStorm » Wed Aug 02, 2006 11:25 am

If an exceedingly large amount of CDs sold would be used CDs, you can bet your ass the record companies would be looking into ways to prevent it.

That said, there is a potential monetary loss for the artists, but it's the seller/uploader rather than the buyer/downloader causing it. When I purchase a CD in a store, I implicitly also purchase the license to use the CDs in certain prescribed manners (like, say, playing the CD in my stereo). If I sell that CD, I transfer those rights to the buyer. It doesn't even have to be a sale, it might as well be a gift, but the point is that it's a one-to-one transaction.
If I, however, rip the CD and share it via a p2p client, I'm acting way outside of what the license would entitle me to do in that I'm now redistributing the contents of the CD to (typically) multiple persons. I would have to purchase the rights to redistribute the CD in such a manner first, which would potentially be rather expensive and thus being a monetary loss.

All that said, I've never actually seen any credible research that suggests CD sales dropped as a result of piracy. The only research to that effect seem to come from the record companies themselves, who rather than admitting to having a faulty business model and addressing the long-term problem short-sightedly jumps on the first best scapegoat they can find...it's only in recent years, with the advent of iTunes and the like, that they seem to finally be waking up...
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NeonVomit
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by NeonVomit » Wed Aug 02, 2006 7:10 pm

Metal bands make most of their income through touring and merchandise. Not that much is made from cds, the record company loses from lost cd sales.

That said, downloading stuff still takes away from the band's revenue, and most metal acts work on a shoestring budget.
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StragOvariuS
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by StragOvariuS » Fri Aug 04, 2006 3:56 pm

A little.

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stratorobbo
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by stratorobbo » Sat Aug 05, 2006 10:39 pm

NeonVomit wrote:Metal bands make most of their income through touring and merchandise. Not that much is made from cds, the record company loses from lost cd sales.

That said, downloading stuff still takes away from the band's revenue, and most metal acts work on a shoestring budget.

this is very true - t-shirts are a bands main income :D

but I have been a fan of downloading for a long time, and i have come up with a good (i think) argument FOR downloading

Downloading the music of an unknown band.. such as any power metal, pretty much - at least gets it out to speakers around the world, and so these bands get fans - and if they haven't got all the songs of an album, which would often be the case with unkown bands, they will then go out and buy the cd
Also, it will then encourage these new fans to see them live, buy merchandise etc

However, with well known bands, like most rock for example.. all of a band's music can be downloaded easily...but it doesn't matter that they aren't buying the album imo.. seeing as they make so much money anyway


and plus.. even if I have all of an album downloaded.. it's much nicer to have the hard copy.. especially if it's signed :D:D


buying used cds.. same argument i'd say :D
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savabich2
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by savabich2 » Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:25 am

meh.

There's no justifying downloading songs against the musicians will without paying for it.

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Neorave
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by Neorave » Mon Aug 14, 2006 5:59 pm

5T Sauce Sage wrote:Well, how are used CD's any different? If I buy a used CD of Stratovarius from Joe on amazon.com, how is Stratovarius benefitting? As far as I can see, not at all. Would Stratovarius be any better or worse off if I instead of buying that used CD, downloaded it?
Well, I would think that someone like BMI or someone like that would cover that. Like say you walk into a store that sells used CDs. When you buy a used CD, part of the money goes to the music copyright company that the store has to pay, which, in turn, pays the artist.

I hpoe this makes sense...it's too frick'n early in the morning for me.
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Patricia
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by Patricia » Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:38 pm

I don't like both. I prefer buying originals CDs.
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by Patricia » Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:19 pm

5T Sauce Sage wrote:Then you'll limit your exposure to new artists: fact.
Thats paying up to 20 bucks each cd! How many people now who have 20 gigs of music can afford to buy it all?
You can find some originals for nice prices on the internet. I don't buy in stores like FNAC etc...
But of course, if people are quite crazy for buying 20 CDs in a month...lol!
Seriously...
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NordicStorm
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by NordicStorm » Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:28 pm

I dunno, I have like 400 CDs, most of them not second-hand. I don't think I'd be inclined to buy more if they were cheaper (I buy about 30 - 40 CDs a year); it has happened more than once that I've had a stack of newly purchased CDs just lying around because I haven't gotten around to listen to them.
Maybe I make too much money.
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NordicStorm
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by NordicStorm » Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:30 pm

I work as a software engineer (and finishing of my last year of university studies). As I don't have my degree yet my salary is on the low end of what I could be getting, but I live quite well nevertheless. It's a line of work I would recommend, in other words ;)
But yeah, my first year or two studying I didn't have too much cash to go around either (although, in fairness, I probably bought more crap than I actually could afford ;))

I suppose one should cherish the time window one has between being a dirt poor student and having children to feed...
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StratoFactor
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by StratoFactor » Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:19 pm

Yes, downloading music is very bad, no one should be allowed to do it. Samples are quite another thing, but like downloading the whole production of a band is truly criminal. But bands like Metallica,Motörhead and all te old giants, the truth is they don't need any more money. But downloading new bands is allmost the same thing as robbing their food and money at the same time. Bying used cds is better because, someone actually paid to the artist for his work. If all teh usic would be downloaded, we would not have any musicians cause it's not worth it and so we would not have any music. That would bite some serious ass am I correct? :D
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StratoFactor
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Re: Is downloading music really that bad?

Post by StratoFactor » Sat Aug 26, 2006 1:27 pm

:D Thank you but I was actually just joking about that downloading is bad. Most of my music is downloaded from the Internet. Nut it's not okay to steal all away from the rich. But I think that small band really do need their money. Also, we don't pay that much to the bands for their music, we pay to the recordcompanies, which sucks. Metallica,Motärhead all those giants, they have money bicause they have been on the business for such a long time. But actually, if this world would be fair, downloading music would be impossible and no one would even think of it if the records would be a lot cheaper. But then again if the records would be a lot cheaper, the record companies wouldn't make any profit and no one would ever compose any music :(
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