Have you seen this? Click here for the story of a Minnesota woman who was convicted of "illegal file sharing". Basically, she was using Kazaa (or limewire, or bittorent, or etc...) to download songs and upload songs to other users of that software.
The great thing about these types of software is that only 1 person has to go out and purchase the song, then they make it available to everyone else to download for free. That's right: FREE. The bad thing is that the label companies are only getting paid for the song once instead of potentially 100's of times from the other users that would want to listen to it.
Now PC's were just becoming popular when I was in college, so I bought every "record" I listened to in high school. I did occasionally record a song from the radio onto my cassette tapes and then played them back later, but the quality was poor at best. And I certainly didn't mass produce the tapes for all my friends to take home and enjoy. So I always paid for a song if I wanted to listen to it over and over and not wait for it to come on the radio.
What I really find interesting is today's kids (12-18yrs old) have always had computers and they have always shared files. Unless some parent figure or role model told them specifically that it is wrong, they have downloaded files from these software programs for free. And to be perfectly honest with you, I never thought to have that conversation with my kids. Now I am starting to look at this and it is obvious that I have to pick a side and make a stance and make it known to my children which side of the fence we will (or should) stand on.
I see that the label companies lose money (they estimate billions are lost just from illegal file sharing of music files), but that really doesn't bother me. I think more so about the artists themselves. If you are busting your ass to get a CD out there, and make a living as a musician, doesn't this cut into their profit? Many file sharing advocates will argue that they will find artists for free that they would never had heard if they had to go into a store and buy a CD unheard. And then they will see a band live, even though they have never "purchased" a CD from them. The artists will still make money from touring and merchandise.
My thoughts right now are to choose not to download files from these "sharing" programs. At least my family won't be running any out of my house. But I do believe that there will be a big shift in how music is sold/shared/or distributed because of what I am seeing in the kids growing up today. Maybe the label companies could drop the prices on a CD to make it more accessible to a broader market. I do like the fact that you can now buy individual songs, instead of having to get the whole CD. Anyway, what do you think? I'm very interested to know.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Personally, I'm kinda anti file sharing because I just feel kinda bad about the whole situation. I mean everything shouldn't be free, right? But then again, when I was growing up, I used to swap CDs with my friends and we'd record it on to a cassette tape so we didn't have to go buy CDs... so it's similar but on a larger scale. So, I'm not gonna tell someone else whether they should or shouldn't stay away from it. I just know that I kinda feel guilty but I might get a free song once in a while.
I am however shocked that they still sell CDs. Ok, maybe not shocked but really, there's no future there, IMO. I mean why buy some bulky disc in a glass case when I can download it and put it in a player that's the size of my house key? And I don't mean illegal file sharing. I just mean download from itunes. I would think that's where the future is where you can buy one song at a time. Once a week, they feature a band where you can download their free songs, you can sample it for 30 seconds, etc. I mean I honestly believe in the future, CDs will be gone. Think about it. How many people actually buy CDs still? How much does it cost for stores to actually be open (staff, space, utility bills, etc) vs some server that holds all these songs and accessible to the whole world 24-7? No brainer in my mind.
I'm apologizing in advance if this comment gets too long.
I'm very much pro-file sharing. I do it all the time. When I do download, I use a program that still relatively unknown and overlooked by the RIAA.
The reason I file share is because I support the bands. Most bands don't make money off the record contract. They make money off of the shows they perform & the merchandise they sell. Granted, my interest in music is less mainstream than most, but I feel much better about listening to an album for free, then going to their show to see them perform live.
Even though I download, I still do purchase CDs as well, even for albums that I've already downloaded. The artists put a lot of work into the packaging and sometimes add addt'l multimedia to the CD as well. The production of the CD is sometimes just as expressive as the music they're buying, and if it's an artist on a smaller, independent label, one that's trying to do good within the industry, I'll support that as well.
Finally, one HUGE misconception of file-sharing is that it's illegal to download. It's not. You can download ALL YOU WANT and not get into trouble. What is potentially illegal is uploading or supplying the files to be downloaded. Every single lawsuit by the RIAA has been against people who were allowing others to download FROM them. Not one single person has actually been sued for downloading. So download all you want. Just investigate the program you're using, be VERY careful of spyware or other malicious software (for the love of God, stay away from KAZAA), and don't let anyone download off of you. People might not like you for it, but at least you're protecting your own neck.
I think it's wrong to download the free songs from kazaa and limewire, but at the same time, isn't it wrong of the record companies to charge $20 for a freakin CD?
I've used both sites and like matt said, stay away from kazaa if you dont want your computer infected! I don't use either site anymore, not becuase of the right or wrong issue, but becuase of the spyware and stuff from those sites. It's like the spyware was the karmic retribution of getting the free songs. Not worth it. LOL
I also used to download songs on occasion (not in mass like I know some people do). My reasoning is that I just wanted the one song and had no desire to buy the whole album; but now that you can typcially buy singles, I don't see any reason to share files. If you want to listen to the song, pay for it.. otherwise just listen to the radio.
I think you should have raised with the Seven-Two preflop. It would have allowed you to take the pot immediately and not put yourself in a questionable situation later. =0)
Everyone has to eat, so I believe in paying for what you use. To me it's different if a friend says "Hey Yabi, check out this song" and sends me an MP3, than to go and purposely find hundreds of free songs.
What I disagree on is the amount they sell songs for online. A CD contains 15-18 songs, and runs on average $20 from a store. If you purchased the whole album online your paying $15-18 for the album - saving $2. If they would make the individual songs cheaper I would be happy. Why am I only saving $2 when I do not have to pay for a store employee to ring me up, I have no media, no casing, nothing but the song itself. I feel that the cost of such album should be about half of the MSRP if you'd buy it in the store. ($.50 a song instead of $1.00).
With such a discount, I feel more people would legalize their purchases. People spend more then $10 any more at a fast food joint, they can certainly afford to buy the latest album from their favorite band at that price... adult and teenager included.
Sorry for the randomness, late for work LOL.
Post a Comment