Nice one.

The rich corporations make up a horror story about how the world will be without music if you stop them making profits. Film companies did it about vhs, music companies did it about both tapes and mp3s. Insurance companies do it about public health option... and media parrot the story.

It's all just FUD from people afraid to lose profits.

A whole load of awesome in there.

Dan Bull is always awesome

I'm actually going to disagree here. Stealing music and the lost proceeds does hurt people, but not the ones you typically think about. Fuck the Madonnas and Britneys - they really aren't hurting if you bit torrent yourself an entire MP3 library (or home tape the radio) However, there are hundreds of other artists and technicians who have a direct stake in the sales. How about the composers? Somebody writes all the trash that the pop stars sing, and you can bet the amount of artistic input from most the actual performers is next to nothing. Instead, the composer is counting on his 7 cents (literally) from each CD sale with his song included on it (remember, most songs don't get radio play time so radio royalties, which are paltry anyway, can't be counted on). Same goes for the nameless sound engineers, recording techs, and session musicians who count on a healthy industry.

Also, I don't think the implied comparison between home taping and modern digital formats is a fair comparisons for a number of reasons.

1 - When home blank tapes came on the market, I believe that the recording industry did negotiate a royalty deal whereby they received a small portion of every blank tape sale - this helped cover the record sales losses. However, nobody is receiving a royalty payment for every "blank MP3" that is distributed.

2 - Taping the Top 40 off the radio is inherently messy - shorter tracks, announcers cutting in, commercials, etc.... There is still a very clear incentive to go buy your favorite artists for the higher audio quality free of distractions. However, MP3 reproduction is pretty darn perfect with very little quality loss - - save me the reply about MP3 quality vs loss-less formats.....the average listener can't hear and doesn't care.

3 - Also, only 1 or 2 tracks from an album may receive radio play time - if you are taping from the radio, it is nearly impossible to get an album recorded. However, in under 5 minutes I can have any album I want, in its entirety, on MP3, and an entire artists' library is not out of the question.

Now, I am not saying the recording industry isn't shit stupid for their resistance to digital media for so long, and I'm not saying they aren't complete ass holes for suing college kids for more money than they will ever earn because they put their MP3 collection up on Napster. Also, I know the whole argument that having access to free music will encourage someone to go out and actually buy the albums they like. However, the numbers don't lie - CDs sales are tumbling, and the lost revenue is not made up for through legal digital sales. Plain and simple, it is stealing, and there are a lot more (middle class and nameless) people counting on a paycheck from RCA than simply the front man recording "artists." Yes, if the industry finally gets its act together, they could offer legitimately compelling digital sales, but until then, the little man shouldn't pay the price for record executive dip-shittery.

>> ^rosser99:

1 - When home blank tapes came on the market, I believe that the recording industry did negotiate a royalty deal whereby they received a small portion of every blank tape sale - this helped cover the record sales losses. However, nobody is receiving a royalty payment for every "blank MP3" that is distributed.


Maybe in your country.

In Canada they extended the levy to blank CDs and even mp3 players I understand. Hence you don't see the same ridiculous lawsuits in Canada you see in the US.

@rosser99

I think it's impractical to think about it as right and wrong anymore. File sharing isn't going away, policing the internet is never going to be plausible or practical, lawsuits are a drop in the ocean and the measures they're using now with having ISPs in certain countries such as France disconnect you on a 3 strikes rule are bound to be circumvented in one form or another. I mean sure, you can have opinions on it either way, but moral arguments won't change the state of things. The real question should be how should the industry adapt?

What record companies should be doing is slimming down by moving towards internet distribution and promotion, and casting a wider net by relying less on one-hit wonders and more to catering to a broad range of niche audiences that they're losing by the throng. Instead they're going in the opposite direction.

I remember reading a thread in a popular music file-sharing hub by an ex-recording industry professional that back-catalogues and collectors editions are where the real dough is made. Many of the 'artists' (I use the term loosely) will be forgotten and never heard of by the end of the year. Plunging sales have meant that record companies have become more concerned with making the quick buck, extract the one hit, and move on. As a result the vast majority of artists are simply not able to develop their musical talent on big-name record companies over time because they're passed on for the next big hit. Similarly bands that are selected and promoted are the ones that have the most broad and banal appeal. You know, the ones that sound like every generic hip-hop song you've heard in last 3 years, the ones that have strippers prancing around during the entire video clip. The problem is, there's a sizable group of people who no longer have any interest in laying down money for this disposable music.

The successful ones are also generally bled dry nowadays. It used to be that live performances and merchandise profits were entirely or mostly in the purview of the artist, now that record companies are having their purse strings tightening, they're extending their contracts to include chips out of these earnings too. It'll be hard to tell what this environment will eventually lead to in terms of mainstream music progression. I think it's inevitable though that the likes of iTunes (which has more or less already adopted this model) will begin to dominate. Perhaps at that point we will see some kind of turning point.

As far as I'm concerned the ability to sample music has meant that I've been able to discover some great bands, and had the opportunity to buy their albums (I tend to buy in 10+ bulk orders every so often) and otherwise support them by going to see their shows. It has also meant that I've only paid good money for albums that stand the test of time and have been able to support bands that genuinely need the monetary support to continue their endeavor rather than reward big-name labels for their exorbitant ad campaigns.

So YEAH! I challenge you to read all that

I haven't bought a record since I paid $18.99 for Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP.

You think I'm going to dish out hundreds of dollars a year to here the latest music? Sorry... I'm not a sony CEO.

Maybe the record label cartels should pay their composers more then 7 goddamn cents per copy sold? And the artists? How much do they make per copy sold? 25 cents? 1 dollar? Where does the rest go?

It goes to the label. And what's the labels job? From my understanding the label's job is to call the music store and say hey this is good, put it on your shelf. So essentially without the record labels the artists wouldn't be on any shelves. Oh wait... we don't even need shelves anymore.

I'd gladly screw Britney Spears out of a dollar if I can screw Sony Music Entertainment out of 10 dollars.

Furthermore, these are evil corporations who stand ONLY for profit. So why should I not stand only for profit? It's disgusting. All these corporations who can never be held morally or legally resposible for anything they do and who operate *SOLELY* for profit now are crying, literally crying because of the apathy of the consumer when it comes to piracy.

I do wish I could make a contribution to some artists. Eminem for example. I'd love to send him 20$ for his hard work.