Hi,
This really deserves a reading if u are hosting files

http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,53662,00.html

that was an interesting article, but i think that the conventional music industry is going to go the same way as the 8-track, obsolete. There is not as much need for huge record companies as there used to be because of MP3s etc... and they are going to do everything they can do to prevent the enivitable, cause they like making money. One argument to this might be that it is hurting the artists. And in responce to that i have to say that i dont want to support an artist that is in it for anything except for the art of music. I'm quite sick of all the Jurmain Dupry's and Puff Daddys out there. So all i have to say is fuck the RIAA. Accept the fact that you are becoming obsolete. And i'm gonna continue sharing my files.

But where do the MP3s come from? They are copies of recordings made by those record companies. In the end someone out there has to be recording the music. To some extent the band itself could do it, but that takes a pretty big initial investment which most aren't going to be able to make. Perhaps the future is in more record companies that are smaller, but I don't think we ought to write off the music industry as a whole yet.



So do I


Come on, you can do better then that. There are probably as many artists out there who don't do it for the money as there are sports players who don't do it for the money. Sure they might love it, but something has to put food on the table, and if they could make more money doing something else, how many do you think would keep performing (as something other then a hobby)?

An interesting follow up on this is what the movie studios do. Perhaps they aren't seeing quite the problem yet because not enough people have broadband internet access, but there are an awful lot of pirated movies floating around out there.

Whenever I start to feel sorry for the artists, I remember my days before CD burners. I remember going to a CD store and spending $20 on a fucking CD. If that doesn't make me feel better while I am waiting for my computer to download an entire album, I remember those episodes of MTV Cribs where they wander around a 20 million dollar mansion. That usually does it for me.

If you think that a band is worthy of your money, go buy their albums. I bought the latest Tool album from a record store. I checked one in Rolla, and they tried to sell me the CD for $25, and I told them to go fuck themselves, and I bought it for $15 at Best Buy in St.L.

That article said they experienced a 5% drop in revenues, I guess that is a lot, but our economy isnt doing too well right now either, it is hard to place all the blame onto file sharing when about a hundred other factors influence your decision to drop 20 bucks on a CD. Personally, I think the government and the courts should be focusing all of their energy on Enron and Worldcom. They fucked a whole lot of people, and there needs to be an example made of them. If another big company falls, we are goign to hit another depression rivaling the 30's. I say we have more than enough to worry about than to pay attention to these whiny ass record companies and bands who have been ripping us off ever since I can remember.

If a band wants you to stop feeling sorry for them, they should go on tour and dont charge 60 bucks a ticket to get in. Maybe this frugality of the public will weed out those bands who are less than extrodinary. Fuck 95% of this new rap and fuck pop music. N'Sync and Brittany fans should go to confession for fear of hell for supporting such talentless piece of shit faggets.

Personally, I find it funny and at the same time depressing when I hear a band complain about making only 5 million a year instead of 5.5 million.

These are just my thoughts, and they havent always been popular on here. However, I am right this time.

Jason

They can only charge it if people are paying for it. As long as there are people out there willing to pay $20 for a cd they will charge what they can get for it. I think a bigger gripe might be paying $20 for a cd that has 3 songs that are any good on it. How many cds really are full of songs you actually want?



I really disagree with you there. When you go out job hunting I'll bet one of the top three factors that you will consider is salary and that a bigger salary is better. I think it is awfully difficult to fault people for making money. It isn't like they stole it from someone either. People paid for their cds and concerts and whatever else knowing what they were going to get.



Exactly.



I agree again.



An example of them by doing what? Something that is kind of interesting is that large companies causing their employees to lose their retirement plans isn't really anything new. While it isn't good that it happened, I wonder why so many people were so heavly invested in their own company. Diversity is a pretty basic premise in investing.



You don't really believe that do you?

There is a difference in making money and gouging people. I absolutely agree with you about the quality of albums, there are few albums where each song is as good as all the others. 20 bucks is too much monies.

I am not faulting the artists on making all of that money, but I think there is a huge amount of greed involved. I just personally feel that the groups should realize how much they are getting just for playing music.

Make an example of those fucks by sending them to 20 years at Chino or something. I mean, they bought and sold products that didnt even exist to make their company look better. They lied to people who were invested in their companies and took their money. They have no conscience. I mean, right now, the highest execs of Enron are on an all expense paid trip (courtesy of Enron) to the Bahamas or some place like that. They need to go to Federal Fuck You in the Ass Prison for 20 years.

I do believe that people will stop putting money into the market if another big company falls because of bad bookkeeping. I find it kind of naive if you dont think that is true. The depression was caused by a drop in the stock market. If people are not putting money in, no money can come out.

Well here is my 2 centz.
I think that as far as the music people are concerned, they are just mad because they are not getting to but luv as many people as they want. The artists I think do have a right to make money from their songs, because I (and most other people) sure as hell can’t come up with some of the stuff they do. However, they also are getting screwed by the corps. The corps. are just there to screw any one and all they can. They are the ones behind all the artists suing I bet. When you go buy your $20 cd, they are the ones who get the majority of you money.
As far as the corps. like Enron go, big business has been doing stuff like this for ages. They are there to make money, and that is their bottom line. The only reason these corps. are special, is the screwed important public figures and screwed them hard. So it’s no wonder that they are getting the gov after them. They dared to screw the big guys, not all us small customers or employees. That is why I think we are hearing about them, and I think it is just the straw that is breaking the camels back. We have been getting screwed so long that we are tiered of it, and I don’t think many are going to buy much stock any more. Who knows maybe the business community will wake up and realized they are screwing themselves when they screw us. Till them I’m going to continue trying to minimalize the amount I get screwed. And if another company goes down, well then I think that we will go into a depression. People will not care that multi million dollar corp is going down a drain, because they have been laid off for cheaper Mexican labor

I hear alot of people saying "Those big damn money grubbing companies just want to charge way too much. That is why I share files." Well, I don't believe that. I like to share files because I can give and get for free. It has nothing to do with trying to experience new bands, or getting back at the "Evil Corporations" for charging too much for cds in the past.

Also, Just because they overcharge doesn't mean that people can ignore the services that the the music industry has done. the industry does a service--recording, producing, and distributing the music. In America, when someone does a service, you pay them for it. If you feel that you are being overcharged, you go to another person to do the service. But, these corporations monopolize the market and charge whatever they want. However, that still gives no one the right to take something with rendering the service.

I think people are hiding behind the real truth, that downloading mp3s is stealing. I don't think that can be denied. Services are being done, but no one pays for them because there are no laws to make them pay.

Think about this. If there were, say, cds sitting outside of Walmart. They were not monitored and everyone was guaranteed that they wouldn't get in trouble if they took them and people did take them, would that not be stealing. Though in this scenario, you are not stealing from the music industry, you are stealing from Walmart, the principal is the same--taking something without paying for a service when "free" is obviously not consented. I believe there would be few people who would pass up the free cds at Walmart.

This is why we have punishments for not following the law, to keep people from committing crimes. Once there is a law that is enforced I will stop stealing, but until then I just don't care. I think that is the real contention people have, they just hide behind other arguments.

So, I don't think any corporation is evil for trying to make money. It is their right to do so. It is their right to complain about people stealing. They are doing something that deserves a payment even if they charge too much for it. Though like I said, until I get in trouble for it, I don't care.

Sorry, if I assumed an incorrect posture for anyone out there. If anyone disagrees with me, I would like to hear it.

-jack

My point is that those big companies have been breaking laws and finding ways around them forever. The fact that they companies have been doing things like Enron and Worldcom for ages is entirely irrelevant. And the argument that the only reason these companies got caught is because they are starting to try to screw each other is ridiculous. They have been doing that for years too, why else do we have antitrust laws? They got caught lying about their profits and assests because they had to declare bankruptcy. I know I am going to get some yokel on here telling me that antitrust laws were made to protect the consumer from companies that are trying to control the market. While that is true, it is not the entire truth. Trusts were set up to keep the big companies in power and make a market that would not let a small company compete, thus screwing other companies. And whoever doesnt think that our economy could be on the edge of collapse, the stock market dropped 400 points the other day...

Record label companies are just as corrupt as any other big company. They exploit the artists and take most of the money the artists generate. I am sure there is a lot of under the table stuff that goes on with them too, and there are probably laws that they break. They probably also break laws that there should be, just as the customer breaks the laws there should be about mp3 trading. It pisses me off that the companies use the law only when it benefits them. I say screw them, and I dont care how much money the labels are losing. They screwed me for long enough, now it is my turn. I really do download mp3's to discover new bands, who doesnt? If these arent someone else's reasons for sharing, that doesnt mean that I am lying.

I also wonder if companies are losing money from file sharing or from people outright burning a copy of the cds. Because I only share and download mp3's when I am at school with a high speed connection.

-Jason

The assertion that all big companies are out to screw people or break the law seems like saying that all people break the law. I won't deny that there are big companies out there who break the law, but I think it is unreasonable to assume that all of them are bad.

The idea that downloading MP3s is essentially equivalent to stealing a cd is an interesting one. But really, that idea covers most software in general. People who would never think about stealing a candy bar think nothing of trading software. I have only met one person in my four years here that wouldn't pirate software. Maybe since the odds of getting caught are so low people lose their morals.

I realize that record companies have a history of not treating the artists very well, but I wonder why that doesn't make independent labels more popular. I wouldn't think it would take much of a migration away from major labels to get some reform going.

I dont think that all big companies are evil and theives. I just dont think record companies are all that moral. I mean, look at artists, even they hate the labels. Personally, I think that it is wrong to have the file sharing, but there is no way around it. I was getting free software as soon as we got the internet in our house. As far as mp3 sharing, I am going to keep downloading until they stop us somehow. Personally, I think that the record companies are just going to have to lower their prices to win back some consumers.