Amadd wrote on Mar 14^th, 2013 at 5:44pm:



For myself, as a consumer, I'm not interested in downloading music at all.

I listen to complete albums from start to finish, not a variety of artists put on shuffle.

Plus, I like to be able to hold a CD and flick through the booklet inside the case.  It's all part of the musical experience for me.

Is downloading for free stealing from the artist?  Yes, it probably is, but some artists don't mind: it often leads to the consumer buying other products from the artist and/or attending live shows.

greggerypeccary wrote on Mar 14^th, 2013 at 6:03pm:


I can understand liking to hold the cd and have something tangible which enhances the experience. For those of us who remember LP's, it was even better, however, nowhere near as good as it is today.

Today you can listen to bands, watch movies, etc. that you may have otherwise not..if not for the price.

If there is a band or artist who sounds interesting, it's possible  to download everything they've ever done, read up on their biography, watch interviews with them, see where they're playing, read what others say about them...all in the time it would've taken to drive to a record store.
That's far better than holding a piece of vinyl and having to store it away somewhere IMO.

Also, a lot of bands are very experimental. That usually means that there will be two, one, or maybe even no likeable tracks on an album. If prices were relative today to an old LP record, eg: "The Wall", we'd probably be paying upwards of $100 in today's terms. (Ok that one was a double)
Not many bands can churn out albums which are worth paying that sort of money for, so maybe today's conditions allow for more creativity rather than less.
Of course, the artists, sound engineers, etc. need and deserve to be paid (like itunes) otherwise they won't be able to eat..and if they don't eat, they don't poo... 

... wrote on Mar 14^th, 2013 at 7:41pm:


Yeah you can do that with a bit of computer wizardry 

Well given that tracks are often made available as teasers to encourage listeners to buy the whole album, it's not as simple and clearcut as it used to be.

You can always go with apps like Banshee which makes music by relatively unknown artists available for free or donation. (If you like the track you can buy the whole CD for a small charge. I see that Banshee is now available as an Alpha on Windoze too, although it originated on Linux. Rhythm box is another good app. It's probably already available on Android.

I use it for my classical music collection. Some of it is woeful, but some is excellent. I see that Amarok is also available on Windoze.
http://alternativeto.net/software/rhythmbox/?platform=windows

Quote:


It's not 'fair use' if the material you have downloaded is from an unauthorised third party and that material is meant for sale.

You can't go and download software, music, media and use it for its original purpose and call it 'fair use' just because you're not profitting from it - that's not what 'fair use' is about here.

'fair use' is pretty much just making backup copies of media youve purchased - downloading stuff that is normally for sale and evading that purchase price, even if it's for personal use is pretty much a huge no no - and rightly so.

... wrote on Mar 14^th, 2013 at 7:41pm:



Yeah, sure.

However, as I said: "I like to be able to hold a CD and flick through the booklet inside the case.  It's all part of the musical experience for me."

I suppose I could burn the downloaded songs onto a CD, put it in a case and print my own little booklet.   

Nah, I'll just keep buying CDs.   

And in my car, of course, I'll keep playing my 8-track tapes.   

Its a simple case of the provider not catering to the market.

For example, I'll be donwloading the complete third season of Game of Thrones - starting today. Do I feel bad? Not at all.

The problem is that the market is for on-demand, but the industry continues to refuse to adjust to that demand. So if I wanted to watch GoT "legally", I would either have to purchase the pay TV channel that is allowed to air it or wait till the DVD box set is out.

F*ck that. What an absurdity, when there is nothing stopping HBO from a technical point of view from providing the series to me directly on demand through the internet. I would happily pay a premium if such a service existed. However it does not - yet the so called "pirates" have filled that market, and enabled me to see the series by a simple click of a mouse button.

Its simple, pirating exists because there is a market for it. If the industry is too stupid to cater for that market, then they only have themselves to blame.