[speaking metaphorically]
I’m the person who spent $18 on a cd and packaging that cost less than 50 cents to produce. (that’s a markup of 3600%)
I’m the person who went without meals so I could pay $75 for a ticket to see them live.
I’m the person who bought T-shirts, Box-sets, CD’s, Vinyl, Posters, Anything that had their logo on it and supported them and made them who they are now. I’m the hardcore fan who helped put them in a position to say “well, fuck our real fans. we’re going to do what we like. And what we like is making money.”
The more subtle difference between buying a music cd and a piece of software or an object:
When I buy a program, I buy a license to use the software. That means within some limits, I agree that I can use the software however I like. That also means that, since I paid for the right to use the software, I am also entitled to replacement disks at little or no cost (usually cost of media & shipping) if mine become damaged.
No such right with music. So maybe it’s an object. Let’s see…
If I buy a chair, I can use it wherever I like. I can lend it. I can sit on it, stand on it, work in it, sleep in it, photograph it, modify it, or even duplicate it.
No such right with music. Maybe it’s something else, analogous to great literature, perhaps? Let’s find out…
When I buy a book, I’m not allowed to photocopy significant portions. So maybe we’re onto something. Let’s investigate further: I can lend it. I can borrow it from the library.
Ah, here we run into another snag. The “libraries” are getting sued and the publishers are trying to strong-arm them out of existence.
So apparently, recorded music is unique in all the world and all the published media. The goal is to have everybody listen to it, because otherwise they don’t make money on it. But you have to pay for it before you know what it sounds like, because obviously (if you listen to a top 40 station, you’ll know) quality control would shatter the industry.
I choose to download and listen to songs to see if the song grows on me. If I know I want it, I’ll buy it outright. Otherwise, I will listen to it first. As Dave Grohl said in the link I quoted above, file sharing (besides being the very nature of computing and the internet) is “the same as someone turning on the f****** radio, it’s the same as someone putting a cassette in a cassette deck when the BBC plays a special radio session. I don’t think it’s a crime, it’s been going on for years. It’s the same as people making tapes for each other.”
And I’m not claiming Metallica has no integrity because they make gajillions of dollars. They made shitloads of money before. I’m saying they have no integrity because they changed and dumbed down the quality and content of their music for the reason of making more money, once they were already far better than well-off; trading a loyal following of hardcore fans who were more than willing to part with their dollars (and in fact made the band members into millionaires), for mass-market appeal and alienating the fans who put them in a position to be able to make that decision.
Personally, I don’t like much of anything they’ve done in the last ten years, so I don’t buy OR download their songs. But the question is a philosophical one.
