Have you tried the new Napster? Pretty damn reasonable, and its still better than paying out the ass for Cds. Plus its all legit.
Umm, cite?
All P2P debate aside, it is true that the RIAA is just one big racketeering organization. $18.99 per CD, and who gets all that money? Certainly not the artist, who earns no more than $0.50 per unit sold, IF THEY’RE LUCKY…and that’s AFTER paying back the cost of the recording session, music videos, etc. BTW that’s the same amount they get since, oh, the mid-70’s I think. And CD’s are far cheaper to produce than vinyl ever was.
What’s really sad is the only people who seem to be upset about it are as ill-spoken and incoherent as the OP, which makes all us Electronic Freedom lovers look bad. Sadder still is that so many musicians, even the starving ones, are so used to sucking the corporate tit that they don’t stand up for themselves – with Janis Ian and Courtney Love being notable exceptions.
It’s nice that the RIAA has finally rolled over and allowed some form legal download service, but like hell I’ll ever use them. Forget all the technical machinations and whatnot, I’m just too damn pissed off over being robbed all these years. Maybe I’ll change my mind if I ever get my check…
You forgot to write “P.S.: I am not a crackpot.”
Ilsa, that was fucking brilliant.
Satan-worshiping metal bands? Let me guess…I’ve slipped thru a hole in time, it’s 1987 and you’re Tipper Gore leading the PMRc, right?
Lay off the exclamation points, dude, you’re gonna give yourself an aneurysm.
Just a couple things…
Ilsa had good points, and I guess for the record, I’ll say that P2P IS one of the best mechanisms ever, I use it constantly, and that’s that.
So, to address some points. 1) I don’t know where the hell you live that CDs are greater than $18.00, but wtf? Circuit City has new CDs for $10; Best Buy usually has something similar. Older CDs are about $13, or you can go to a used shop and pay $5.
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While you’re correct that the quality of videos recorded in theaters on video cameras is abyssmal, you’re forgetting that a lot of movie piracy is occuring with the help of theater staff nowadays. ie-- people who work in the theater that have access to the materials are the ones posting to kazaa and such (I’m thinking LOTR:ROTK, for example).
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DVD copying is not as horrible as you make it out to be; maybe you just don’t know what you’re doing (which, judging from your OP, wouldn’t surprise me). I’m NOT advocating that anyone copy a DVD or distribute such material, but DVD rippers output perfect quality (and why not, a DVD is a digital data representation anyway).
Right, so, I believe the movie industry is losing a lot more than you think. Simultaneously, I believe that CD prices aren’t as outrageous as you claim.
That said, P2P is awesome and-- guess what-- I still buy CDs and contribute otherwise to artists.
I think you should sign it “Lazlo Toth.”
Sonic, you will not get any sympathy with an attitude like you expressed. P2P file sharing has affected the sale of CD’s and increasingly so in the last 3 years. The music industry had better adapt or they are screwed. Don’t buy the damn CDs is the best message that can be sent to these companies.
KGS …great post. Exactly my thinking.
Then you’ll have had it explained to you that the concept of copyright theft (ooh! a modifier? how novel…) has existed for a very long time, and that merely because you choose to apply a stupidly literal interpretation to some word you feel casts your behaviour in too negative a light does not make what you do just fine.
“Woe is us, this concept of non-tangible property is just too hard for us to master; we are doomed to continue taking stuff that is not ours until someone comes up with a suitably distinct word!”
Pfft. What the hell does it matter what we call it? Call it “scrotum” for all I care. You do not own the rights to what you are taking.
I hate the RIAA too, but that’s overly simplistic. The artist shouldn’t get ALL the money. A lot of people are involved in the making of an album and they all have to get paid. People who do the liner notes, legal things, shipping, etc. need money, too.
Sorry, I got sidetracked. Sonic, your letter makes you sound like a giant, shrieking, hysterical numbskull. But I don’t think you’ve given a false impression. No representative will read it unless you’ve bolded and capitalized the phrase “naked teenage whores,” in which case I bet a few will give it a second glance. However, ‘I don’t like this product, so I shouldn’t have to pay for the stuff I do like’ is reasoning only a total dunderhead would even attempt, let alone send to members of Congress.
Oh, and you spelled “losing” wrong. Looser.
You assume that a person needs “rights” in order to make a copy of some digital information.
If it’s obviously owned by someone else, he does.
Well spotted.
Looks like you missed iTunes.
- you can burn a normal CD directly from the downloaded AAC file, then do whatever you want from it. The only restrictions are that you can’t trade the AAC file directly and can’t convert directly to .MP3
- no subscription
- see #1 above
- see #2 above
Songs are $1 each, less than your precious 45s, albums are typically $10, I think.
By my count you used 77 exclamation points in your letter, I think you should have upped it to an even 100, just so they would notice you.
In that we’ve had copyright laws since 1790, based on principles set down in England in 1710, the idea that a person needs “rights” to copy information created by someone else isn’t a particularly new idea. The medium is just different in this case.
Furthermore, Mr2001, it is extremely disingenuous to call a musical composition such as a symphony, or a literary creation such as a novel mere “information.” It would be like harvesting luxury automobiles from parking lots because they are mere “resources,” or pocketing diamonds because they are “rocks,” or killing humans because they are “animals.” The word applies but it is woefully top-tier and vague. Some resources, some rocks, some animals, some information is not the same as the rest.
The details of the War of 1812 is “information.” The 1812 Overture is creation.
When exactly was DAT a threat to the RIAA? DAT is a two track recording medium essentially like cassette. It thrived for a short time only because computer recording technology was not yet up to the task to record, process, and store uncompressed digital tracks. DAT machines are in pawn shops because computers can now handle the task.
So, you think you are slapping the RIAA in the face by downloading free MP3s, eh? I guess if you ignore the crap quality of the MP3 format, ignore the possibility that you miss out on all the little things that come with a purchased cd, such as artwork, lyric sheets, etc., and ignore the fact that Kazaa is a pandora’s box of computer virus exposure, then yeah, you are sticking it to the man.
I think I will just prefer to do it the stupid way: check out a group’s website, listen to sample tracks of all the songs on the cd, and buy direct from the website if so desired.
:rolleyes:
Thanks. You’re not going to start proposing again, are you? :D:D