Watch out they're coming for you...

[Spriggan]

ahh but Metalica lets you download their albums from thier site for a few bucks cheeper then the CD. Even though they say it's not for money, moneys a driving factor there.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Of course it's about money. money and control. What else do you think the music industry is about?

[Spriggan]

here's how the music industry should of handled it:

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=128854

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

"...the answer will be to offer them a compelling legitimate alternative, not telling them to behave themselves." Nice to hear that one of the industries is out there listening to someone.

However, the tagline "Movies. They're worth it." Is kind of... well, friggin' stupid.

[EUOL]

I don't think that movies will ever have the problem that music does.  A couple of reasons.  First, people really enjoy the movie-going experience.  You just can't replace the theater, even with a free download.  Second, though more subtle, I don't think that people see movies as being a rip off the way they view music.  People know how the record companies have been inflating prices (like charging more for CD's than tapes) and screwing over their own artists.  The record companies have a kind of Microsoft feel, and people see themselves as Robin Hood type noble thieves when they download music.

That isn't to say that movies won't take a hit from illegal downloading, I just don't think it will be as potentially destructive to the business.

[Lieutenant Kije]

I say America needs to take control of its music habits.  The more people decide they need the songs the industry produces, the more they subject themselves to the recording companies' whims.  

I often have to step back and say to myself "hey - I don't need this."  It may be a little sacrifice, but it's worth it being musically/mentally/spiritually/emotionally/financially free from any corporate entity.

Don't get me wrong - I think music is a beautiful thing and it should be a part of our lives.  Especially the Young Fresh Fellows.

So burn, don't burn, whine, don't whine, whatever.  Just don't divest yourself of control.

I'm crawling back into my hole now.  **scramble scramble**

[Entsuropi]

Yes... the demon corporations are taking control of us spiritually through the music of Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera...

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

downloading may be "potentially dangerous" to the music industry. But it is a fact that the music industry started their current problems long before downloading became any sort of issue.

[Lieutenant Kije]

I'm no conspiracy theorist, Entropy, but there is a little bit of truth to every joke...

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

that and 97% of other statistics are made up.

But not the monky one. That stat is TRUE

[Fellfrosch]

What about the joke about the guy who went all the way to Belgium for a belgian waffle? Or the one about knowing there's an elephant in your fridge because there's footsteps in the butter. There's not any truth in that.

[Lieutenant Kije]

Man, I get elephant footsteps in my butter all the time.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

it's not the footprints you should be worrying about. It's when they poop.

[JP Dogberry]

Ok. All information should be free. All information wants to be free. Music is information. Therefore, I take the typical geek stance that Music sharing is a right. In fact, it is our responsibility and duty to the artists to download their music.

That said though, most commercial music has sold out anyway. Once a group signs a deal, they tend not to be as good, since they're making music not for enjoyment, but because they have to. Being locked into the contract means they have to write X number of songs, and so they just think of what they're doing, and write some underdeveloped lyrics about it over a typical beat. This certainly accounts for the amount of music about sitting under a tree smoking a bong....

Seriously, on the internet there are heaps of amateur music sites, which are legal and really really good. Between a few nerdcore rappers and OverClocked ReMix, I have nine cd's of Mp3 music. Almost all of it is free, and its all very good.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

1) The "information wants to be free" argument makes no sense logically, legally, or even emotionally. i have no idea what it's appeal is other than it justifies behavior without thought. This comes from a heavy music downloader.

2) The contract system is more fair than it's ever been. Companies do a heck of a lot of work marketing and manufacturing CDs for artists, arranging tours, etc. Try doing it yourself and see how far you get. The artists still tend to get rich.  Maybe it's still not equitable, but we tend to forget how much work these companies do. And even if it were as unequitable as you make it sound (and writing x number of songs hardly sounds oppressive) that still doesn't justify song downloading.