I'm suprised there isn't a thread on the subject.

So whadda yathink? Is it a crime? Is the music business to blame? is radio the problem?

How do you hear new music if you can't find it any other way? If you end up buying the CD after sampling a bit of it (for free).....what's wrong with that?
Alot of CD's suck and turn out to be a waste of money.

Until they drop the absurb CD prices here, I am only buying the absolutely amazing, kick donkey CDs. 20€ is way too much to ask for 80 minutes of music, that usually ends up mostly sucking anyway.

Downloading MP3's isn't quite illegal, it's not legal, but not illegal. And as long as that loophole exists, I'm downloading like a m'fer.

me too.


besides, like I said, if I really like the stuff, I'll buy it after i know what i'm getting. I like to read about bands. so, i want to hear what i'm reading about.


if they sound cool, i download...especially if i nebver heard of them. i think it offers alot of bands that no one heard of an opportunity to be heard

the riaa isn't helping. people have been hacking , then downloading using other people's IP's....how can they do that?


more rancid...less blink 182

Yes its a crime. Its like walking off the newsstand with a magazine.

I bet you lsiten to Chicago

But if you use P2P software (Kazaa, Morpheus...), the problem is who to hold responsible. The software does not control what is put online, that is up to the users, and the amount of users is so huge that prosecution across so many countries would be absurd, for just a couple of mp3s in most cases.

I usually buy the best CD's anyway, and I do surf around the cheap CDs section and occasionally make great finds. For less than 6€ I got four CD's that actually, for the most part, were really good.

I love the bargain bins...I have such weird taste that i almost always find something.


PLUS....I write reviews for a website, and they send me about eight free CD's a month

I still miss vinyl though

The government has recently made it pretty clear that unauthorized downloading of copyrighted material for free is illegal. But it's still so "easy" to get away with that people use that as a justification for doing it. The success of all the pay sites that have popped up like Rhapsody and i-tunes is direct evidence that people are finally realizing that downloading is illegal.

The way I look at it, it's kinda like looting. The advent of the internet did to the music industry what the L.A. riots did to the small businesses of that area - they opened the floodgates to people being able to just grab what they wanted, and as long as there weren't enough cops to nab them, they kept on doing it.

The argument that it's the labels' fault is ridiculous. That's just a cop-out rationalization that people use to try to divert the attention from their own responsibility. Sure, the labels exploit artists to line their exectutives' pockets - it's a BUSINESS - this is America and that's what all employers do to their workers. It's a system, and plenty of minimally talented artists (Britney Spears, BSB, etc.) have used it to their OWN advantage and it's worked out quite well for them, hasn't it? Believe me, downloading has made the labels wake up to their greedy excesses, and don't worry, the lessons they're learning are going to change things forever.

CD prices too high? Do you have any idea how much it costs to produce a record, shoot several videos for it, and then advertise and promote it worldwide? Hey, I think $23 is alot to pay for a new book (which costs much less than a CD to actually produce), but are people robbing bookstores left and right to fight the publishers? No, because obviously it's not as easy to get away with that... it's the ease of the crime that makes the difference here, so that argumet doesn't fly.

How do you hear new music if you "can't find it any other way?" I don't know, word of mouth, satellite radio, checking out bands' websites - the last I checked most artists' websites have samples you can download, obviously legally.

Now I know since the going rate of a legal single-track download is about a buck (.89 - .99), the "crime" we're talking about is not grand theft auto - more like stealing a pack of gum from the drugstore. But it's gotten so out of control that it's *f*'d up the whole industry, and the bottom line is artists need to get paid for their work, just like anybody else, or they can't survive.

Individual-song downloading from pay sites is clearly the direction everything's heading, and for now the best solution for both sides - industry and consumer. People need to have a little integrity and stop using the P2P's that are looting the music industry. Go ahead support your favorite bands, even make copies for your friends, but don't be sharing with the whole world what isn't rightfully yours to share.

It is expensive to make a CD, but not as expensive as they charge for CDs. Right now, for a brand spaking new MTV top 20 CD (which I wouldn't buy, but for the sake of the argument) would cost me 23€, here in Helsinki. Say I wait a few weeks/months, 18-20€. Say, I go to Germany (instantaneously), then around 17-19€. Say, I go to the USA (instantaneously), roughly 17-19$!
End situation:

Original: 28$
End: 17-19$
None of them are selling for at a loss, as the CD is still new. Sure there are middle men, and the price is getting hiked up constantly, but somewhere along the line I'm getting screwed.

Also the online sales are proving that there is a significant price hike on the way. As you say, a song goes for 1$, I'll buy the whole album (roughly 11-13 tracks). That would cost 11-13$, now that is quite a difference to the 28$ I payed for the same songs, a decorated CD, a CD case, with nice photos and credits. They need to market the songs online as well, so marketing can't make such a huge difference. Online, stores are replaced by webspace and their operation. Granted that's not a equal transition, but once again somewhere there is a considerable price increase.

I would pay for music online, but like dmann, my taste in music is better suited for at the cheap CD section. (You can't find it online)