On Tue, 7 Mar 2000, Nub wrote:
quoted 10 lines But if you would normally go out and buy a Squarepusher album
> > But if you would normally go out and buy a Squarepusher album
> > and instead just download the whole thing for free, does Squarepusher
> > get anything for it? No.
>
> i tend to think the opposite way, that Napster (and mp3s in general - this
> is an old debate) introduce people to music they would not otherwise have
> heard, and thus can only be beneficial to the music industry. most people,
> at least the ones on this list, would probably agree that mp3 quality is
> only so good - so if i hear in an mp3 i really like i delete it and go
> look for the CD
I used to agree with this stance wholeheartedly. And yes, I think that
most people on this list (myself included) would do the same thing. I
don't consider MP3s to be a good replacement for "the real thing", and
unless a release is otherwise unavailable (i.e. out of print), I'll go out
and buy the CD/record if I like an MP3.
However - the more I've talked to "normal" people about this issue (i.e.
people who aren't on this list and who don't have the same sort of
obsession about music as most of us do), the more I've come to discover
that a large majority of the people using Napster and other methods of MP3
trading or collection DO consider MP3s to be an adequate substitute to
"real" music formats.
Why do you think college campuses are starting to shut down the Napster
ports on their firewalls? Because college students are downloading entire
albums by artists like Smashing Pumpkins, Oasis, Korn or whoever at an
astounding rate.
Please note that I'm trying to not make a judgement call either way on
this issue. I'm simply making the point that despite the prevailing
attitude on this list that MP3s are good only for (A) giving a taste of an
artist's music before buying the album; or (B) giving people access to out
of print & otherwise unavailable material, MP3s have become accepted in
the "real world" as a viable music medium. And as such, there *is* a
threat to the sales of CDs. Mostly on the major label level, of course,
but I'm sure there are a lot of IDM fans out there who aren't nearly as
"ethical" as most of us.
Greg
--
Greg Clow - greg@stainedproductions.com - greg@feedbackmonitor.com
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158 Close Ave. 2nd Floor - Toronto, Ontario M6K 2V5 - Canada
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