To follow...
quoted 18 lines Not to argue or be a bitch, but>Not to argue or be a bitch, but
>which is better:
>1) Someone who never hears of a certain artist and thus never buys thier
>CDs, or hears of but still doesn't
>2) Someone who downloads a file of that artist's stuff, or even an album's
>worth of files, and listens and likes but still doesn't buy.
>
>I'm not sure, but it's not like the artist is losing any sales, maybe.
>Now i had an mp3 of Tobin's remix of Sakamoto on myhd for a long time, and
>i dug it some, but i never went out to buy it. Then i saw it used for
>cheap, so i purchased. Is that any better?
>
>Sharing mp3s on the net seems to me much less harmful than buying used CDs
>and promos, but no one complains about that. Half of the CDs i buy are
>used, and that's usually how i decide what to buy: "Can i find it cheap?" I
>know that when i buy used CDs, the artist gets no more money than
>she/he/they would otherwise, but i still feel no remorse for buying used
>CDs. should i? And if so, why doesn't the RIAA crack down on that?
A used CD was at least bought once and some money went to the artist and
the label, and then sold once more, maybe a few more times at the most. A
CD that is bought once and then put online for tons of people to burn is
fucked. The used CD market is barely an issue, as the way I see it is
most people who sell CDs turn around and use that money to buy more
music. Sure there are promos that get sold, but that's more of an
exception, plus promos that have been sent from a label are already
written off. The point of all this is that we're dealing with artists who
sell well but not loads, so everythings counts when it comes to them
being able to get out their next record.
Some other things in regards to digital downloading that I forgot to put
in original post...
As it stands now it might be cheaper to put all your music on line and
sell for like $.99 a track or something. But soon enough as things get
bigger with overhead, keeping up with the new software (in the 'real
world' a new format comes up every few years, in the 'computer
world'...), compitation, etc... all of a sudden you've become the same as
a label with a distributor and you're right back to where you started
(having to pay approx.$15 a CD)...except no one leaves their house
anymore and you have some sub-standard downloaded version without all the
artwork and cool packaging. With a few exceptions, there are 2 kinds of
people in the music industry. People with talent who can make wicked
tunes, and people with a business sense who know who to get the stuff out
there. I can't make a decent tune, and most of our artists wouldn't know
where to begin in regards to selling their own music (or they would have
to spend so much time doing it, there music would start to suck)...so
either way you're looking at having to build up a base of people to
compete...so all of a sudden you're stuck running a label, not just
popping some tunes on the internet (good if you have the time, but....)
Okay, and my biggest problem.... The rise of online buying dictates you
either have to have a credit card or spend a lot of time at the bank.
This is still highly inconvenient for most people. So someones going to
invent some sort of virtual cash debit card kind of thing eventually.
Before you know it, paper money is obsolete and government and marketing
groups know absolutly everything you do know because they can trace your
every buying move. I'm not involved in anything sketchy, but I still
don't want people to know that much about me. Watch as you get thousands
of junk e-mails from companies similiar to the one you just spent money
at. Ever see what happens to your home mail box after you buy a TV or
some other hi-ticket item on your credit card. It's no coincidence.
Alright, I'm done venting....
Jeff