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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | DanAbnrml9@aol.com |
| Subject | Re: Here's the Low Down on Owsley |
| Date | Wed, 19 Feb 2003 08:13:57 EST |
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In a message dated 2/19/03 2:05:43 AM Eastern Standard Time,
synchro1@ix.netcom.com writes:
> Instead, I am interested in the moral argument that justifies taking a
> copy of the work of an artist/craftsmen that was not purchased but was
> clearly intended for purchase because it wouldn't have been purchased in
> the first place. I have a hard time calling this anything other than
> theft. And it matters not what the "industry" has or has not done,
> morality is not really very dependant on the attitude of either the victim
> or the offender.
>
I really don't think you can completely ignore the link. Like many here, my
mp3 collection consists primarily of rare stuff (bsides, live material,
soundtrack cuts) that I can't necessarily just buy. There are also some radio
singles from albums I don't care to own.
Why isn't it stealing? It boils completely down to perception, and I feel
that the record industry's perception of what MP3s are is wrong. They see
them as a replacement for CDs, and they see people like me as people who are
stealing their product without paying for it. However, given the fact that I
haven't heard a song on the radio and then run out to buy the CD in, I dunno,
I would say at least 5 years, MP3s have become my radio. I download songs to
listen to them and see if I like them. Many of them get deleted before they
move out of my root directory. They are the way in which I now sample music.
If I like it, I always buy it.. no question. Therefore, no, I'm not stealing
the music... this is the way in which I HEAR the music. And if I like it, I
buy it. Just like radio.
The problem, I think, is that the record industry fails to realize this; that
their best customers have been locked out of the ability to find good, new
music. Granted, there are plenty of people who download instead of buy (I'm
often tempted to, since the economy has hit me to the point where I can't
even really afford to buy CDs at all anymore... I'm mostly selling them off),
and that's a different story.
<< I think everyone is very afraid that we are heading into a full fledged
war
with Iraq - gas prices are high, and the CD and Entertainment money is
going right into the gas tank, groceries, paying bills and for safekeeping.
>>
I think sales at my record store are down something like 20% from last year,
and last year they were down 20% from the year before. But a big part of it
is the blockbuster releases. Do you realize that Eminem was responsible for
more than 10 million CDs sold last year, between his new studio album, the 8
Mile soundtrack, and his back catalog? Love him or hate him, he's propping
the industry up right now. His protege, 50 Cent, whose CD is astonishingly
awful, just released his debut album and it became the #1 selling debut album
of all time in first week sales. By contrast, rock's new hopes were quite
humble. The Strokes sold 800,000 copies of their album, the White Stripes are
at about 600,000 now I believe. I don't think the Hives or the Vines have yet
gone gold. Anyway, a big part of this point is that it's those *blockbuster*
releases that make all the difference... it might not have as much to do with
people like us who are fairly steady music consumers but who buy varied items
that don't tend to come up on radar.
<< Am I the only one here that buys *used* CD's? >>
And now you've hit on the real reason why the industry would consider me a
theif. I do buy most of my CDs used nowadays, both because there have been
few CDs I felt I *had* to *run out* and buy and because the money's tight. My
store didn't used to sell used CDs, now they make up a massive portion of our
business.
How do I justify this? I always thought it was pretty cut-and-dried. When you
go to the store and drop your money for a CD, you are PAID UP for that copy.
You have paid everyone who needs to be paid, and that CD belongs to you. That
doesn't give you the right to go make a pressing plant, but that disc itself
is your property and thus you can buy, sell, and trade it at will since the
royalties etc on that copy of the disc have been settled up. I can't justify
the same for promos, etc., and in fact our store doesn't buy/sell them though
that's largely because we're just big enough of a chain that we'd get in
pretty big trouble.
But I agree in that this is a major factor behind lesser CD sales, and I also
don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. The industry has a proven track
record of not caring about their customers, and many many CDs are just one or
two good songs padded with tons of filler. People should have some recourse,
or at least some way to trade it in and get something they like.
--Jason
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