scarbeste

Mp3 Music - Why Pay?

After reading a Itunes.com Press Release which claims that Itunes has sold over 5 billion songs, it got me thinking....

My first reaction was to think the numbers were false. I mean seriously, 5 billion songs is a f'n outrageous number! That's nearly a song for every person on earth. Personally, I have never purchased a song online - and I never will. Not because of ideology - rather because the same music can be found for free, and I am not in the habit of paying for things that I can get for free.

I haven't even been to a record store in over 6 years. The only CD's I've purchased we're blank ones. I never thought I was any different than anybody else. So is this Itunes.com press release real? Could it be that I really am different than the rest of the world?

Im curious to know if your the type of person who purchases music online? If so - Why do you pay?

Seriously, you can just as easily go to any various Free MP3 Search Engine and download the music for free. I mean what pushes you to waste good money on something you can get for free?

Kudos to the Itunes / Apple marketing people. They have proven that it is more than possible in this word to sell 'ice to eskimos'. :)

Forum Mods - I'm sorry if this was posted in the wrong section.

TisEkard

Well let's see here. This is a trumpet forum, so you are on the wrong website. And as for the stealing of music that you do, I don't agree with it. I could easily go to a store and steal a pack of gum, but I don't do that. I am the type of person who buys music, #1 I like to support the artist, and #2 I enjoy reading the notes and seeing all of the people who worked on the album. Sadly most people don't agree with me, and they do what you do: just download it for free. So like the film industry, its going down the tubes. Music is just becoming a disposable art, that lots of people have no appreciation for anymore. But, do what you wish.

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brem

Let's face it, most people have done at one point or another what I call "music sharing", albeit on tape support, CD, or mp3 through the Web. When you're young, you have limited access to mullah, so you go the easy route to get access to your music. But the real question is: "Does it hurt the artist or does it help him/her spread the word?"

I think a bit of both.

Although kids will "steal" music, they usually will spend a great deal of money to attend shows at venues. So in a sense, if they spent their money on the music, they might not have it to attend the shows. I'm not condoning the act, just trying to put things into perspective.

Also, I hate how some people will cry and shout against piracy when they themselves can't even sell one effing record. :)

I now have a steady job and I do buy CDs from the bands I like, but I also enjoy their freebies on Websites such as myspace.

So I'm a good citizen now.

brem

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brem
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MJ

Interesting discussion Scar. I hope you don't mind if I deleted your link!

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brem

One thing iTunes did do right is make the access to individual tunes easy and at a reasonable price. Marketing people will tell you, what's the real money maker here is the "long tail", which is all those small bands who have small exposure. All those 1$ here and there add up to quite a lot in the end.

But does iTunes actually help the artists? How much of the colour of this money do they even see?

I think the record industry is long due for an overhaul to better share revenues and take more risks.

Long live Indie labels :)

brem

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brem
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NYTC Stage 1 California Light - Schilke 15B mpc
Bach Stradivarius Bb Model 37 * #124xxx (circa 1975) - Schilke 15B mpc
Yamaha YFH-731 Flugelhorn #000xxx - Yamaha 14F4-GP mpc

Decentplayer

Just because he gets it for free, doesn't mean he steals it. Have you ever heard of Peer to Peer sharing. It's a program you have and you meet other people and exchange files, music etc that ppl already have on their computer. I rip songs from my own existing cd collection. I have alot of the songs I want already, so now need to download it.

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brem

DecentPlayer: yeah, you and I would call it sharing, but "artists" will call it stealing. And they are passing bills in the parliaments to make you a criminal. The cookie jar is about to be sealed.

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brem
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NYTC Stage 1 California Light - Schilke 15B mpc
Bach Stradivarius Bb Model 37 * #124xxx (circa 1975) - Schilke 15B mpc
Yamaha YFH-731 Flugelhorn #000xxx - Yamaha 14F4-GP mpc

cloudnine

My policy: I buy music from artists that are still alive.

However, if they're dead, I don't really have much of a problem in taking the music for free. Even then, a lot of the stuff is impossible to find on P2P networks so I end up buying it anyway.

Trumpet guy

I have never downloaded illegal free music.

Are you talking about dead people, like classical composers, or like more recent people.

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cloudnine

I'm talking about more recent people (since I'm mostly into jazz).

I'd buy a classical CD, since it supports the musicians/ensembles playing the music.