Are you an evil MP3 downloader?

[EsmeraldaX]

I have a passion for music but if I can't afford it at the time I want it, than I'm not going to get it.

Ah, but what if it's really old and the company that you'd be paying for it refuses to make it legally available to you?

 

[chadfromdallas]

It's the same thing as walking into a store and eating a bag of chips and than setting it down again.

Think more of it as stealing a grape(one song off one cd) than a whole bag of chips

 

[PrincessTeddyBear]

Jenn,

Really! Wow I definatly wouldn't mind $6 or $9. Around here they are usually closer to $18!! This is horrible to admit, it really is but I won't download religious music without paying for it. I know, I know like there is a difference...thats so wrong of me!! I bought my Casting Crowns CD. Thats pathetic, I know!!

$18? Wow. Most CDs are 13 around here - if you go to Target or such. Best Buy is much more expensive. I will admit I buy CDs for my friends in Canada where CD prices are higher and ship them to them...is that illegal?

 

[Beauty]

Well I admitted it was pathetic

 

[WDWHound]

I'm willing to bet you've probably lost more money to freeware that can do the same for free.

I've noticed that if you look hard enough, there is a freeware program out there for whatever you want/need done.

There is a good list on this thread if anyone is needing one:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=33&threadid=997283&enterthread=y

And if someone wants to give their song away for free, more power to them. Just don't steal from those who want to charge for their product. BTW: if you think the products I write can be found for free, you would be wrong. I have nothing against freeware. Lots of it is good stuff, but the software that I had stolen was aimed at a very specific market (Ironically, it was used for Burglar and fire alarm monitoring). Its was very specialized and involved huge amounts of research into the communication protocols used by all the monitoring devices of the day. However, The clients who bought it were very cheap (security central stations run a very low profit margin), so they would make copies and give it to their buddys in the business for $50. This trend eventually put my employer out of business.

 

[PrincessTeddyBear]

Ah, but what if it's really old and the company that you'd be paying for it refuses to make it legally available to you?

I've been known to buy music internationally than. Case in point - I could not find the Ghostbusters II soundtrack anywhere in the US on CD for the longest time so I had it imported from a German music store that happened to carry it.

 

[PrincessTeddyBear]

Think more of it as stealing a grape(one song off one cd) than a whole bag of chips

So you take a grape off grapes too? You're depriving someone of all their grapes. Seriously, I will buy a CD for one song, copy it to my computer and than sell the CD on eBay or half.com. It's really rare though because once I listen to the CD, I fall in love with all the songs or at least most of them.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I've been known to buy music internationally than. Case in point - I could not find the Ghostbusters II soundtrack anywhere in the US on CD for the longest time so I had it imported from a German music store that happened to carry it.

And if it's not available internationally?

You know if you are buying something secondhand, the only one profiting off it is the secondhand dealer, right?

 

[JoeThaNo1Stunna]

I've been known to buy music internationally than. Case in point - I could not find the Ghostbusters II soundtrack anywhere in the US on CD for the longest time so I had it imported from a German music store that happened to carry it.

Then you have much more more than the typical person in your demographic range.

 

[WDWHound]

Ah, but what if it's really old and the company that you'd be paying for it refuses to make it legally available to you?

Thats the delima. I used to download in this case because there was no way to buy it. Problem is, I came to understand that as much as I want a song, I don't have a right to it unless the company who owns the copyright grants me that right. If they choose not to make a song available, I don't have the right to get it anyway just because I want it. In short, they have the right to tell me I cant have it by simply not selling it. I have no idea why they would do so, but they have that right.

 

[JoeThaNo1Stunna]

Thats the delima. I used to download in this case because there was no way to buy it. Problem is, I came to understand that as much as I want a song, I don't have a right to it unless the company who owns the copyright grants me that right. If they choose not to make a song available, I don't have the right to get it anyway just because I want it. In short, they have the right to tell me I cant have it by simply not selling it. I have no idea why they would do so, but they have that right.

Then you better go after the folks on here who bought bootlegged versions of Song of the South because they couldn't buy it anywhere else.

 

[PrincessTeddyBear]

And if it's not available internationally?

You know if you are buying something secondhand, the only one profiting off it is the secondhand dealer, right?

Well, it was a music store and it came in the original packaging so it wasn't secondhand but yes, I know the only one who profits is a secondhand dealer.

As for if I can't find it internationally, than I don't get it. *shrugs* Means I wasn't meant to have the song.

 

[MouseClubMom]

I don't think they deserve it, but its not hurting them to the point where they are going bankrupt anytime soon, that is for sure.

That $6 bottle of water and the many $50 tickets to concerts I've gone to will be covering my mp3 downloading

Chad - there are several record labels in various stages of bankruptcy now. Yes they are still operating but they have slashed jobs, merged with other labels and dropped artists to try to stay afloat.

The $6 bottle of water goes to the venue not the artist or label. The ticket price covers the cost of the venue and the overhead. Very few artists make a dime from the ticket sales - most of their income comes from merchandise sales.

Burn songs illegally and you are messing with my livelihood. I take it a bit personally.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Well, it was a music store and it came in the original packaging so it wasn't secondhand but yes, I know the only one who profits is a secondhand dealer.

As for if I can't find it internationally, than I don't get it. *shrugs* Means I wasn't meant to have the song.

I used to work in a secondhand cd store. We used to get unopened, out of print cds all the time...

 

[WDWHound]

Then you better go after the folks on here who bought bootlegged versions of Song of the South because they couldn't buy it anywhere else.

Yup. \Look, I'm no saint. I admit I have done this sort of downloading (when no commercial copy is available) before. I also admit that these cases is less cut and dried than downloading commercially available tunes. Still, techcnically the exampl;e you gave is a crime, though perhps a victomless one. I might see this as closer to the speeding example given earlier.

 

[chadfromdallas]

most of their income comes from merchandise sales.

Well then , they shouldn't be poor anytime soon with those shirts selling for $30 a peice.

They've probably made well over 300-400 off those alone in my lifetime.

 

[Teejay32]

This is horrible to admit, it really is but I won't download religious music without paying for it. I know, I know like there is a difference...thats so wrong of me!!

That's not bad at all. I used to use KaZaa for Christmas carols.


- Teejay, legal downloader since 2003

 

[Papa Deuce]

And you can go to a Tower Records, Silver Platters, or Virgin Records and listen to all the content for free. I'm not sure your point.

Simple. Generally speaking people read a book one time but listen to music maybe hunderds of times. Once you have read the book there is very little chance you will shell out $8 - $35 to buy it.

With music it is much more likely that you will buy it because you want it for multiple listenings.

 

[Danvers]

 

[swtnikki]

I used to. Then I met my dear fiance, who has about 200 or so cd's. Add that to the 2,500 cd's that his sister & brother-in-law has, so I can copy the cd's that I want for myself. I do copy audio books on cd though *Harry Potter, Redwall series, etc.* 'cause it'll save me like $30 - $40 per set.