Music piracy is the new black.

@olisaur (1922)
United States
June 16, 2010 2:59pm CST
The other day, I started a discussion about iTunes. I was really dismayed when just about all the responses I got were saying something like "Buying from iTunes is wasting money; there's too many places where you can get music for free." Music Piracy is not cool. There are so many musical artists that put a lot of effort and heartfelt-ness into their music. It should not be stolen. I mean, how would you like it if people just took something you worked extremely hard on? I admit, I don't have a perfect record when it comes to downloading, but I buy music and go to concerts whenever I can afford it. I suppose some people would argue that big music stars get payed too much anyway, so downloading won't hurt. That's so not true for all artists. Downloading could kill the music-recording industry; it's affected it profoundly already.
1 person likes this
6 responses
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
16 Jun 10
Unless the artist says "during the period of so and so until so and so," or "I am giving this song away free," it is not right to download songs and not pay for it. True I know it would be a bother when the song costs 99 cents, but I am sure if one waits until he wants to pay for enough songs to make it worthwhile on his credit card, he can do so. It also gives the idea that taking something from a creative person is all right, because they are doing it for love, but never take something from a business person. Pay for it. It saves a lot of hassle.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
21 Jun 10
thank you. I cannot understand why people think that music is not work or drawing or writing for that matter. and why it is all right to risk getting a virus by downloading it and I suppose there are some who will put it on a Cd along with others and sell it .
1 person likes this
@olisaur (1922)
• United States
16 Jun 10
That's a really good point. People think it's ok to take things from certain people, but not others; even though it all taking.
2 people like this
@laratri (253)
• India
17 Jun 10
hi Suspenseful... I really like your discussions.... Really it's good...
1 person likes this
@kingparker (9673)
• United States
16 Jun 10
Yeah, you are right. Still, many people are doing it, because no one wants to pay. It is a trend, and people after people, they continue to do it.
1 person likes this
@Hmouse20 (132)
16 Jun 10
It's a sad truth... :(
1 person likes this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
26 Jun 10
That's the excuse I've heard. Some people at work were all bragging about movies they had bought cheap pirated copies of and how much better it was to do this rather than paying full price because full price is too expensive. When I pointed out that piracy of CDs & DVDs was illegal I was told ...it's not illegal because everyone does it. This is the mentality these days...if everyone does it, it is not considered theft. What is the world coming to?
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
18 Jun 10
I agree. "Piracy" is stealing no matter what excuse you come up with. No matter which argument I use, people who find ways to unlawfully download music won't change their minds. They will steal music at the same time they tell me it's wrong for someone to steal money from them. They can't seem to be able to make the connection and think all musicians with cds out are rich. I think it's because we've become an entitlement society where people think they deserve things and should not have to earn them.
@Hmouse20 (132)
16 Jun 10
I've had quite a few conversations about this in my daily life... and I find that people pretend to be ignorant with regard to this topic! It makes me quite angry because they download their favourite songs by their favourite artists and think that they're somehow supporting them? It's rediculous. I mean, if you like someone's music and you'd like to own a copy of it, then you should pay them for it. How else do they carry on touring etc. It's like going to their concert etc. without buying tickets and thinking that you haven't stolen money from the act. I guess there aren't enough punishments for downloading music illegally... ?? Or is it that people don't really care about the industry like you say? Have we become that "cyber-ized" that we don't consider the people behind the industry. We always see the final product in music, and not the work and creative elements which go into making it happen. Such a shame. Thanks for posting anyway... good subject to talk about!
@olisaur (1922)
• United States
16 Jun 10
Thanks for the response! :D I think people are just being greedy and ignorant; I'm sure a lot of them have no idea how much effort goes into the music-making process. I also think it's just too hard to track down the illegal downloaders. There's so mnay of them and it's really easy tobe annonymous on the internet.
@Hmouse20 (132)
17 Jun 10
Hey Oli, You're right (again) about the annonymous nature of the internet. I guess we all have this cyber world where people can't really track us down. Therefore why not be a downloader of music for free? it's sad. And yeah you can't possible prosecute that many people right? i mean it would be a logistical nightmare. They'd have to litigate the entire world in 20 different languages at least! Can imagine the administration behind that bad boy! lol.
• United States
19 Jun 10
You have all provided good reasons for why music should not be stolen. It is an intellectual property and is recorded by artists that give us a "good" which we should pay for. But I'd like to suggest a different perspective on what a "good" is and what it's become in the technological age. A "good" used to be a material possession, food, clothings and tools. Now that things are becoming more and more digitized, a lot of what we consume in terms of information is through the internet. All these pieces types of media is stored as data. We're not really listening to the artist but rather a reconstruction of data from speakers. Though this maybe a very hard and blunt look at music, I know. The internet is a place of free expression and access to a lot of content offered mostly for free. Innovation has been driven because of this type of open source ideal. Since things are free, people are able to share content more easily. Might they be able to share music like this too?
19 Jun 10
Hi Olisaur, the whole music piracy thing is causing many producers I know a nightmare. I have actually developed a tool which is aimed at bands and producers to allow them to protect their music. I just hope it helps heal this problem! www.audiolock.net I would be interested to get feedback from anyone who has the time to try it out (it is currently free).