Downloading Music

Maybe if musicians stopped bending over and taking it up the *** from big record companies, more people would be inclined to support them. But we aren't paying YOU, the musician. We are paying your record company. Who wants to pay those guys? They've *** up music again and again.

I used to use Jamglue till they made themselves completely *** useless.

The fact of the matter is, Bands still put out sub-par albums every year (sometimes even twice a year) They can obviously afford to do it or they wouldn't.

Blow me.

I really just buy my music, I think that if it benefits the artist its good. I mean if I made something I would want people to get it legitimately. Do I think its wrong? Not really I mean the technology is there to "archive" your music but in the end with no one really enforcing it, theres not going to be an end to stealing music.

Not as easy as it initially sounds. Recording and producing music requires equipment that is potentially very expensive if you want top-quality sound (thankfully as technology improves prices are dropping). You then have to split your time between making music, PR, jumping through legal hoops, and dealing with finances. Going to a large company gives you access to resources you probably couldn't otherwise tap.

Night knows, his avatar is a guy with a guitar.

You must be listening to the wrong music :P

Sure, if your goal in life is to be rich, and not put out music you're 100% satisfied with.

Gotta make a living somehow.

Hey the albums I actually buy are good.

But that's the reason I download most albums these days.

Well if that's the case, it makes me even more adamant to download.

There's a difference between "making a living" and "living the fantasy life."

If your goal is to be a household name worldwide, be featured on MTV Cribs, and "party like a rock star," then by all means, sign that big fat record contract. Sell yourself and your music out for studio time in a prime NYC studio and a big name producer.

Only a very small amount of musicians have major record contracts. The vast majority of musicians on iTunes, Rhapsody, etc do not.

So refusing to pay for all online music, just because you hate the recording industry, only ensures that the recording industry continues to be perceived as necessary for success.

I don't buy it because I'm a tight-wad with money.

I buy all my albums on cd, not just to help the musicians but from a collecters point of view too. Also if its music i really love i like to ACTUALLY have it :o

Actually, I did say I support the bands I truly enjoy by buying their CDs. I'll also attend their concerts, and once in a while, I'll buy a t-shirt.

But I refuse to pay top dollar for an entire album by bands who recycle the same ***over and over again.

All bands eventually come out with a 'Greatest Hits' or 'Master Collection' I'll buy a CD when they come out with "Music Master Collection" every song on one disc.

Theres also a difference between lady gaga and Tool for example

Lady Gaga dresses funny, and I'd jump at the chance to nail her. Tool, not so much.

I pay for music just because it's so much easier.

I click one button in iTunes and I have not just the track at a known high quality, but all the track info, the album art, and it then syncs smoothly through to my iPhone, car player, laptop, iPad, etc, all automatically.

I don't even need to be at a computer. I can pull it all down over the air wherever I am, at any time.

I don't need to torrent, don't need to search, don't need to keep deflecting viruses, don't need to organize it all on my computer. Don't need to remember whatever it was I heard and liked until I get home.

The convenience and ease is easily worth $0.99 to me.

Then again, most of the music I listen to does not have major record companies or labels behind it. I'm a classical buff, small bands, jazz, etc. People who really need the money badly, and who get almost all of what I pay.

iTunes reads your mind, brah?

Yes, actually. The Genius recommendations tend to be eerily spot on.

Uh-huh..

I'm amazed, you're even more jaded than I am.

My idea of comfortable living requires less than 50k a year. Add a bit more to that to support a family should I end up a breadwinner, but honestly I neither need nor want much; the "fantasy life" holds no interest for me. Nonetheless, the reality is that my best shot at making that much would be to sign with a label. Not necessarily a major label, just somebody who can get my name or the name of the band I'm in out there enough that I at least have a shot at making enough money to get by while I focus on doing what I love: making music. My tastes largely run counter to what sells, so it's not like my music would fly off the shelf.

I'm not talking about the big time, and you bet your *** I'd rather leave the industry than sell out. I'm talking about signing just so I can make enough money that I don't have to go back to a "real" job. Real is in quotes because most people don't understand just how much in the way of blood, sweat, and tears goes into an honest production.

Still, I don't have to search around, is my point. I don't have to look for an active torrent, find a decent one, download it, unzip it, add it to the library, format all its tags, find album art for it, manually move it to all my mobile devices, etc.

One step: open iTunes, put in name, click Buy. The end. From anywhere.

Easily worth $0.99 given that entire process would likely take me 10-15 minutes by hand.

You make it sound like torrent is so much different and harder than downloading from Itunes. Oh and pretty much any time you torrent something you will get all that info. And if you are downloading say discographies or CDs even most hte time you will get alot more. Not sure what you mean by constantly deflecting viruses. I've never had a problem with the torrent sites I use.

On top of that some of the stuff I download isn't as popular and well I tend to download discographies to see what I like instead of just the super popular stuff that gets all the play time. So just doing 1 discography at $.99 a song adds up really friggin fast. Hell at that rate it might be cheaper just to actually buy the actually CDs.

Then theres the fact that I can easily send the stuff I download to friends and such. Oh yeah and of course the benefit of not having to use Itunes lol

I don't know about iTunes, but Pandora's been spot on 99% of the time with their choices. If it's a similar system, I would take their recommendations myself.

^ another reason I pay whenever possible. I won't deny I've downloaded without paying, but I make a point of either paying for the music as soon as possible or removing it from my library if I'm not satisfied.