Politics Downloading Music

[White_Rabbit]

A long time ago, when I began to download music, I used programs like Kazaa and WinMX. I later realized how wrong that was.

Not only are these programs illegal because users of them do not pay for the songs, the files have viruses on them. Just as you or anyone is sitting at their computer and download a music file, someone has been sitting at theirs uploading that file, and they can encode any type of virus they want that can totally screw up your computer to the point where there's no fixing it (which is what happened to my old one, which is why I have a new one). It doesn't have to say (for example):Usher-Burn (TROJAN HORSE VIRUS INCLUDED). It just says (for example): Usher-Burn. Because of the uploaders on Kazaa, over 80,000 files on my computer (not just music files) were corrupted with viruses.

Think about it. When you go out to the store to buy a record or a single, most of that money is going to the people who worked hard making that record or single. When you download songs for free, that's cheating the people who worked. It's the same as someone stealing your paycheck.

With legal programs, it's a lot safer and a lot better. For instance, with iTunes (which is what I use), you get the following: a free conscious, free mosaic labels for CD's that you can burn, that are really cool and have the album covers of the songs you burned on a cd, the ability to publish playlists onto the official iTunes music store that people can purchase knowing it was your masterpiece, the guarantee that there are no viruses on the songs because it comes straight from the record company itself (because you will be paying for the songs-just 99c each song), and no limited deals. Just 99c per song. Hey, it beats committing a crime.

 

[Itz da MT]

Kazaa is legal in Holland

 

[White_Rabbit]

do you pay for kazaa in Holland?

 

[the_alliance]

that just shows that downloading music is not only illegal but also damaging. i think the artists should get paid for their work, but do they need to be paid that much?

 

[G$f3arl3ssG$]

that just shows that downloading music is not only illegal but also damaging. i think the artists should get paid for their work, but do they need to be paid that much?

yea seriously. when you think about how many millions they make and you look around at the people who are struggling to get by on low income, it just feels so wrong.

 

[White_Rabbit]

wat do u mean feels wrong? the fact that people are downloading illegally? if so, yeah, because the reason they get all those millions is because people buy their music. by getting it for free, it's taking that away. so its not like this is some extra thing that they don't need. it is all those millions that you're talking about.

there are so many reasons, not to mention the benefits you get with legal downloads and no viruses.

 

[G$f3arl3ssG$]

maybe people just don't have the money to pay for $20 bucks a CD. if they want to risk downloading music at the expense of viruses, then it's their choice. i've been downloading "illegally" for 4 years and it's saved me so much money. most of the songs that artists put on their CD's are fillers with only a couple good songs. why should you pay so much for a CD that's not even worth it?

 

[A Dark Turn]

maybe people just don't have the money to pay for $20 bucks a CD. if they want to risk downloading music at the expense of viruses, then it's their choice. i've been downloading "illegally" for 4 years and it's saved me so much money. most of the songs that artists put on their CD's are fillers with only a couple good songs. why should you pay so much for a CD that's not even worth it?

Damn. I could not have said it better myself. $18 to $20 for a crappy CD that I only want to hear one song on...it's a waste. I'm not saying that I, personally, illegally download songs, but I definitely think that record companies should rethink their pricing strategies.

Seriously.

 

[VaughnFan13]

that just shows that downloading music is not only illegal but also damaging. i think the artists should get paid for their work, but do they need to be paid that much?

yea seriously. when you think about how many millions they make and you look around at the people who are struggling to get by on low income, it just feels so wrong.

So you should just take away their money? just because they happen to have more than others, you should rip them off? should you also do this with other rich people? They work for their money, just as you do. They also have to pay for recording studios, mangers, bodyguards, etc. Do you need to pay for all of that? No? Well, how do you think they afford it? By using the money they earn.

I know downloading music is wrong, and it does hurt the artist, but I still do it. Yeah, I know, I know...the whole speech up there ^ might've convinced you that I don't download. But I do. Not because I think a CD is too expensive, which, if you really like the music, you will spend the extra money, and if you don't have the moeny, then you just can't buy the CD. Do you really need to buy the newest CD of your favorite group? Do you? I can understand what those who say they only like one or two songs are saying, but still, that music was created by the artist. It is still their work. And they still deserve to be paid for it. And like the person who started this thread stated, there are other, legal ways of getting the song you want. Personally, I download to see if I like an artist enough to buy their album. When I decide I do, I don't go to Kazaa or anything to just take their album. No, I wait until I have enough money to go buy the album and support the artist.

 

[SecretAgentMan]

i usually download music off of Kazaa and WinMX. I was big into downloading back in the Napster days.

 

[White_Rabbit]

maybe people just don't have the money to pay for $20 bucks a CD. if they want to risk downloading music at the expense of viruses, then it's their choice. i've been downloading "illegally" for 4 years and it's saved me so much money. most of the songs that artists put on their CD's are fillers with only a couple good songs. why should you pay so much for a CD that's not even worth it?

yea, and that problem can be solved by legal downloading too, obviously. u think you have to buy the whole cd with legal downloading? just like illegal downloads, you can download one song if you want from a cd. but unlike illegal downloads, you pay for it like you're supposed to. you might as well be taking the records off the shelves. And iTunes isn't for rich ritzy people. If it's 99c per song, how can it be? You download as many as you want. If you only have a certain amount of money that you can spend on music, then that's that. But it's not like legal downloading programs make you buy the whole cd.

Btw, you can buy the whole cd with iTunes, and the ones that you see in the store as $18 or $20, are $9.99

 

[SpongeBobSquarePants]

I "think" downloading is legal in Canada but not uploading....not sure though.
I do download from Kazaa, once Morpheus but changed. I rarely download anything and when I do it's generally classical so I'm not stealling from the artist since they're dead


~~Spongy!

 

[MVhunny]

i wanna say its ok...but i know its not.

the only thing ill say is that downloading music doesnt stop me from buying the cds. i think thats the only reason i didnt stop downloading music. i dont really anymore just cuz theres nothing i really want, but i still buy cds all the time.

 

[Sark218]

I think it's wrong to download illegaly. I use iTunes. Not only is it legal, there are a ton of features for it.

 

[White_Rabbit]

not surprisingly, i completely agree with you, Sark218.

 

[Double Agent]

maybe people just don't have the money to pay for $20 bucks a CD. if they want to risk downloading music at the expense of viruses, then it's their choice. most of the songs that artists put on their CD's are fillers with only a couple good songs. why should you pay so much for a CD that's not even worth it?

EXACTLY!!!!! why pay so much money for like 2 good songs and a bunch of felgercarb?!?
it is legal in canada now i believe. and it is just like the judge in the whole trial said.. (paraphrasing.. lol) "downloading music for free is just like having a photocopier in a library." and its true. when you photocopy from a book, are you not taking copyrighted material? and yes, the library may have charges, but they are only for the use of paper and the photocopier itself, believe me, i work in a library. so what is going to happen next? photocopying at a library will be illegal?
it is ridiculous! if you are a good artist, who makes a cd WORTH buying at 20+ dollars, then people will buy it. god what are these multi-millionaires complaining about? how much money do you have exactly? i'm sorry you can afford all the cds you want. not all of us can.
notice how it is only some artists who care. it is because they know that half their cds are just filler, and aren't worth $20. the good artists trust their fans to buy the cd if they want it. because it means something to them. the people who whine about illegal downloading are just money hungry. yeah boo-f*cking-hoo.

 

[Double Agent]

and the other thing is, half the time i will download a bunch of songs and then decide that i want the whole cd. so really, kazaa and such are making artists money. especially for artists who aren't mainstream, but even for artists who are.

 

[OneFishTwoFish]

and the other thing is, half the time i will download a bunch of songs and then decide that i want the whole cd. so really, kazaa and such are making artists money. especially for artists who aren't mainstream, but even for artists who are.

Thats what I do too. And who cares if they lose money. So instead of getting $10 million they are going to get $6 million I feel so sorry for them[sarcasm].

 

[VaughnFan13]

and the other thing is, half the time i will download a bunch of songs and then decide that i want the whole cd. so really, kazaa and such are making artists money. especially for artists who aren't mainstream, but even for artists who are.

Thats what I do too. And who cares if they lose money. So instead of getting $10 million they are going to get $6 million I feel so sorry for them[sarcasm].

So just because they earn more money than others, it's ok to rip them off?

 

[G$f3arl3ssG$]

we're not ripping them off. usually, people experiment with a couple songs on the album and when they feel convinced it's good enough, they'll buy the entire CD. at least in that way, it gives the buyers more groundwork to decide if they like the stuff or not. yea, i know some stores let u listen to the CD but i mean does anyone really have the time to stand there for 1 or 2 hours to listen? sometimes, it might take days before a song really grows attached to you (or you grow attached to it, whatever )

as for legal downloading @ 99cents, some people are not too keen on paying any amount of money whatsoever. i mean, the radio doesn't seem to charge people for the music they play right? someone can just easily copy a song from the radio, so is that "illegal"?

also: are we ripping the artists off, or are they ripping us off? i don't know when it became such a mandatory thing that music has to be bought to be enjoyed. i thought these artists were making music for the sake of music b/c they happened to claim that they love to make music (and all that nonsense). and now they go around charging people pantsless for concerts and all? they're just greedy.