Downloading, immoral theft or a right?

Do you believe you should be able to file share freely? How has the explosion of myspace and streaming free music via myspace, spotifyu etc changed your eprception of music?
When was the last time you bought a CD single?

Downloading illegally is immoral and yes it is stealing. That's not to say I don't do it. I don't pay for anything really except Enter Shikari CD's and stuff. I'm starting to pay for stuff since I've got a little bit of money now. There isn't really an excuse for illegally downloading considering there is places like 7Digital and iTunes, not to mention HMV and all the other places you could buy physical. I've got a couple of vinyls and CD's but not alot. DVD's I get online, same with programs.

I only buy CD's for my favourite bands. ES, Muse etc. And many a time I have downloaded an album, absolutely loved it and then bought it straight after. Nothing beats ripping tracks at 320kbps imo.

I basically pay for all music now since I got a job and my lime wire stopped working ha. Even when I did use lime wire it was only to download a few tracks of each artist, never like full albums. If I wanted the full album I would just go out and buy it because I prefer physical over digital any day.

ChumbaWumba91 wrote:I only buy CD's for my favourite bands. ES, Muse etc. And many a time I have downloaded an album, absolutely loved it and then bought it straight after. Nothing beats ripping tracks at 320kbps imo.

Except ripping at V0 with EAC, and saving a fuckload of HDD space whilst maintaining premier quality.

Audiophiles'R'Us.

All about a 320!

But in all seriousness, I'm not in a financial situation were i can afford to buy every album I like.

So I buy all my favourite bands albums, Download the ones I just fancy a listening to, If I enjoy it a lot I will go out to buy it.

I go to a lot of my favourite bands gigs as well, and buy their merch. This is normally where bands make their money anyway, due to their record label holding the rights for the music.

check out his other open letter to lily allen about illegal music downloading too

I think it is wrong and I don't do it. I see why people do though and a few songs here and there isn't too bad, but people shouldn't do it chronically. And I buy a lot of CDs.

I see it as fair use.

Not a fan of just downloading everything and not supporting any type of industry. If I download a film, I will go out and buy that on DVD when I have money and do what I please with that; I download an album, I'll try to see the band live and buy merch.

yeah, i download alot of music, i buy vinyl now, even though alot of it isnt going to the band cause i'm buying it second hand on ebay or whatever, there's still the new stuff i buy directly from bands.
i obviously buy all ES' stuff.

but i think i pay alot of bands back in seeing them live and buying merch. seen as i go to a fuck load of gigs.

leeburgess wrote:yeah, i download alot of music, i buy vinyl now, even though alot of it isnt going to the band cause i'm buying it second hand on ebay or whatever, there's still the new stuff i buy directly from bands.
i obviously buy all ES' stuff.

but i think i pay alot of bands back in seeing them live and buying merch. seen as i go to a fuck load of gigs.

This is the right way to go about it, most bands will make more money if people come see them on tour and buy their merch.

I think downloading music is fair, there's absolutely no way that I would be able to afford to buy all the music I listen to, just buying CDs of my favourite bands. It allows me to find out about a bunch of new bands which in turn means i'll end up going to their gigs/buying their merch, which kinda balances out the money lost from downloading the music for free.

I can understand downloading a few songs and such but there's a line.

I don't personally do it mainly because I like supporting bands I listen to. I don't get the chances others do when it comes to seeing them on tour/ buying stuff online so I figure its the only way to go.

not gonna lie, i've probably only paid for about a tenth of what's on my ipod. most of the bands i listen to would probably say they don't care if their music is paid for - they just want it to be heard (i've actually got a good h-willz quote on that angle somewhere, because i did an article on this very issue towards my higher english in 5th year). there's no way i could afford to pay for all the music i want to listen to and have in my pocket, but that doesn't make me any less of a music lover. i go and see a lot of music live (i think i'll have spent about £700 this year on gigs and getting to them etc) and i think that helps justify it.

the last music i paid for was TBO's beijing cocktail EP on itunes earlier tonight, only because the torrent site i use doesn't have it. the last physical i bought must have been paramore's brand new eyes last september (and even then i'd had the leak for a few days).

I think downloading is alright. A LOT of people do it for a reason, to discover new music. I know there's spotify, lastfm etc, and I use those. But I just think it's much easier to download an album and have it all neatly organised in iTunes.
I wouldn't have heard of way over about 3/4 of my itunes if it wasn't for downloading. I buy a lot of merch and cds when I think it's worth it. (mostly my favourite bands). I don't wanna be buying cd's I haven't heard beforehand.. they're too expensive to be doing that!
Movies on the other hand i'm starting to slowly go off downloading them. If I download a movie I WILL buy it in the shops/online after i've seen it if it's available. BUT a lot of my favourite movies (mostly woody allen films) aren't available on dvd therefore downloading has enabled me to see more of his incredible work.

I'm poor as fuck, therefore I can't/don't buy much music. I'd say I've bought less than 2% of my music.

FUCK DA SYSTEM \m/

i go and watch movies i know are in the cinema, if i've heard good things about it. but my favourite movies now are all wayyy old (eg bananas by woody allen - 1971...)

I still don't own Take to the Skies or The Zone on CD...

Should I be shot?

EDIT: Out of curiosity I went through my iTunes library to see how much music I'd actually paid for either digitally or own on CD or have gone halfs with a mate or whatever. 288 out of 4368 (6.59%) of my iTunes library is legally paid for.. so I guess I should start buying more music!

I only really buy ES stuff. And A7X too. I have a handful of albums I've had bought for me and stuff but the majority of my iTunes is downloaded.
But like everyone else is saying I probably pay it back through gigs and merch and that.

I mostly legally download stuff from Amazon or Spotify now, or just listen to it on Spotify if it's not the sort of thing I want to listen to out and about. That said, I'm in my mid twenties and I've got enough disposable income to do that, and it wasn't the case when I was a young'un.

I'd only download something illegally now if I couldn't get it easily elsewhere, like obscure bands I liked that broke up before the internet was big, or demos and rarities, or bands that don't like to put their stuff online like the Beatles. I refuse to install sodding Itunes just to get Beatles stuff, cause that bit of software is like the annoying kid at school who wants to get picked first to do everything.

I'm on the same boat as everyone else, there's no way I could afford all the music that I like, I mainly use Spotify to listen to new albums though and I only really buy dubstep remixes off itunes because its the best sound quality and I buy everything Enter Shikari and We are the Ocean release since they're both my favourite bands, I still haven't got round to buying We are the Oceans new album yet though but I do intend on buying it when I have the money.

I do download music, but I buy a lot of CD's.I like to have something there that I paid for, and that I can look at. Im trying to stop downloading music too.

Iv also realised that just because a song doesnt have a physical prescence, it is still an article that belongs to someone. No one would walk into HMV and put a cd up their jumper, so why do it over the internet? If I came into your house and said "I quite like your tv, Im taking it" you wouldnt be happy.

This is stopping labels develop artists, its stopping them being able to invest in new artists and its also bankrupting smaller (and, in the case of EMI, potentially a massive major)labels. It means artists cant recoup their advance, leading to them being dropped, and fading out, or not being able to tour your town because they, and the label have no money.

Another side is when you hear people giving it "Ohh i have 20,000 songs on my ipod". And? The readily availability of music, and how quickly artists are having to churn out generic, shit repetetive tripe is ruining music. You hear of decades of music- the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. Along comes downloading and we'v had fads of dance, nu metal, r n b, indie and now dub/dnb in ten years. Music is being churned out and theres literally nothing that will be looked upon in 20 years time as a "classic". Theres just far too music coming far too quickly.

I tend to use Spotify to check out loads of new album releases, but as I don't use it on my prehistoric brick of an iPod I do download illegally. But like everyone else, I buy merch and go to shows because of it.

When I've got cash I do like buying CDs.

I'm just gonna give my 2 pence here.

I don't really have much money so if want to discover new bands the only way i can do that is to watch music channels but that ain't my thing tbh. I only buy albums (digital or hard copies) if i really like a band because that means i'll probs listen every song from the album and like it. That way the album will be worth my money xD Maybe it's because i'm a bit of a cheapskate but moving on. If i never illegally got Shikari's stuff, in the first place, i would have never become a fan.
So far, I've done my bit to support them by buying Destabilise legally and seeing one of their gigs but i'm planning on slowly building up a collection of mech and CD's. So in a way file-sharing has helped people who don't have much money spend their money on who they deem deserves it the most.
Rant Over

Camyroon