Quote :

"i'd have to ask you to look into that further. A lot of the more independent labels have actually seen an increase in revenue (once again, a drop in disc sales but an increase in revenue). "

Doh . I tried to edit it out before someone could respond.

I'm willing to consider that maybe piracy has been a slight boon for small, independent labels who rely on merch and shows to generate revenue. However, I'm skeptical as to whether that business model can be applied to the portion of the industry that relies on legacy bands, non-toured albums and complilation discs.

6/22/2009 10:58:40 AM

I will say as somebody who went from dial-up in HS to NCSU and ResNet in the fall of 2000 right when Napster really started hitting big, I learned a LOT more about music from downloading random stuff. I went to shows at Cats Cradle and elsewhere because of those songs I had downloaded, and would have NEVER heard these bands without that exposure. I lived in a small town with one record store and no radio but country stations.

Now the pirated content isn't such a big deal to me. With things like Myspace Music, Youtube, Slacker, and XM that I use regularly, I don't need to download music illegally to enjoy it and get exposure to music I would have never discovered 10 years ago. But I will definitely say that I have supported artists financially because of pirated content that I would have not had the first clue about before. And I was not a frequent purchaser of CDs before, but I haven't bought a music CD in probably a decade.

6/22/2009 12:46:23 PM

Lumex said:

Quote :

"I'm willing to consider that maybe piracy has been a slight boon for small, independent labels who rely on merch and shows to generate revenue. However, I'm skeptical as to whether that business model can be applied to the portion of the industry that relies on legacy bands, non-toured albums and complilation discs."

Fuck that portion of the industry.

[Edited on June 22, 2009 at 1:15 PM. Reason : LEARN YOUR CRAZYCODE!]

6/22/2009 1:15:31 PM

Quote :

"Considering the massive decline in overall record sales"

How about crappy music from contemporary artists aka Nickelback, Coldplay, Boy Band Garbage, and GaGa whatever the fuck taht is.
Combine this with unrealistic CD prices of $17.99 new and lame synthetic "popular" artists created through programs such at American idol. No wonder people end up "pirating their music.

Quote :

"Very few businesses except for perhaps the mafia have tried the approach of publicly threatening and destroying the customer's life and had much success. "

ya the only other orgainizations I can think of are the government and big banking.

Quote :

"What we need to do is outlaw Playstation. That's what's really cutting into music sales. "

and DVDs.

Quote :

"at our last CD release show in 2007, we sold quite a few CDs..however in contrast, we sold twice as many tshirts (for the same price as the album). Sure I assumed that a lot of those kids had a leaked copy of our album that didnt buy it but were buying shirts, but you know what? Without that leaked copy, some of those kids wouldnt have paid to go to the show, and then paid to get a shirt. "

This is very true. RIAA is just mad their poppie crap i.e. Britteny Spears and Friends relies on CDs and the occasional show that sells $400 tickets for their revenue.



No matter what is said about artists losing CD sells and local CD stores closing their doors; the reality is the only benefit of the RIAA lawsuits
is the executive board of the RIAA is getting big bounses so they can by a new 7-series BMW and lawyers hired by the RIAA.

[Edited on June 22, 2009 at 2:15 PM. Reason : f]

6/22/2009 2:15:27 PM

Quote :

"If your cellphone has a musical ringtone, step back and appreciate it the next time a friend dials you—according to the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, you're listening to a performance. In the latest sign of just how confusing the music licensing system is, ASCAP is suing AT&T over the carrier's sale of musical ringtones, looking for a cut of the revenue—even though the carrier is already paying for the download rights to these tunes. In a recent filing unearthed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, ASCAP says that download payments aren't enough because each ring constitutes a performance."

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/06/ringing-up-cash-ascap-suing-att-for-ringtone-performance.ars

6/22/2009 3:21:49 PM

Quote :

"while it's hard to prove that downloading put labels and artist out of business, it's pretty clear that illegal downloading led to the fast demise of many music retail stores. i remember before napster, record/CD stores on Hillsborough St. would be packed for big new releases...after Napster, they'd be empty as people had already downloaded the albums. while i'm pretty sure itunes and pay-per-download sites would have put most retail stores out of business eventually, illegal downloads DEFINITELY accelerated the process."

Is it also not possible that the quality of the music itself declined during this period, too, making people far less likely to shell out 20 bux for the new album when there was only going to be one or two songs they wanted in the first place? If that is the case, then maybe, just maybe, the seeds of destruction were sewn long ago and Napster just provided the water and sunlight.

6/23/2009 6:56:22 PM

Quote :

"when there was only going to be one or two songs they wanted in the first place"

6/23/2009 10:07:58 PM

music has not gotten shittier. there has and will always be shitty mainstream music.

6/23/2009 11:10:14 PM

Quote :

"someone that steals a shirt from a store typically doesn't mass produce the shirt and give it away for free"

If only.

Perhaps someday the species will distribute abundance rather than manufacturing scarcity.

6/24/2009 2:33:22 AM