To buy or not to buy

[Constinator25]

Thought this might be a good discussion. What are your opinions on getting music for free?

[drummer]

Put yourself in the shoes of the company and artists. Can you afford work for free? There's your answer.

[sonorkid]

Put yourself in the shoes of the company and artists. Can you afford work for free? There's your answer.

+1. It's stealing, plain and simple.

sk

[MartyM]

+1 too!

[TxDrummer]

Put yourself in the shoes of the company and artists. Can you afford work for free? There's your answer.

I second that! Once you actually put the labor of love in , you will understand. Ask yourself this one, How many of you go and play at clubs for free? I do at times for benefits, but 99% of the time, I get payed for my playing.

[oaklandrichie]

Put yourself in the shoes of the company and artists. Can you afford work for free? There's your answer.

No, but I can afford to record and publish music for free.

[PHROGGE]

And I SPEAK FROM REAL EXPERIENCE,,,,

DO YOU KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE TO HEAR YERSELF
4 TIMES A WEEK ON DA RADIO 40 YRS LATER?

AND YOU CAN SAY:"WOW DON'T I SOUND LIKE MYSELF"
OR TURN IT OFF AND KNOW YER GONNA HEAR IT AGAIN....REAL SOON...

I HAVE PHRIEND WHO STILL GET RESIDUAL CHECKS
FOR $3.80 4 TIMES A YEAR FOR SOMETHING
THEY RECORDED 40 YRS AGO....

IF YA DID IT,YA DESERVE IT.....

WHAT TOM SAID!!!!!

[oaklandrichie]

Put yourself in the shoes of the company and artists. Can you afford work for free? There's your answer.

That's not a proper analogy in my opinion, since you're only considering one revenue stream. What about live shows, merchandise, etc.? Many artists take advantage of the fact that their music will have wider distribution through free downloads, and build up a larger following as a result.

I actually buy all my music, but I think people tend to overstate the "downloading is stealing" premise. Most of my friends bands just offer free downloads of their music to get more people to go to their shows.

[yohin]

I buy about 95% percent of my music...usually the only time I don't pay for it is if I can't find it to buy anywhere. But honestly, I don't really care if other people pay for their music or not...if they want to do it that's their choice.

[tah821]

i buy about 95% percent of my music...usually the only time i don't pay for it is if i can't find it to buy anywhere. But honestly, i don't really care if other people pay for their music or not...if they want to do it that's their choice.

+1

[drummer]

I buy about 95% percent of my music...usually the only time I don't pay for it is if I can't find it to buy anywhere. But honestly, I don't really care if other people pay for their music or not...if they want to do it that's their choice.

I don't believe in the "live and let live" state of mind. I believe there's right and there's wrong. To understand "right" all you have to do is use the Golden Rule. It answers everything for us.

There's an old saying, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."

[drummer]

That's not a proper analogy in my opinion, since you're only considering one revenue stream. What about live shows, merchandise, etc.? Many artists take advantage of the fact that their music will have wider distribution through free downloads, and build up a larger following as a result.

If a band is offering it for free obviously nobody would be stealing it. You can't steal something that is given away for free.

[BlastinBeats<3]

I buy usually. Now if I'm desperate and I don't have an itunes gift card or I don't own it on CD, I do usually look for a free download. I've never used Frostwire or Limewire. Some forums I've been to even have a free download. So it depends on the situation. I don't like downloading it for free... I have a guilty conscience usually. So, I'll use it for what i need then I'll delete it. I'm kinda a goody 2 shoes bout it.

[Larrysperf]

When we dont have cd anymore then we will say I guess we should have bought it. Music bus. is in trouble because of pirating

[oaktree137]

I buy just about all of my music off itunes or a CD or amazon, really mostly because I want the top notch sound quality that these sources offer

[xweasel]

My sister has bought thousands of dollars worth of CDs... and she's given me copies of all the music. Not sure if that's stealing or not.

For the music that my sister doesn't have, I download. I can't buy stuff online and there's no music shop where I live. It's a lot harder, and more expensive, to buy CDs in New Zealand.

I spend big bucks seeing the artists live and purchasing their T-shirts, usually spending more money than it would have cost to buy their entire discography. Hell, I spent nearly $300 on seeing Dream Theater live last year, and on top of that I bought a $70 DT shirt. Earlier this year I spent over $100 to see the Devin Townsend Project. In May I'm going to see Disturbed, and it costs $91 for a ticket, and I might also buy a shirt.

[Drumbledore]

Put yourself in the shoes of the company and artists. Can you afford work for free? There's your answer.

That's one big reason why I teach, guaranteed payment every time. Unless you're a member of a well established act and you are a paid endorsee (at the top end of town), or on the clinic circuit, or a drummer who happens to write their own songs and lyrics, it's pretty difficult to establish and maintain some sort of regular income. If you're younger, living at home etc, it's easier to say "Oh I give away my music for free...", but after a while, you'll think that is plain nuts! Sure, this is art that some of us do, but for me this is also a trade, a skill, to come up with a rhythm or sound that supports a song. So whenever I'm part of a tune-writing team, I do negotiate a bit harder than others, especially if the rhythm section has come up with a "hook" that is an integral part of the song (that's why I still get a few royalty payments annually.....not much but it's a few dollars in the bank.....APRA? Are you listening?? Lol...don't even get me started about those guys! )

A drum teacher of mine who still works as a sessioneer here in Australia and overseas always says "Pay peanuts....you get performing monkeys!"

[oaklandrichie]

A drum teacher of mine who still works as a sessioneer here in Australia and overseas always says "Pay peanuts....you get performing monkeys!"

I completely disagree. Some of the most important musicians, not to mention artists in general, made very little money for their efforts.

[Kazaamski]

I never received my last paycheck from a previous job. I did not enjoy busting/freezing my *** off and then receiving no compensation for my work. I believe if you want something, pay for it. Just because it costs too much is not a valid excuse. Yeah, you might have a 10000 song library on your computer, and at a buck a song that gets expensive, but you only have 10000 songs because they were free/stolen. If you had to pay for all that music, you wouldn't have nearly as much. You would have been more selective.
Yeah, I'd like to have a bunch of computer games, but I only have a finite amount of money, so I have to be judicious. I could pirate, but, it's not for me.

[jordison515]

Going by Kazaam said, I have a 600 song library. I like all types of music but I only have so many songs by each artist because I buy all of it. I like buying the music because I like supporting the artist. If you, as the artist want it to be free, then deem it so.

[Constinator25]

Going by Kazaam said, I have a 600 song library. I like all types of music but I only have so many songs by each artist because I buy all of it. I like buying the music because I like supporting the artist. If you, as the artist want it to be free, then deem it so.

That's how I used to think until I found out that the little tiny bands that are just barely on iTunes don't really care if you get their music for free because they really don't make much $ off of record companies anyway. The record company really just produces their music and makes them more popular. They'd make more money off of getting their name out there from free downloads. Then they get bigger turn outs at their shows which is $ straight into their pockets.

[Drumbledore]

I never received my last paycheck from a previous job. I did not enjoy busting/freezing my *** off and then receiving no compensation for my work. I believe if you want something, pay for it. Just because it costs too much is not a valid excuse.

Too right, for those of us that are in this for a business it is a business.

[nio]

Hmmm....the problem is instead of the music industry embracing the new technology (ie., internet), they spend most of their time and money prosecuting. The onus is on the music industry to figure out how to put the music out there so that it cannot be downloaded and played unless there is a valid license. Personally, if I hear it on the radio or youtube and I like it, I will buy it as a CD or download and put it on my ipod....but, that's just me. The self-serve model is just not perfect. That is, there will always be a percentage that will take it without paying for it....because there is nothing preventing them from doing so.

Last point, the music industry should take notes from the video game industry. Stealing unlicensed games for XBox 360, GameBoy, PS3 is next to impossible.

[xweasel]

What about musicians who can't buy things online, and there's no record shop in their town? They just have to be without music?

I can't buy stuff online, and the nearest music shop is a bloody two hour drive away. I can't just rely on my sister or brother-in-law to buy CD's of artists I want to hear, because their musical tastes are different to mine.

[Kazaamski]

What about musicians who can't buy things online, and there's no record shop in their town? They just have to be without music?

I can't buy stuff online, and the nearest music shop is a bloody two hour drive away. I can't just rely on my sister or brother-in-law to buy CD's of artists I want to hear, because their musical tastes are different to mine.

You mean Australia has no iTunes or equivalent?