Millions chose torrents over Radiohead's own site

[Stripey]

true dat. but even if it was my full time job, i would like to think i wouldnt be like "goddamn, stop downloading my music" because surely people are still making enough to cope while their music also gets downloaded heaps as well.

True, the only people that really "suffer" from illegal downloads are massive mainstream labels who expect millions in income off the new justin timberlake album.

[Guest treader.]

you could always employ the flood of red line:

"if you like what you hear, we have tshirts"

[Stripey]

Music isn't your main job though.

If music is your main job, and your stuff getting downloaded is causing you to be pennyless, I'd say that means you're not very good at your job. Moaning that the public doesn't want to buy your product anymore (as the record companies are doing) is pathetic and unrealistic.

[Bigsby]

hardcopy newspapers (which IMO should be extremely heavily taxed with the aim of completely banning them in the near future)

Maybe this should be a separate thread, but I'd be interested to hear your reasoning behind this.

[Stripey]

Maybe this should be a separate thread, but I'd be interested to hear your reasoning behind this.

straightforward environmentalism...

[Alkaline]

If music is your main job, and your stuff getting downloaded is causing you to be pennyless, I'd say that means you're not very good at your job. Moaning that the public doesn't want to buy your product anymore (as the record companies are doing) is pathetic and unrealistic.

Who's moaning?

[Stripey]

Who's moaning?

the major record labels

[Guest treader.]

i aspire to be able to give my album away free with the Mail on Sunday.

one day....one day.

[Panda Strong]

why does it need to be about money!?

i often send people our most recent EP over the internet for free because they have expressed interest in hearing it. i'm not too bothered about making money from it. just want people to hear it.

This is kind of what i was getting at. I don't think i'd ever want to be in a position where i was in a band, and that was all i had.... I think that would be a bit silly. Of course, if you give it to the man and sign to Sony for $894759348953 then it would be different. But i'd never want to do that. Diy 4 life lol etc...

I'd be well chuffed if people actually wanted to download my music, let alone buy it.

[WoodyRATM]

I'd be well chuffed if people actually wanted to download my music, let alone buy it.

Exact same as me. I play music to let people hear it - not to try and make money out of it.

(though i wouldnt say no if someone offered me stupid amounts to do what i love)

Also if people download my music and like it, they're far more likely to come to a show (and live stuff is what i live for:)) imo

[Bigsby]

straightforward environmentalism...

Hmm, while commendable on those grounds it perhaps doesn't address the needs of the considerable percentage of the population who don't have access to the internet for whatever reason.

Or people who may want to read the paper on public transport without hooking up some sort of wifi device.

[Neil]

straightforward environmentalism...

A newspaper has less negative impact on the environment than any mass produced electronic device that might take it's place (mobile phone / pda / laptop etc).

[fort max]

True, the only people that really "suffer" from illegal downloads are massive mainstream labels who expect millions in income off the new justin timberlake album.

and people who are actually paying for the music they listen to...

and yes they could download illegally too, but they dont... and you know why?... because its illegal!!!

downloading albums or songs illegally is no better than shoplifting, it forces prices up and it leaves companies large and small out of pocket (i'm sure the good people of local independant music shops world wide are over the moon that people think they have made enough money over the years...)

and as a musician who has music for sale both online and on good 'old fashioned' compact disc, and in relation to someone else's comments earlier, I can say that I'm also happy to give away cd's and provide free downloads to get my music heard... but that should be my desicion to make as the artist and certainly not someone sitting at home, too cheap to pay 79 pence for unlimited use of a song i'v taken time and money to produce...

[Stripey]

Hmm, while commendable on those grounds it perhaps doesn't address the needs of the considerable percentage of the population who don't have access to the internet for whatever reason.

Or people who may want to read the paper on public transport without hooking up some sort of wifi device.

My thoughts on the matter is : fuck em, get with the times. Publishing something as ephemeral as the daily news on actual paper, and a day behind events is just madness.

As I said though, gradual phasing out rather than abruptly ending all newspapers would be the way to do it.

[Elizabeth]

Although folk are buying less CDs, more people are going to gigs and stuff. Doesn't that effectively make the actual band more money, through the likes of merch/direct CD purchases, etc?

(I'm mainly referring to bands of the DIY persuasion here, not the big ones.)

[Panda Strong]

downloading albums or songs illegally is no better than shoplifting

Errrrrrrrmmm.....

[Stripey]

downloading albums or songs illegally is no better than shoplifting, it forces prices up and it leaves companies large and small out of pocket

You can't say anyone is out of pocket, because they are presuming people are willing to pay for the stuff in the first place. Which they clearly aren't. You can't say "oh but I would have made x amount if nobody had downloaded the tunes". You can't say that anyone who has downloaded the tunes would have paid for them otherwise. It's revenue that *doesn't exist*. As I pointed out earlier, illegal downloading is a fact of life, it's there, deal with it, work around it, don't go slapping civil law suits on kids for downloading the latest coldplay album.

[Panda Strong]

Although folk are buying less CDs, more people are going to gigs and stuff. Doesn't that effectively make the actual band more money, through the likes of merch/direct CD purchases, etc?

(I'm mainly referring to bands of the DIY persuasion here, not the big ones.)

Do you think more people are going to gigs, though? In the last two years i've been at Aberdeen, if anything, i think there's been less....

Might just be me though! What do other people think?

[Guest idol_wild]

Do you think more people are going to gigs, though? In the last two years i've been at Aberdeen, if anything, i think there's been less....

Might just be me though! What do other people think?

I think you're right. It's often embarrassing how few people are at gigs in Aberdeen. But that said, there have been some brilliantly attended shows even this summer (Caribou being the main example).

This gives me hope. Although in saying that, I often have to wonder where all the people who went to see the likes of Boredoms and Caribou actually are...why don't they attend gigs more frequently? Surely their tastes aren't that limited.

[Mora-Treat-Guru]

Gig attendances are subject to such degrees of chance I highly doubt if there is any real way to measure an increase/decline in attendance, without looking at far too many extraneous circumstances and situations. Plus on top of that everyone has a subjective opinion on what a 'busy' gig is.

As for the whole downloading thing, I personaly download stuff, if it's out of print, too rare/expensive for me to pay for on ebay ect, or if I want to hear the band, without wasting my money on the physical copy. Most of the time I'll go out and buy it afterwards.

[Alkaline]

There are also so many gigs on in Aberdeen now that its no surprise that audiences are dwindling as it's impossible to go to everything.

[Bigsby]

don't go slapping civil law suits on kids for downloading the latest coldplay album.

Correct.

That should be a criminal offence.

[Guest Jake Wifebeater]

There are also so many gigs on in Aberdeen now that its no surprise that audiences are dwindling as it's impossible to go to everything.

Aye, it reached saturation point a long time ago and it's got steadily worse.

Not

[Alkaline]

Aye, it reached saturation point a long time ago and it's got steadily worse.

Not

I haven't seen you at any of the gigs i've been to recently so there must be more gigs than you can physically go to on at the moment. Either that or there's a lot on, but not much that takes your fancy

[KimyReizeger]

Although folk are buying less CDs, more people are going to gigs and stuff. Doesn't that effectively make the actual band more money, through the likes of merch/direct CD purchases, etc?

(I'm mainly referring to bands of the DIY persuasion here, not the big ones.)

These bands need exposure more than money. Everyone has their eyes on stardom and the real cash-haul, 30 quid won't do much towards that.

What if the accepted norm simply changed, and megastars stopped expecting to earn millions? Music becomes cheaper, more people can get into it, more people can sustain a livelihood through it - music becomes better. It shouldn't be that you have to put your back out every time you want to buy a cd. but given that is what the major players have come to demand, everyone needs to follow suit just to keep up.