You know what? Im just gonna take your arguments for why you should spend a shitload of money on CDs and support major corporations to be BS.
Because seriously. If Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails - One of the most popular industrial bands ever - Who himself is an artist and has way more experience in dealing with records companies, MAKING and SELLING music, then what you ever will have - Completely shits on major corporations that screw over both the fans and the artists, I really don't think your opinion holds any more firm ground.
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2007/05/14/trent_reznor_speaks_out_about_music_piracy
As the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more. A couple of examples that quickly come to mind:
* The ABSURD retail pricing of Year Zero in Australia. Shame on you, UMG. Year Zero is selling for $34.99 Australian dollars ($29.10 US). No wonder people steal music. Avril Lavigne's record in the same store was $21.99 ($18.21 US).
By the way, when I asked a label rep about this his response was: "It's because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out - you know, true fans. It's the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy."
So... I guess as a reward for being a "true fan" you get ripped off.
Being a law-abiding citizen as you seem to be promoting doesn't really get you anywhere but screwed over. Because the laws are anything but perfect, and a lot of them are created to make sure that the greedy people without a conscience get it better then anyone else.
You gotta wonder if they are paying you to say shit like that.
How is that different than any other product? The people who produce it sell it for what they can get people to buy for. When you go to McDonalds, you pay your $1 for a small french fry, because McDonalds has determined that is where they will make the most profit. It's Economics 101.
If people would quit buying those CDs as the really high prices, then the CD prices would come down. But notice I'm saying "not buy", not "steal".
Oh, and as far as your Nine Inch Nails guy goes...you'll have to excuse me if one member of one band not liking their record label doesn't mean anything to me. Hardly something to be surprised about.
I'm sure there are plenty of lawyers who do, especially I would guess most record labels have fairly standard contracts.No, but you can bet that what is inside it. The same old shit about doing illegal stuff like bootlegging, hacking, "foul" language and the usual things that gets you in trouble. I don't know if such a thing exists in record contract signings.
Not a good excuse
Then just wait until you get the money, and buy the albums then.I'm not doing the society any harm as it is and I'm living very comfortable so why make a change? Oh and if you consider downloading a few albums "harm" then I assure you, those I have enjoyed am I going to buy in the future when I live off my own cash.
Of course you do. That's why you're calling the RIAA "greedy assholes". By making them seem unworthy in your mind, it's much easier to steal from them. If it was someone who looked like a sweet old lady, maybe someone with the same mannerisms as a favorite grandmother of yours, and maybe that old lady barely could afford a loaf of bread for a meal, then your conscience would kick in and you wouldn't steal from poor little old grandma.I don't consider ANY human being superior or inferior to another. I treat everyone equally and unless they do something that makes me lose respect, it remains that way.
You call them greedy assholes, so you can de-humanize them and make yourself feel okay for stealing. It's the same thing countries do in time of war, so their soldiers don't feel guilt for killing other human beings.
Then artists SHOULD promote their music themselves. But they're not. They NEED the record companies.They do most of the promotion and pressing, but in the end, it's the artists work that counts for buyers. They wanna hear the vocals, the production in the background and all of that. They do deserve some of the cash from the record sales but I believe the majority belongs to the artist since the buyer pays for the artist's name being associated with it, not because of the label it comes from. And besides, with internet in this day and age, artists can promote their music themselves anyways.
The music artists rely on the record companies. There is no way to deny it. And when you steal music, you ARE stealing from the creators of the music.
What does having money have to do with stealing?Yeah totally, I forgot the fact that right now I'm swimming in money.I haven't steal anything from anyone. I insist, there are out there things that are more important that does affect society as a whole.
I've already answered this, a couple of different times.Exactly, that's why downloading music doesn't hurt at all. You insist that I'm doing something "illegal" yet no one gets hurt, people still buy the T shirts, but the posters and most improtantly, people are going to the concerts. No one is unemployed, no is actually suffering from the downloads. Sly prove me, besides the fact that I am "stealing", how does anyone in the whole music business is affected.
This is false.FYI these record companies technically "own" happy birthday and each and every single time we sing that stupid song they are in their "right" to sue us.
Yes, AOL/Time Warner (or at least what used to be AOL/Time Warner), owns the rights to the song, but that doesn't mean they can sue your for singing it at home. You need to understand you are wrong. They can sue for a public performance however, but then again, just because something is popular, doesn't mean ownership cannot be had.
That is none of your concern. You can't justify theft for something that doesn't concern you.Who I don't respect is the big record labels that try to limit the artist and their art.
It doesn't matter what the artist wants. If the artist wants to do like Radiohead did a few years ago, produce their own music, and then give it away for free, then they certainly can. But they don't matter in this conversation because we're talking about musicians/record companies who DON'T want you stealing their music.Please, you are clearly the small minded one since you forget the fact that there is artists who are in favor of downloading music. It's convenient how you quoted one line of my post forgetting the example I gave of the Foo Fighters.
I know a man who is a drummer in a small-time local band. If he is in favor of free downloads of music, so what? What does he matter in this conversation, since it's not his music we're talking about.
I'm sorry, but that's a stupid excuse.On the other hand, you are forgetting something really important. You are only having a one sided point of view, to be specific a "first world country" thinking. For you it's easy go to the store and buy a record for what 10,11,12 dollars? Have you EVER considered how it is on "third world countries"? It's obvious you didn't. When people live under two dollars per day, do you think that buying a record for 10 dollars is an option?
If I have $8, and a record album costs $10, then you know what I do? I don't fucking get to listen to the album!
Good God, what makes you think you are entitled to the music? You're not entitled to the music. It's a good, not a right. You have to earn the right to listen, it's not something you have a right to the moment you were born. That's a stupid excuse.