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Blogs - August 2010
August 21st, 2010 -
You'd think with all the unspoken things we've discussed in these blogs that we
would run out of taboo subjects to talk about. You would be wrong of course,
cause I got a dandy of a topic today- Illegal downloads. Hear that? It's the sound of
Metallica groaning, music to my ears!
Let's say Thesaurus Slam released their new cd 3 months ago. There is a song
on their you just love called "Merrian Webster Can't Spell". You want that song, in
fact the only reason you'd buy the album is for that 1 song. You could spend $15 to
have a single song (and maybe find another song or two on the cd that is ok), or
you can go to your local internet backalley and get an illegal copy for free. Yow-za!
First off, getting music you haven't paid for is nothing new. If a friend has a cd I
like, I can just burn it to my computer and poof- new music. My computer doesn't
know it's my friend's. But what are illegal downloads? There are websites out
there called 'torrents'. These torrents connect to other people's computers who
use the torrents as well. If they have a song/movie/game that you like, the torrent
will copy it off of a torrent member's computer and transfer it to your's. Boom-
free music. You didn't pay for it, but it's your's forever. Record companies HATE
torrents because...well duh, you get the product their livelihoods depend on for
free. You take them out of the equation. Remember Napster a long time ago?
Yeah, everyone flipped out when this first started happening. The industry has
been in decline ever since torrents popped up. I've heard as much as 95% of all
music aquired across the internet is illegal. It meands bands make less money
(though that's a relative term). Do you think bands/record companies just take the
loss of income in stride? No! They raise the price of a cd, concert ticket, anything
to make the money back.
Seems obvious right? Musicians, record companies, recording studios, concert
promoters, virtually EVERYONE associated with making money off music will
suffer in some way from illegal downloads. One could make a case that it's the
only reason the music industry sucks. After all, why should bands put time and
thought into songs if people will just steal them? Why should record companies
try to find the next Led Zeppelin or Nirvana when people will get bored after
downloading their stuff? Why should concert promoters plan grand reunion tours
when a fan can copy/paste an entire discography in a night? Illegal downloads
make musicians and sound engineers lazy. But there is ANOTHER side effect that
usually goes unnoticed- they make FANS lazy too. Imagine the year is 1971. You
want to buy the hot new album "______" by ________ (that's "Led Zeppelin 4" by
Led Zeppelin, look it up to get the joke). To do so, you must drive to your local
record store (one you have visited before and probably know the owner), buy a
vinyl record and drive back home. Only then could you listen to your album on a
record player, probably with a few friends who don't have the album yet (because
there is no way to copy a vinyl record!). Or take it a step further- your friend has
the record and you like it. If they won't let you borrow it, you either go buy it or go
wanting. Nowadays, if I want a record, it just takes a few clicks and a few
minutes. No human interaction, no movement, barely any thought. Fans are no
longer invested in the music cause they didn't have to put effort into getting it. All
thanks to illegal downloads.
So, illegal downloads make fans and musicians lazy, record companies paranoid,
an entire industry crippled and raise the prices of everything musical. Yet there is
1 big, huge, monsterous, often overlooked positive about illegal downloads- they
get music to the people! Bands know this, that's why some bands like Dream
Theater and Dave Mathews Band encourage it- and when they play live, they sell
out the show! Someone might have gotten a song illegally, but at least they have it.
Reverse the analogy from earlier: I have never heard Led Zeppelin but want to try
them out. I go through the process to buy a vinyl and play it at home and...I hate it.
My experience had taught me to not take chances on artists I don't know. Luckily,
by using a torrent, I can get a new artist and try them out without losing money or
feeling like I got Punk'd. Yes the band didn't make money, but they gainned a FAN,
which is even better. Isn't that the point and ultimate goal of music? Any band
worth their salt will want to reach the widest audience possible.
Therefore, I propose a compromise that will help both musicians and fans; but it
will require sacrafice from both as well. I propose that music not be made
avaliable for download for 5 years after it is released. After 5 years, companies
should make it free to whoever wants it. Think about it, do you really buy songs
from 5 years ago? 5 years ago Mariah Carey had the highest selling album, "The
Emancipation of Mimi", Greenday released "American Idiot", Kanye West
released "Golddigger" and no one cared about Coldplay...who released "X&Y". Do
these albums fly off the shelves anymore? No, so let them be free and let the
industry focus on new albums. Fans, that means we will once again have to pay
for new albums, but that's a good thing. What better way to invest in our favorite
music than to literally invest in our favorite music! With the 5 year plan, we get
better quality music today (the incentive to created good music will get artists off
the lazy train and back to work) and all our favorite songs from years ago will be
free. The record companies will be able to focus more on making music that sells
well within that 5 year period and will thus demand better quality music without
having to devote time to tracking down 13 year olds who download Hannah
Montana. It is a win-win!
This blog is not ment to praise or denounce music that is downloaded from
torrents. It is simple ment to make you take a step back and think about the
music you listen to and what it means to you, how it affects you and how others
see it. Go forth and ponder!
- Michael Butts, The Ron Jonsons
You'd think with all the unspoken things we've discussed in these blogs that we
would run out of taboo subjects to talk about. You would be wrong of course,
cause I got a dandy of a topic today- Illegal downloads. Hear that? It's the sound of
Metallica groaning, music to my ears!
Let's say Thesaurus Slam released their new cd 3 months ago. There is a song
on their you just love called "Merrian Webster Can't Spell". You want that song, in
fact the only reason you'd buy the album is for that 1 song. You could spend $15 to
have a single song (and maybe find another song or two on the cd that is ok), or
you can go to your local internet backalley and get an illegal copy for free. Yow-za!
First off, getting music you haven't paid for is nothing new. If a friend has a cd I
like, I can just burn it to my computer and poof- new music. My computer doesn't
know it's my friend's. But what are illegal downloads? There are websites out
there called 'torrents'. These torrents connect to other people's computers who
use the torrents as well. If they have a song/movie/game that you like, the torrent
will copy it off of a torrent member's computer and transfer it to your's. Boom-
free music. You didn't pay for it, but it's your's forever. Record companies HATE
torrents because...well duh, you get the product their livelihoods depend on for
free. You take them out of the equation. Remember Napster a long time ago?
Yeah, everyone flipped out when this first started happening. The industry has
been in decline ever since torrents popped up. I've heard as much as 95% of all
music aquired across the internet is illegal. It meands bands make less money
(though that's a relative term). Do you think bands/record companies just take the
loss of income in stride? No! They raise the price of a cd, concert ticket, anything
to make the money back.
Seems obvious right? Musicians, record companies, recording studios, concert
promoters, virtually EVERYONE associated with making money off music will
suffer in some way from illegal downloads. One could make a case that it's the
only reason the music industry sucks. After all, why should bands put time and
thought into songs if people will just steal them? Why should record companies
try to find the next Led Zeppelin or Nirvana when people will get bored after
downloading their stuff? Why should concert promoters plan grand reunion tours
when a fan can copy/paste an entire discography in a night? Illegal downloads
make musicians and sound engineers lazy. But there is ANOTHER side effect that
usually goes unnoticed- they make FANS lazy too. Imagine the year is 1971. You
want to buy the hot new album "______" by ________ (that's "Led Zeppelin 4" by
Led Zeppelin, look it up to get the joke). To do so, you must drive to your local
record store (one you have visited before and probably know the owner), buy a
vinyl record and drive back home. Only then could you listen to your album on a
record player, probably with a few friends who don't have the album yet (because
there is no way to copy a vinyl record!). Or take it a step further- your friend has
the record and you like it. If they won't let you borrow it, you either go buy it or go
wanting. Nowadays, if I want a record, it just takes a few clicks and a few
minutes. No human interaction, no movement, barely any thought. Fans are no
longer invested in the music cause they didn't have to put effort into getting it. All
thanks to illegal downloads.
So, illegal downloads make fans and musicians lazy, record companies paranoid,
an entire industry crippled and raise the prices of everything musical. Yet there is
1 big, huge, monsterous, often overlooked positive about illegal downloads- they
get music to the people! Bands know this, that's why some bands like Dream
Theater and Dave Mathews Band encourage it- and when they play live, they sell
out the show! Someone might have gotten a song illegally, but at least they have it.
Reverse the analogy from earlier: I have never heard Led Zeppelin but want to try
them out. I go through the process to buy a vinyl and play it at home and...I hate it.
My experience had taught me to not take chances on artists I don't know. Luckily,
by using a torrent, I can get a new artist and try them out without losing money or
feeling like I got Punk'd. Yes the band didn't make money, but they gainned a FAN,
which is even better. Isn't that the point and ultimate goal of music? Any band
worth their salt will want to reach the widest audience possible.
Therefore, I propose a compromise that will help both musicians and fans; but it
will require sacrafice from both as well. I propose that music not be made
avaliable for download for 5 years after it is released. After 5 years, companies
should make it free to whoever wants it. Think about it, do you really buy songs
from 5 years ago? 5 years ago Mariah Carey had the highest selling album, "The
Emancipation of Mimi", Greenday released "American Idiot", Kanye West
released "Golddigger" and no one cared about Coldplay...who released "X&Y". Do
these albums fly off the shelves anymore? No, so let them be free and let the
industry focus on new albums. Fans, that means we will once again have to pay
for new albums, but that's a good thing. What better way to invest in our favorite
music than to literally invest in our favorite music! With the 5 year plan, we get
better quality music today (the incentive to created good music will get artists off
the lazy train and back to work) and all our favorite songs from years ago will be
free. The record companies will be able to focus more on making music that sells
well within that 5 year period and will thus demand better quality music without
having to devote time to tracking down 13 year olds who download Hannah
Montana. It is a win-win!
This blog is not ment to praise or denounce music that is downloaded from
torrents. It is simple ment to make you take a step back and think about the
music you listen to and what it means to you, how it affects you and how others
see it. Go forth and ponder!
- Michael Butts, The Ron Jonsons
| the scurvy seas of music |
