How do YOU feel about your music being pirated?

[kaden]

I'll try to use small words...

You think it's illegal distribution of music because people aren't paying for it.

I'm saying that the people are paying what they think the music is worth.

Bit of an ego-killer, but hey, suck it up...you're an adult.

Markets change, son. The cause of the change is immaterial: Call it 'illegal', call it 'immoral', call it 'unamerican', call it whatever makes your feel better. It doesn't really matter how your righteous indignation chooses to manifest itself: the fact of the matter is that 'change is occurring

[shamann]

What has this argument got to do with the illegal distribution of music?

I think it is suggesting not to go down with the ship for all these ethical sidetracks.

It also suggests if illegal distribution erases a revenue stream, right or wrong, that revenue stream has been erased. Whether we like it or not, crime is always a market factor.

Further fuel for the fire: does anyone think that ethics is the primary concern of the music industry? Since when has ethics ever defined a market? When the RIAA issues a statement that they "believe that musicians have a right to be paid for the work", do you really think that their belief has anything to do with what is right or wrong? Or could it be that they do it to placate their commodity, getting the workforce on their side?

And do you really think that all the hullabaloo they've made over filesharing since the nascent days of Napster really had anything to do with upholding legalities for ethical concerns? Or do you think that it became a convenient tool for extending their lobby power, influencing legislation, prolonging their monopolies, all the while giving them a convenient scapegoat for failing to meet market shifts, to buy them some time until they could launch the PR show that is iTunes, further entrenching their brand identification, and reassuring investors that they are on top of things so that they can continue to make money where they make most of the money: investments and capital.

Put it this way, they waged a "war on piracy". Hmmm, waging a war on intangibles, that could never be an effective way of drumming up public support for your cause, could it?

[Quaternion]

Was it that cryptic?

English is not my native tongue.

I don't need to "figure some other way to make money from it", because making money with music is not a priority for me.

I invest the royalties I receive into extending my studio, so it's nice to get some.

If you people feel it's ok that your tracks are pirated, then that's fine with me...

[fjell_strom]

the fact of the matter is that 'change is occurring

Something tells me there will be some people screaming "This shouldn't be happening!" right down to the minute they get steam rolled by revolution.

[fjell_strom]

Was it that cryptic?

English is not my native tongue.

I find this to be seriously beside the point when you write each of your posts in flawless english...

[trappist]

I don't know if my music has ever been pirated, but I'm also an artist, and one gallery that was selling my art put two of my pieces in a local restaurant for display......and they both were stolen about a month later.

I was actually flattered that someone liked my work enough to steal it.

[shamann]

I was actually flattered that someone liked my work enough to steal it.

That is excellent. Congratulations.

Perhaps they thought it was worth a lot of money?

[Churchy]

for one release : given the fact that the shithead record label haven't given us a dime yet, i encourage people to pirate it

[HongKongTain]

Perhaps they thought it was worth a lot of money?

A VERY good point, I think.

I mean, geez -- why does someone download the song in the first place? Isn't it because they want to hear it? Doesn't that, by definition, mean it has some VALUE to them?

You can't really say "I just wanted to check it out -- I wouldn't have bought it if I had to pay for it" -- because almost ALL bands/artists have websites now where you can download clips or even full songs. Even freakin' iTunes gives you 30 seconds of every single song on there.

So if you actually downloaded it, surely it has VALUE to you?

(Maybe you want to say that if you bought it (paid for it) you would have "regretted" it. Is THAT why someone would say, "Oh, I wouldn't have bought this if I had to pay for it"? -- I mean, it's like, the fact that they don't want to pay what the artist asks JUSTIFIES simply taking it?!?)

I surely don't have any "answers" -- it's a hot topic, obviously, too -- but it just seems to me that these songs have whatever value the ARTIST puts on it -- NOT the person who is listening. Someone says, "Oh, no, you're wrong! The market decides!" But that's not the way markets really work, is it? The way a REAL market works is that the seller sets the price and the buyer chooses to buy or not. It does NOT work for the artists to produce and produce, and then the listeners decide they don't want to pay that price and so they just TAKE it. That is what we call stealing -- whether it's stealing "potential" income or a car or pack of gum or whatever. You see what I'm saying?

If the artist decides "oh, I want to give this away" -- then go ahead!! I think it's good for business on many levels. But if the artist decides "i'm gonna sell this CD's worth of songs for $100" -- then FINE. Why shouldn't we respect that? Okay, so NO ONE would buy it at $100 -- but I just can't follow (yet) the logic of someone who would say, "Oh, you want me to pay you for it, but I'm just gonna TAKE it!! And there's nothing you can do about it!!"

I mean, geez -- as ARTISTS to OTHER ARTISTS, we should respect what we decide about our own output. If Band X gives it away, then TAKE IT and SHARE IT. But if Band Y is trying to make a living -- and thereby trying to make BETTER music by devoting themselves full-time to making and distributing their music -- then RESPECT THAT, and PAY WHAT THEY ASK (via their labels/distribution networks).

I don't know -- that just seems very reasonable to me... ?

All this talk about "paradigm shifts" and "intellectual property vs hard goods" doesn't really speak to the issue that many artists DO want to get paid, but "the millions" are deciding, "Oh, we don't want to pay, so we're just gonna TAKE it"...

[Spe3D]

If guys copy other guys art without first getting the ok - then that sucks!

[georgelegeriii]

I'm interested to see how many people who answered this as "no problem" make 100% of their income off music/software development/art?

How old are they?

Do they have families they need to take care off, maybe a couple of kids?

Have they invested a lifetime working at their art and craft as a musician/ software developer/artist?

Lived in a small home, gave up everything for "their" art, time, quality of life, relationships, whatever it may be?

It's damn easy to say things about " a revolution", "the labels deserve it", whatever...

I guarantee you that if you you were one of the types of people I just mentioned, who answered yes to all or most of these questions, you would not like to see your music/art being ripped off.

Some of you know that I created a tutorial for VTC, a Logic 6 tutorial. I worked with Logic for 10 years to learn it that well. I spent 3.5 months, 4 days a week, 4 to 6 hours a day, making it. I got a ok royalty advance, not as much as I would have made working a day job at GC for the same amount of time. (Guitar Center, a music store in the US).

EVERY copy that is loaned, copied, sold from a copy, makes what small amount of money I made to begin with even smaller...

What will motivate me to make another one? I have to pay rent, insurance costs, gas, food, gear, whatever. I DON'T live in a society that gives me what I need because I create these things. I'm not getting younger (I'll be 44 on Wednesday) will have to find a way to support myself when I retire, and am self employed, so no company is giving me a pension. I need to sock some cash away for these times..


No matter how you want to look at it, it's STEALING! How would you feel if someone came into your home, and ripped off your stuff? Pretty pissed, wouldn't you?

Think about these things for a while. If you still think it's ok to rip off music or software, or tutorials, etc, I suppose you must be a jerk. But then again, in these times, where people have no ethics, no morals, no sense of right and wrong, you probably think I'm the jerk...

One last thing.. the most important thing: if artists can't make a living, software developers can't make enough of a profit, due to piracy, then I guess we all don't get the cool music / software / art, because people will stop making any.

And then we ALL loose.

Take care, George

[xander]

One last thing.. the most important thing: if artists can't make a living, software developers can't make enough of a profit, due to piracy, then I guess we all don't get the cool music / software / art, because people will stop making any.

And then we ALL loose.

Take care, George

Wrong. People are making music all the time without getting a dime and have done so since the dawn of man, and they will never stop. Painters will always paint whether they can make a living at it or not, so that sort of logic is erroneous. In fact, it may be the height of arrogance to ask money for any songs you've written. People should offer you money if they like it. If they don't, then what does that tell you?

[HongKongTain]

You think it's illegal distribution of music because people aren't paying for it.

I'm saying that the people are paying what they think the music is worth.

Bit of an ego-killer, but hey, suck it up...you're an adult.

Markets change, son. The cause of the change is immaterial: Call it 'illegal', call it 'immoral', call it 'unamerican', call it whatever makes your feel better. It doesn't really matter how your righteous indignation chooses to manifest itself: the fact of the matter is that 'change is occurring

So wait -- I am NOT trying to be antagonistic -- HONESTLY, okay? -- but are you the guy who makes the artsy "eccentric genius" stuff? (which looks VERY VERY cool, by the way!!)

http://www.eccentricgenius.ca/frameset.htm

But what is the difference between someone stealing YOUR artistic output (catapults), and someone stealing a musician's (songs)? You both spent hours on it, you both feel proud of it... It's just that YOU end up with wood and steel (or whatever) and the musician just gets an .mp3 file which is easier to take.

Is THAT the difference? It's easier to take, so it's a "market change" and we need to "grow up"?!?

Maybe I missed your point (I totally apologize if I did), but I just can NOT see the difference... Just because YOU can lock your output in a cabinet shouldn't mean you have MORE right to be compensated than a musician.

To say, "Things are changing, face it" just doesn't really address whether it's RIGHT or not. Because if you are suggesting that all those people downloading songs DON'T think they are getting something valuable, then I TOTALLY disagree. I think they KNOW they are getting something that is WORTH something, and they are TAKING it for free anyway.

[HongKongTain]

In fact, it may be the height of arrogance to ask money for any songs you've written. People should offer you money if they like it.

I get your point completely that people will ALWAYS make music and ALWAYS make paintings, etc... That's true.

But really -- even if I AM "arrogant" enough to put a price on my song, what right does someone have to say, "Nope -- I'm gonna TAKE it and use it for FREE"? Maybe that's not what you're suggesting, so sorry if I am mis-reading you... ?

I mean, even if they only "use" it by listening to it a few times and forgetting it... Don't I still have the right to decide about my own work, whether I should be paid or not? If you don't want to pay, then FINE, you don't get to listen!!

But anyway, this isn't about "a song I've written" -- it's about a RECORDING I'VE MADE... seems a difference to me. The song, in and of itself, may be more "ethereal" and non-tangible in some sense -- but when I make a RECORDING of it, DUDE, that is my property, and I have the right to be paid for people using it, if I choose to be so arrogant...

Well, at least that's what I think...

[zircon]

Simple answer (avoiding this sticky topic): I'd be upset if people were pirating my music.