Aussie, please. Come live here for a year and your opinion will drastically change. We're a bungling, infefficient bureacracy that's so fat we can't even wipe our own collective asses. If we had a quarter of the organization that Hitler had we would rule the globe with an iron fist.

That's true.

Unless it's the only way of getting to the music I want, I do not buy CDs anymore. MP3s are far easier to get, to use and to carry. And not to say, cheaper. It compesates any conscience problems about lowering the profits of some corporation. And this lawsuits thing makes my conscience even lighter.

RIAA is fighting progress. We all know it doesn't work 100% of the times.

What happens if the RIAA sues a person and that person who is sued commits suicide? Does the person's immediate family get sued instead? It really wouldn't surprise me, considering what the RIAA is all about.

No.

http://www.metal-archives.com/board/vie ... hp?t=33128
Well, the very problem, that confuses me....

What happens if the downloader in question is an illegal immigrant, having somehow used a computer on a college campus, but was deported prior to the RIAA taking action.

Or, what if a RIAA exec is caught downloading.

That would be incredibly awesome.

They get paid far to much to need to download.

I dont see the point in stopping piracy. If you have enough money you will most likely pay for it, if you don't you wont buy it and instead download it. I suppose its all about your loyalty, some will download because they can't afford and some will download to save money. Some will download to see if they like a band, some will download full albums regardless.

Either way until Sony Records goes bankrupt lol, I dont think they have a right crack down on piracy.

After reading your post Matt, I can't say I disagree with everything you've said regarding the industry and all, I stand by my hypothetical regardless however. I still will not download, because I feel better not being involved in the activity. I will still continue on in my normal fashion, reading thank you lists and magazines and etc.

I've downloaded my fair share of music (9000+ songs) and i'm done. I never got any feeling of reward from downloading like I do in purchasing a cd, and examining it. But thats just me.

Hails to you for your tremendous responses



I would also.

@ The_Count: No one would want to read something as long as LongCat

The real pirates are the ones making physical copies of DVDs and CDs and selling them on the streets, which is very popular in southeastern Asia. Go after those who are making a profit on unauthorized duplicates, not some dibbly teen downloading some pop songs.

Has the RIAA, or anyone for that matter, ever conclusively demonstrated that downloading significantly reduces the incomes of bands? Almost all the bands that I like I discovered via the internet, and would not have discovered them if not for "digital tape-trading." The way I see it many bands are indirectly profiting from internet trading that goes on between fans.

And I noticed that no one else brought up the fact that computers could be seized without proving the owners' guilt. Is that bullshit or what?

They'll never stop people from trading. Even if they succeed in shutting down p2p activity, cd copying and trading will become popular again.

back to downloading mp3s off IRC channels on Undernet!




mailorder.

and if you buy from Canada you'll probably avoid your state's sales tax. I buy from US mailorder companies to avoid canadian taxes



If I hadn't bought Latex Cult directly from Osmose France at 15 $ I would not have known how much they suck and sweared never to buy another one. Anyway back then I only had a 56K and I think the only places sharing lots of music where mIRC channels i.e. #metalmp3s


Opeth : Roadrunner, owned by Universal

"Metal label Roadrunner Records is a division of The Island Def Jam Group, owned by Universal Music Group. Artists on Roadrunner's roster include 36 Crazyfists, Chimaira, Cradle of Filth, Fear Factory, Killswitch Engage, and Slipknot. "

Chevelle : BMG/Sony

VNV Nation : Metropolis, whose owner is pissed off by the downloads

http://www.regenmag.com/Interviews-38-M ... cords.html



look who owns or runs Universal Music, Time Warner, Geffen, American Recording, BMG, MCA, Island Records, Atlantic, Koch, Interscope, the rap labels, etc. and it will all make sense.

I still download all my classical music from there. Best quality source ever.

where?

I know, I can order them through the mail, but it's the principle of the matter. I should be able to go into my local metal record store and purchase it outright. Shit, you can get it in a mall in other countries. How hard is it to get distribution with a band so big? If I wanted to self-release a CD I could have worldwide distribution through CD Baby and Amazon and a dozen other places, and I could also have a list of stores in a dozen countries and states/provinces where I could hit target markets.

I just think it's implied that because we're Americans, we aren't a viable market. OK... then I won't give you my money, I'll wait for PaganFest and buy directly from the bands.

I don't buy music, simply because I'm 1, no job, and when I get one, I have other things to pay for. My dad got me a few Death LPs for Christmas, so those are the newest albums I have. Most band only get a small fraction from CD purchases anyway. I figure enough people buy the albums, so I'm good for now. Luckily the RIAA can't get torrent users...yet.

Damn, I didn't think the motor skills necesary to type as well as you do developed that early.

Ok guys...
I download music as much as possible, and share music with my metal homies quite a lot.

I gone to a few shows, I've been to 3, and I've bought 3 albums in my life, but have quite a bit of downloaded music.

If I rarely spend money on (but promote) the music I love, yet download it vigorously, does that make me communist scum? Or am I somewhere inbetween?

I actually found a great place to purchase metal CD's that you won't find in 99% of stores. It's called vintage Vinyl in Woodbridge, NJ. Two hour drive, but worth it when I get the itch to pick up some new music.

A lot of the stuff I "acquire" is music by bands that don't exist anymore who were on indie labels. This shouldn't affect me, but it's at least nice to know of an update to be informed.

In all my time listening to music, I've downloaded one album illegally off of a blog because it was old and rare, and had I bought it off eBay, the band wouldn't have made anything anyway. I've done plenty of downloading stuff from the band-sanctioned stuff thread, but that doesn't count.

So I'm not worried.

I stopped downloading months ago because of all this shit. So now I get my metal from friends that still download it.

Why is this topic still alive. I already said you cannot get into any "trouble" if you download bands that do not belong to the RIAA. Yes, there might be a guilty feeling; but that is why you buy cds.


I have just recently begun to buy cds, and I must say when you own a cd, it is better than having a digital copy of a song. A cd is tangible, and includes the notes, so you can get into the mind of the artist and see the lyrics. I have also begun to buy lp's, which I also enjoy.

Hi,

Have there been any convictions and fines in the UK similar to that of the original post? I was always under the impression that it was only those who shared several thousand songs who were prosecuted?

Presumably no one knows of any convictions in the uk then?

Cheers for any replies!

we had one 5 minutes away where i live, and i loved it, but the damn chinese resturant next door caught fire and burned the right side of vintage vinyl. dont know if they'll ever reopen it

Victory for Lars!

I download music on a public computer, then burn it to a CD, so they can't find me That's not the reason I do it.....I just can't afford my own

i just read that the people running PirateBay will be sued over the income they got from their commercial ads they have on their website.

Well, that sucks. I have to resort to downloading for some of the albums because I simply won't be able to find something like "La Sanie des Siècles- Panégyrique de la dégénérescence" here in the US where everybody is obsessed with terrible music.

I don't download music, I usually just download shows like American Gladiators, and Lost. AG obviously doesn't air here (so far as I know) so I don't have any other way of watching it. Lost is on U.K TV and Sky, which we already pay for, so I don't feel bad about downloading it. I prefer to get it early (U.S air times) and for playback on my PC (I cannot be arsed with the T.V downstairs). The other thing that I download is MMA events. I pay to see UFC events on PPV (Setanta Broadband package for my PC), so again, I do not feel bad about that. I was pretty bad with movies for a while, but I removed them all from my hard drives a little while back. Not just for my conscience of course, but also for freeing up space.

Well thats the RIAA for ya, greedy bastards. I don't support illegal downloading myself but $9,250 per each song. Bullshit.

Actually I got my ensiferum at HMV because thats the only place they sold it.
It took me 6 months though. I ordered it in August and got on Jan 28th I think

People have trouble finding Ensiferum? I seem to find it everywhere, both in Spain and here in Mexico. I'm only missing Victory Songs as of now.

I'm just glad metal isn't big enough for labels to join the RIAA. I wouldn't listen to half the music I do now if it wasn't for blog sites.

What really gets on my nerves is that people can afford to but CD-RW CDs to burn the music onto, but cant afford the Albums themselves.
Theres proof that the record industry is over-pricing the CDs, a CD costs £15 at HMV and yet you can buy 10 CR-RW CDs for £10 at the same store.

Thats true, though remember the extra money does part of the following:

• Part of the jewel case
• Part of the booklet
• Part of the tons of ink used on the booklet
• Part of shipping
• Part of paying the people who make it
• Part of paying the record company maybe?
  And most importantly
• Goes to the bands who made the album

Yes, it does cost a shitload, but for some good reason.
Nonetheless I get pissed when I see 8.99$ CD's on like Rust In Peace because it means that I'm wrong above and they really are making a lot of money. Also the 8.99 is in Canadian (and this was when the US dollar was significantly higher then ours)

What the band gets is measured in half-pennies. Kurt Cobain got 5 grand for every three million dollars that In Utero made. When it comes to how much bands make from album sales, it's kinda like asking how large the universe is---it has a quantifiable number, but it's so huge that most of the time it's easier to just say "infinity." Band profits from album sales are like that, except "infinitely small" instead of "infinitely large."


If I did my math right**, Kurt got what? 1.6% of album profits? Times three for the whole band. Pitiful.




**I'm really shitty at math**

Recording contracts vary greatly from band to band, there isn't any real constant. In fact from my knowledge (and after taking courses in music business law), artists get anywhere from 5 to 8 cents per record sold.

"Kurt Cobain got 5 grand for every three million dollars that In Utero made."


but he signed the contract didn't he ? Kids, say no to drugs or to Geffen.


"In fact from my knowledge (and after taking courses in music business law), artists get anywhere from 5 to 8 cents per record sold."


that's an absurdly low % of profit although when you're selling millions of CDs a lot of money has been spent on promotion, TV ads, etc. so you'll get a smaller % per album than if you were selling them from your basement but it's pretty hard to believe that it's less than 10 cents.

How much does a popular band on say Metal Blade or Century Media gets per album? It must be more than that