Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

Whatever...
It won't stop it.

The 1% that get done (bet it's not even that) won't be me, always some other downloader.

The actual chances of being the one that gets caught are very slim.

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

Whilst i can't say that i buy again what i've got now, in line with previous comments i at least know what i will buy when it comes to it.

DRM.... such a clumsy and reactionary piece of software, and its breakable anyway which is well documented, it'll go the same way as MP3 on mobiles (not that its ur media of choice of course)

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

Also who the hell is thinking of the artists who produce the music to begin with.Why should they lose out on their royalties because some numpty wants to have music totally free? However I can understand the annoyance with the middlemen in the business because for a long time they haven't really cared about their customers getting value for money.But not paying anything to the artists who are the whole reason the industry exists is hardly fair at all.

If there was way to download the music I like while paying royalties to the artists I would rather do that.To think that they should just make music for nothing does seem somewhat selfish and shortsided.However the music industry is NEVER going to consider doing this.Perhaps if there wasa way for individual artists and groups to do it themselves would you pay the artist?Or would you just not care?

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

I bet that's what the ones who get caught thought.

Let's cut out all the BS though. There are many filesharers who will never buy any music that they can download.

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

Yea, works for me........ like everything else in life, do the work expect to get paid. As i said previously, used correctly the internet enables alot of the middlemen functions to be done away with and put back in the hands of the band.

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

It may, of course, be perfectly possible for bands to earn a crust selling direct via the net, cutting out the inefficiencies and injustices that the major record labels bring. If artists create a direct link with consumers then those consumers are likely to be more loyal and willing to pay for their output. The disincentive to this is the marketing cost - but at the moment we get a disproportionate amount of marketing spend devoted to safe bankers for which a solid return is all but guaranteed and which create super rich artists. Selling direct could still yield a decent living for many more artists and impressive ones for some.

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

True - but that dosent guarantee that if they couldnt download it that they would buy the thing as record companies seem to think.
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Take the Crazy Frog thing recently anyway and the amount of downloads its had via ringtones - 2 MILLION of them at 1.50 a piece in the UK alone - and for what, a rehashed old single with an annoying **** dingalinging. How much did that cost to set-up?

And they complain about sales dropping and profits down.

They're taking the urine to be honest.

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

I want a copy of the Au Pairs' Playing With A Different Sex. It's deleted and not available on itunes. I'
I've culled most songs from kazaa and bearshare - should I have done so?

(NB. if anyone has a hard copy for sale I would willingly pay for it - though generally stuff I already have on vinyl, and for which I have therefore paid a copyright fee, I'll illegally download with a clear conscience)

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

The middlemens functions will still exist though as long as there is a need for physical copies to be made. The problem is though that economies of scale are diluted the more copies that are downloaded. Production costs to obtain the music will stay the same but after that costs will rise. It will still cost the same to produce the artwork for the CDs and their covers but this will be spread across a smaller number of physical copies. Production runs will be smaller and therefore more costly per unit. Transport costs will be around the same but again shared amongst a smaller number of physical copies. Wholesalers and retailers will have a smaller number to sell so may have to either go out of business or increase prices. So, the greater the percentage of music that is downloaded, the dearer physical copies may become.

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

I know the feeling. Some old Gun Club material (The Las Vegas Story for instance), has only recently been released on CD, and is hard to find on Vinyl. Excuse me for downloading this. Like others have said. I generally buy a fair bit of music, and it's not the chart stuff, but small independent bands that are unlikely to be on Itunes (A while ago I had to buy a cd directly from the label, as Amazon didn't stock it). I will download music to sample it, and if I like I will buy it (though admittedly not if I like just one song from an album).

I will be buying the The Las Vegas Story CD btw, even though I have it in mp3 format. I like the idea of supporting a label that re-releases classic old material that not too many people seem interested in.

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

The problem with that is it immediately removes a large proportion of potential customers from the marketplace. If you don't have an internet connection you cannot buy. That leaves two possibilities, paid for downloads and illegal fileshares. Guess which a large percentage will choose. The artists themselves will not setup the site to sell the music, etc so a new breed of middleman will emerge who profit from the new distribution method.

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

Can't disagree with that analysis except to say if retail is to survive it will have to adapt and the likely scenario on the High Street will be download and burn kiosks which also offer artwork where appropriate.
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But the trend is for internet access achieving mass penetration, with broadband subscriptions soaring. And why won't artist set up their own sites. Very many already set up their own labels, own their publishing etc

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

Shouldn't the children also be taught that downloading music off the web is illegal? I bet most don't understand it.

Sorry if this has already been posted.

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

Yeah but even so, it's still crap quality except the worse thing about it is that you've paid for it.

Re: UK music downloader pays £2,500 after being caught.
 

That idea was tried several years ago by John Menzies with instore burning of PC software. This was not a success. People want to buy something that looks attractive and not looking like it was knocked up on the side for a boot sale. High street retailers need a fair markup to stay in business.

But there is still a huge percentage of the population that doesn't have and may never have internet access. Even those that do may not have the slightest desire to download and burn their own music and DVDs. The christmas present of a couple of DVDs just doesn't look the same if burnt in the home with no artwork. There will still be a market for physical copies for some time to come.

I don't think that many musicians would take to running their own download sites. Too much hassle and unlikely to succeed big time without big money marketing.