Illegal Music Downloaders To Face Internet Ban?

People who illegally download music or films may have their internet access cut off under a new plan drawn up by the government in the UK.

A new Green Paper says that ISPs (Internet Service Providers) should be required to take action against those who use the internet to acquire pirated material.

Users would first be sent an email warning them followed by a suspension if they carry on and finally the termination of their contract under the ‘three strikes’ rule.

The paper is due to be published next week but have been reported by the Times who say that ISPs who fail to enforce the rules could be prosecuted.

The consultation documentation reportedly says: "We will move to legislate to require internet service providers to take action on illegal file sharing."

A spokesman for A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "Early drafts of our creative economy programme document were circulated to stakeholders for comment.

"The content and proposals for the strategy have been significantly developed since then and a comprehensive plan to bolster the UK's creative industries will be published shortly.

"We will not comment on the content of the leaked document."

An estimated six million people are year download files illegally in the UK while music and film companies say they are losing millions as a result.

According to the BBC ISPs such as Virgin, Tiscali and BT have already been in talks with the entertainment industry about introducing a voluntary piracy policing scheme.

However, several stumbling blocks exist including the fact that ISPs claim that people are “piggybacking” their service in order to download files.

Thanks for the info to Gigwise.com.

Comments

[demonhunter2]

six million pissed off people

[Ticks & Leeches]

perhaps you should pay for your music

[ValoRhoads]

stealing is stealing, this is a bit harsh but they could do worse

[getts182]

Good for the UK. People get punished for stealing a CD, why should people get away from it by stealing over the Internet. Glad I quit doing that years ago.

[hellchild101]

finally somethings being done about this. imagine how hard it is for a new band to get a record deal when no-ones gonna pay for it cause they can just as easily download it.

[Bleeding_me]

not good... lol

[bmfh07]

less internet users less money for the ISP's but you cant stop it people will just learn a new way to get around it and they will

[SchitzoJoe]

One more step away from Anarchy.

[soulphonate]

"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." - Mark Twain

[matttt]

I think its good, more artists potentially brilliant artists will actually benefit from being paid.

[prateak]

yeah gud for UK but in my country all the cds we get are pirated and it's no use buying them too better download than give money to the piraters a cd costs about a pound back here

[tommyt]

matttt wrote:

I think its good, more artists potentially brilliant artists will actually benefit from being paid.

not from the pittance cd sales give them

[Twiggy81R]

mp3's = The Millenium Mix Tape

Everyone used to make mix tapes and we never had lawsuits, etc.

[TheSouthernator]

People shouldnt play music for money, and any up and coming band in it for the money shouldnt be playing in the first place. it should be free to download-and band worth their salt is gonna make plenty in the live show anyway...

[ThunderPX]

Maybe they should get rid of ridiculous CD prices- problem solved.

[ChoPxSueY]

hellchild101 wrote:

finally somethings being done about this. imagine how hard it is for a new band to get a record deal when no-ones gonna pay for it cause they can just as easily download it.

Imagine how hard it is for a new band to get their music heard if the only way to hear it is to pay to see them or buy their cd. It's not always a bad thing. It lets people sample the music and hear new bands. I think they're overreacting a bit with the "while music and film companies say they are losing millions as a result." Thats if everything thats downloaded was purchased from a shop, i've got loads of shit on my harddrives ive never even seen, i just download it for the sake of having it.

[5_Strings]

wtffff are you people talking about!! .. downloading music is the best thing that has ever happened to the worldddd .. and these guys who are against it right now .. I'm sure you'll feel what I mean when you'll be deprived of it .. and having to buy every artist's CD for a song or a couple of songs .. I hope it doesn't come to US =( .. LEAVE US ALONEE

[Habit Zero]

I've got about 1000 songs I've downloaded (not much, I know), but even if I couldn't download it all, I wouldn't buy it, which is I think, how most people feel. That's not lost money for the record companies, if the money was never going to be spent.

My musical tastes change too much to even buy songs for $1 each. Maybe for 50 cent each and you give me back 50 cent credit anytime I get tired of a song and delete it (which would be fairly often)!

[stumaster18]

Bad idea. The bands make most of their money from touring, not from CD sales. That's mainly how record companies make their money. Those 6 million people are just in the UK...imagine what North America is like. People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers? And if someone really likes a band, they'll buy the CD anyways. Downloading is just a means of sampling the music before you either buy it..or delete it, or leave it on your computer and not listen to it. At least that's how I see it. If I download CDs and I like them, I will buy the CDs. I do this all of the time. But if I don't like the CDs, I either delete them or forget about them. This is how everyone should approach this situation.

[Raaaaar]

contract terminated..bit deal you will just go to another ISP

[Raaaaar]

correction 'big deal'

[VLVTRVOLVR13]

i agree with everyone about how this is good for artists and new bands and rewarding people for the work they do...however i cant see the ISPs just rolling over and agreeing with this. Even if it is the UK gov. i feel like their will be at first some resistance, and i agree with the person above who said people will find a way around it...they always do.

[Comeback Kiddd]

I can gaurantee this will somehow fail

[Punk_Ninja]

I'm all for not downloading if you're downloading, metallica, megadeth, umm, slayer, popular music that you could easily take 20 minutes out of your life to nip into town and buy an album but trying to get somme music is murder, I recently downloaded a load of songs by Luna Sea and the Sex Machineguns, because I can't get them anywhere else other than limewire.
Same with Paul Gilbert, every town surrounding (and including) my own doesn't stock his music.

[Garf72]

Bad idea. The bands make most of their money from touring, not from CD sales. That's mainly how record companies make their money. Those 6 million people are just in the UK...imagine what North America is like. People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers? And if someone really likes a band, they'll buy the CD anyways. Downloading is just a means of sampling the music before you either buy it..or delete it, or leave it on your computer and not listen to it. At least that's how I see it. If I download CDs and I like them, I will buy the CDs. I do this all of the time. But if I don't like the CDs, I either delete them or forget about them. This is how everyone should approach this situation.

+1

[omarrodrigez]

I have no problem downloading music considering the artists get close to nothing for CD sales. If you really want to support your favorite artists go to their shows, buy merch, tell your friends about them.

[guitarmania93]

this is only in the UK right?

[Jondy]

hellchild101 wrote:

finally somethings being done about this. imagine how hard it is for a new band to get a record deal when no-ones gonna pay for it cause they can just as easily download it.

doesn't happen. never happens. people only download already popular stuff. not like bands get that much from sales anyways.

I support my favorite artists every chance I get, and I try to buy lots of newcomer stuff. But my money has a limit and it comes down to not hear their stuff at all or just download it. Which in the long run is more helpful because if I like it I tell everyone and have everyone listen to it.

[jcb3000]

just another excuse to make more money than they already do

[hamsterman64]

tommyt wrote:

matttt wrote:

I think its good, more artists potentially brilliant artists will actually benefit from being paid.

Well put. Artists make almost ALL of their money from concerts/merch. The fact of the matter is that the major record labels lose money from it, and they pressure the governments to do something about it. I think it's ridiculous what the UK's government is doing. Bands like Metallica are just tools for the industry. They sue people left and right.

not from the pittance cd sales give them

[imjq87]

Peer Guardian, anyone?

[nikh158]

I buy about 30-50 CDs a year. In almost every case I`ll download a track or two to see if I like it, then if so, I`ll go and buy the CD. If not I`ll delete the track and not bother. If I can`t download, or at least listen to the tracks before I buy, I won`t buy. One of the problems here in the UK is the ridiculously high price we pay for legal downloads.
We are the most expensive country in the world when it comes to downloading (twice the price the US pays).
I believe Apple were questioned about this and they said that the reason was that everything is more expensive in the UK, so why should music be any different?

[hamsterman64]

ARGH!!! Stupid posty thing. I forgot to put what I said under the pittance part. Sorry about that.

[ryugaiden11]

Theres hope for the music biz after all.

[ClashCR46]

Punk_Ninja wrote:

I'm all for not downloading if you're downloading, metallica, megadeth, umm, slayer, popular music that you could easily take 20 minutes out of your life to nip into town and buy an album but trying to get somme music is murder, I recently downloaded a load of songs by Luna Sea and the Sex Machineguns, because I can't get them anywhere else other than limewire.
Same with Paul Gilbert, every town surrounding (and including) my own doesn't stock his music.

I do that, if a band was big a while ago, or only in a different country where are you ment to get their music?

[miketheman401]

what some people dont understand is a major label band doesnt get crap from record sales, the label does to cover recording and distribution bands get most of their money from touring. so when you download music illegaly your screwing over the label more than the artists

[Joshuar]

Jondy wrote:

hellchild101 wrote:

finally somethings being done about this. imagine how hard it is for a new band to get a record deal when no-ones gonna pay for it cause they can just as easily download it.

doesn't happen. never happens. people only download already popular stuff. not like bands get that much from sales anyways.

I support my favorite artists every chance I get, and I try to buy lots of newcomer stuff. But my money has a limit and it comes down to not hear their stuff at all or just download it. Which in the long run is more helpful because if I like it I tell everyone and have everyone listen to it.

+1

[blajano]

Don't copy that floppy!

[stueey]

Ok people, what do u think bands aprove of more? Buying their CD and sneek into the venue? OR buy the ticket and download the music? I'm pretty ****ed coz all my money goes on gig tix and guitar strings. If this happens i wont have enough dosh to buy new albums, thus not knowing any words to my fave bands new songs, thus having not such a great time at the gig coz i dont know the ****in words. Being in college with a part time job is sucky enough ass it is, i dont want my ****in music taken away from me too. Im gona copy all my mates cds and rip their music from their ipods now. Didnt think it would have to come to this lol.

(I may have over exagerated)

[omarrodrigez]

miketheman401 wrote: so when you download music illegaly your screwing over the label more than the artists

Labels need to get screwed over, so that's a good thing.

[Winand52]

People will just find a new way to share illegal music. Besides, most people still buy the cds, and most people still go to concerts. They make lots of money, they are just greedy. Lifes hard when you cant afford a seventh mansion or a twenty third car i guess...

[Ikey]

i dont think this will make anyone more richer, its the downloading that gets bands hyped up and thats how they make money, and all my fave artists (eg brian jonestown massacre) give their music away on their websites.
and i really cant think of any way that the isps can find out what is in every file being downloaded it would cost them too much to employ people.

[B3low3mpty]

i hope the internet companies plan on losing a ton of customers.

[Mr.Garreth]

ThunderPX wrote:

Maybe they should get rid of ridiculous CD prices- problem solved.

Amen because that is kinda why people started illegally downloading because music is just too darn expensive. And the more people download, the more they raise the prices on the CDs. Understandable yet at the same time really silly.

[PopNFresh07]

^ +1.

Now, rather than the music business going under, the ISPs will fall as well.

I suppose "if we're going down then we're taking as many with us as we can" applies here.

[ShamiqSevenfold]

good thing i dont live in UK

[poopiebear]

Ticks & Leeches wrote:

perhaps you should pay for your music

i only buy my favorite bands CD's...if i paid for all my music, 10,864 songs, average 12 songs per CD, average $13 per CD, $11,769.33 (+ tax), **** off "ticks & Leeches"

[skywayavenue]

what are you talking about TheSouthernator?!
bands need money from albums to fund the lvie shows
and its not like most bands are in it for the money, but the band sometimes is their only source of income and thats why musicians need the album sales money too

[Detonation]

B3low3mpty wrote:

i hope the internet companies plan on losing a ton of customers.

[axis56]

demonhunter2 wrote:

six million pissed off people

+1

[!@#$]

Sorry, but with all the money lost downloading music, the bands still end up being millionaires somehow

[TheBurningFish]

This is dumb... 'Yes, we seriously expect you to spend half an hour of your life and £8-20 to buy a CD from a band that you have probably never heard and therefore cannot make an educated opinion on how they sound.' Riiiight. This is just another way to supress genres so we all have to listen to ****ing 50 cent and such. Is Paul Gilbert ever on CD:UK? What about the White Stripes? BB King? Van Halen? No. It's because of people keeping this down that dumb little kids only hear about horrible trendy musicians. And 'losing millions because of it'? That's assuming people would buy the CD, and that people did not buy the CD after trying the music out.
It's a shame that people who download to try out bands and then go see them live and buy the CD etc. aren't allowed to do so because some people are lazy. Some people can't afford your overpriced CDs! Not everyone wants to shell out £50 every time they wanna look into a different genre!

On the other hand, alot of this stuff is on YouTube anyway. :O Oh wait! They're taking stuff off that too...

[HavokStrife]

Then give us money to buy the shit, seriously. Do you realize you have to make about 40-50,000 dollars (per spouse, about 90 if you're all alone) a year to be able to own a house in average american city life? The economy is shot here, because all of the big businesses have the money, and they want more, a la this post, but did it ever occur to them they are already rich and have everyone's money and there really isn't anymore to give? Hence the tax relief everyone is getting got voted on so fast, congress was like, "wow... you niggas really are broke..."

[olliemo]

on one hand this is bad, you cant try music before you buy the overpiced CD, but, if it happens, the price of Cds will drop because theyll make more money, unless theyre totally profit crazed, which would be probable nowadays

[RyanMcCartney]

Until we get back to CD only sales there shouldn't be a problem with downloading MP3's illegally.

It's a poorer product than CD.

The music industry is the only industry in the world thats happy to let consumers download a substandard product, so it's more convenient. MP3 and whatever other platforms are not upto standard. Full stop.

[gsr2k6]

stumaster18 wrote:

People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers?

I download alot of stuff I have never heard about (Mostly going off recomendations and such) and I have played out this scenario many times because of it.

[Winand52]

olliemo wrote:

on one hand this is bad, you cant try music before you buy the overpiced CD, but, if it happens, the price of Cds will drop because theyll make more money, unless theyre totally profit crazed, which would be probable nowadays

It won't drop. It will probably be raised because we are being forced to buy it, so they know it will sell. Principle of supply and demand and the corporation being a bunch of ****heads.

[metOLIca]

^^ lucky you $13 a CD, if this download ban actually works and i have to start paying 14-15 pounds an album, then music is gunna go from the most important thing in my life to like 4th - 5th, just cos i wont be able to afford to enjoy it, im just gunna be listening to the same songs over and over again, i wont find out any new bands, or if i dont i'll only be able to listen to their songs that they put on myspace!! it'd be cheaper to be a smackhead than a music fan!!!!

[sowhat360]

gsr2k6 wrote:

stumaster18 wrote:

People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers?

I download alot of stuff I have never heard about (Mostly going off recomendations and such) and I have played out this scenario many times because of it.

in most cases it has the opposite effect, and it's been proven by the decline of touring festivals, and big outdoor venues needing to close down because they can't sell enough tickets.....people just download the songs they like and dont become a real "fan" of the band

[Sculptor]

Fantastic.. i hope it is introduced all over the world.

[str84ever]

This is gonna suck for me. Especially when you listen to obscure bands who music was never released in cd format or is out of print etc.

[R3ptilia]

i dont understand how people who use file sharing programs such as limewire are getting punished. all it is is someone wants a song. his computer downloads it from someone else who is also using the file sharing program and has the song. someone could get a song they want from your computer also. its not stealing so much as sharing

[smittyclk]

It's amazing how many people do not understand how downloading is a tremendous help to struggling artists. If free listeners are such a terrible thing, then lets make radio illegal too.

[roarinflames]

my lime wire quit working anyway

and i only used it to find rare tracks you cant get on cd's like cliff burton's last bass solo.

oh actually a cd shop near my house has the whole live bootleg

[as_i_lay_dead]

smittyclk wrote:

It's amazing how many people do not understand how downloading is a tremendous help to struggling artists. If free listeners are such a terrible thing, then lets make radio illegal too.

this is true, or any form of streaming
but i dont like the sound of this ban, i expect il get a warning if it all goes ahead

[roarinflames]

R3ptilia wrote:

i dont understand how people who use file sharing programs such as limewire are getting punished. all it is is someone wants a song. his computer downloads it from someone else who is also using the file sharing program and has the song. someone could get a song they want from your computer also. its not stealing so much as sharing

pretty soon they're gonna ban STP programs too, im sure.

(for those who dont know, an STP program is a program that allows you to access your computer from another computer that has internet)

[psychokiller99]

i'm not condoning illegal downloading, but i think that the main reason record sales are falling is because not a whole lot of good music is being made. i guess the label's just don't want to accept that.

[Psychopathology]

Yay for the greedy record labels!

[Tapping_Ninja]

I think the only time its ok to pirate an album is if you can't find it to buy it either in a store or on itunes... But thats the only time...

[Tabassco]

I bought like 6 cd's last year, but I wouldn't want to give out more. A regular 'Tallica or Maiden album costs a whopping 18 €. That's NOT affordable for kids of 16 years old, so, we download the stuff. I now have the whole Metallica collection of cd's at home, but I used to have it all downloaded, and piece by piece I achieved my goal. Music industry has to understand that teenagers (and even a whole lot of adults) don't have the money to buy their cd's.

[PhL@$h]

ahh bull cr*p, they will never stop us pirates

[tj-666]

1. I Buy the original CD if its decent music, i can use it how i wish & not be told that i can put it on one mp3 or another.

2. Pirates will always find away round, first it was napster, then kazaa, then limewire, and now its bit torrent, the difference being that bit torrent data passed through phonelines can be disguised so good luck distinguising between legal torrents and copyrighted ones,

3rd of all, music and cd sales are where the record labels make money, not the band themselves, if you want to really support a band and screw the money hungry record labels who only want the money, go to the live shows

[imnobedhead]

Music being downloaded freely is the future. Record labels need to begin working with this truth, not fight it.

[omarrodrigez]

Sculptor wrote:

Fantastic.. i hope it is introduced all over the world.

sowhat360 wrote:
in most cases it has the opposite effect, and it's been proven by the decline of touring festivals, and big outdoor venues needing to close down because they can't sell enough tickets.....people just download the songs they like and dont become a real "fan" of the band

Those are 2 of the stupidest things I've ever heard.

[Raven_Flight]

In my country every cd that comes from imported from foreign countries is very expensive... sometimes I download music to listen the cd, and If I like it, I always go and buy it :S I don't think it is that bad...but I know sopme people just download in freaky ways :P

[FearBefore]

smittyclk wrote:

It's amazing how many people do not understand how downloading is a tremendous help to struggling artists. If free listeners are such a terrible thing, then lets make radio illegal too.

Amen. This is a losing battle. 6million people in the UK? That has to be a weak statistic. I can imagine it being double, maybe triple that.

[xtremeloozer]

wow, i highly doubt they lose millions of dollars over this shit, and bands dont make money off cd sales, and theyd be damn happy probably getting at least a fraction of the profit off of cd sales. but honestly, id be pretty honored if someone wanted to download my music or film even if they stole it, just the fact someone actually enjoys it is good enough for me

[Bazilisck311]

Millions of a billion dollar industry - What's the matter Warner Brothers? Struggling to pay for your third homes? We can't pirate T-shirts, concert tickets and trademark royalties.

I'll start buying full albums when bands stop releasing 30 minutes of filler.

[frusciante.ve]

TheSouthernator wrote:

People shouldnt play music for money, and any up and coming band in it for the money shouldnt be playing in the first place. it should be free to download-and band worth their salt is gonna make plenty in the live show anyway...

how could a band tour if they aren't being paid?. They need money in order to tour.

[Rorok_89]

God bless Spain, and its impunity for small and big (mainly big) criminals.

[omarrodrigez]

frusciante.ve wrote:

how could a band tour if they aren't being paid?. They need money in order to tour.

Touring is how they make money.

[xtremeloozer]

o, and to add on did you people know that if this ban goes through, cd prices will go up to 18-22 dollars a pop? its gay because when the companys find out its illeagle, they can jack up the prices knowing that people cant get it anywhere else(except itunes ect.) and its just bullshit, i say keep downloading legal or at least just give the isp companys a limit to what people can download, persay 500mb a month or w.e

[banana stickers]

XD wonder how many there are in america?

[Rungej]

If I was in a somewhat successful band I would rather have people listen to my music for free, than be too poor to afford to buy a cd.

[Nathan_393]

That is definitely really, really stupid.
Honestly, it goes back to two things: 1. Crap music is being made today and it's not worth buying. That's why sales are going down. 2. CD prices are way too high. Lower them so people can afford them and you'd see more people buying them.

The labels are so deceived by their greed they don't see it as their undoing.

[PekarGuitar]

Bazilisck311 wrote:

Millions of a billion dollar industry - What's the matter Warner Brothers? Struggling to pay for your third homes? We can't pirate T-shirts, concert tickets and trademark royalties.

I'll start buying full albums when bands stop releasing 30 minutes of filler.

Bazilisck has a good point here. Musicians make most of their money from concerts and royalties. Not from album sales. Record companies are the ones hurting from the lack of album sales. And with technology today any musician can record his music and distribute it via internet. This is simply the beginning of the elimination of Record Companies from the musical process, allowing musicians to connect with their fans more easily.

[enmusicerartgy]

Music is art. Art is not for profit. If record companies all went to shit... so does the bad music. REAL musicians will make it happen. REAL musicians will record in home studios even if its hard to afford. REAL musicians know that the industry is ****ed and music is a means of expression, not a means of getting rich.

[suggy88]

1. As a musician, this can be a good thing
2. I'm just as guilty for downloading
3. Lower Cd prices and sales might go up? just a suggestion

[xtremeloozer]

if this ban goes through to america, im so gana start up a boycott and hope it spreads else where, shut those mf ing conglomerates what musics really about

[Kuikara]

stumaster18 wrote:

Bad idea. The bands make most of their money from touring, not from CD sales. That's mainly how record companies make their money. Those 6 million people are just in the UK...imagine what North America is like. People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers? And if someone really likes a band, they'll buy the CD anyways. Downloading is just a means of sampling the music before you either buy it..or delete it, or leave it on your computer and not listen to it. At least that's how I see it. If I download CDs and I like them, I will buy the CDs. I do this all of the time. But if I don't like the CDs, I either delete them or forget about them. This is how everyone should approach this situation.

although im totally up for what your saying ill give my veiw . i go to a collage for music and study this and bands dont make money out of touring . the only way to make money out of touring is to be very well known which is fine if you are but for bands starting off its no good . touring is mostly used to promote the cd but if the cd 's are not selling then they have no income . the reason bands make no money from touring is because they have to hire all the crew tour bus gear promoters tour managers and so on and then the record company take there share so in the end the band gets very little in the end . not saying im against what u said but i just though id shed some light on the subject

[in*limbo]

its a bit extreme. but fair. if it happens to you you deserve it.

[omarrodrigez]

enmusicerartgy wrote:

Music is art. Art is not for profit. If record companies all went to shit... so does the bad music. REAL musicians will make it happen. REAL musicians will record in home studios even if its hard to afford. REAL musicians know that the industry is ****ed and music is a means of expression, not a means of getting rich.

This man speaks the truth! once the record companies are dead and they stop manufacturing shit bands, the real music will start to emerge.

[Kuikara]

Kuikara wrote:

stumaster18 wrote:

Bad idea. The bands make most of their money from touring, not from CD sales. That's mainly how record companies make their money. Those 6 million people are just in the UK...imagine what North America is like. People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers? And if someone really likes a band, they'll buy the CD anyways. Downloading is just a means of sampling the music before you either buy it..or delete it, or leave it on your computer and not listen to it. At least that's how I see it. If I download CDs and I like them, I will buy the CDs. I do this all of the time. But if I don't like the CDs, I either delete them or forget about them. This is how everyone should approach this situation.

although im totally up for what your saying ill give my veiw . i go to a collage for music and study this and bands dont make money out of touring . the only way to make money out of touring is to be very well known which is fine if you are but for bands starting off its no good . touring is mostly used to promote the cd but if the cd 's are not selling then they have no income . the reason bands make no money from touring is because they have to hire all the crew tour bus gear promoters tour managers and so on and then the record company take there share so in the end the band gets very little in the end . not saying im against what u said but i just though id shed some light on the subject

however i just thought id add that record companys are the reason bands get no income

[Snuggler]

Whats the point of making a band and creating albums if you cant make money because stupid people want to download illegaly and not pay for an album. I think this is a good thing, Its also good for the economy,not to sound like nerd.More album sales means good for our American economy which is nor far from a reccesion.So be a true American and not a communist(pirate)and please but your music.

[J450N]

"Why download when you can just go buy the CD in the shops"... hmmm... let me see... Maybe that's because if I go to my local shop I get given a stupidly tiny rock, metal, and punk section - whilsr R&B and Pop get whole isles! And to add to the injury to insult they force me to pay rediculous prices .
Sure I still buy CDs; album art is cool, so is a big stack of CDs, and most of all they're shiney But I cant survive and pay for music at that price.
Lower the prices, and give us a larger section in your shop. Then you can go and introduce your new laws.

[richitrules]

u bettar not take mah interwebzzz!

[J450N]

Snuggler wrote:

So be a true American and not a communist(pirate)and please but your music.

The one man cold war machine!

[Menza_]

I do not feel this is fair at al

[Guitar_Jester]

It won't work, but I don't really care. I buy it

[shadow_murph]

ThunderPX wrote:

Maybe they should get rid of ridiculous CD prices- problem solved.

that'll be the day! damn cd's are so expensive nowadays, I don't know many people who can afford to buy cd's from all their favorite bands. Why spend 30$ on a cd when you can go see them live for that same amount maybe a bit more but have most of that go strait to the band unlike when buying a cd and the band gets practically nothing from it.

I'd say that about 90% of people that go see a show don't own a cd of that particular band but have heard of them through the internet and downloads.

And what to the record company's care anyway?! Aren't they already rich enough? If they stop us from downloading sales will decrease even more if they actually have wich I highly doubt.

[Phe4rTheGod]

damn...seems pretty severe...

*downloads in america*

[apmaman]

It'll never pass through the commons so its pointless really.

[Phe4rTheGod]

Snuggler wrote:

Whats the point of making a band and creating albums if you cant make money because stupid people want to download illegaly and not pay for an album. I think this is a good thing, Its also good for the economy,not to sound like nerd.More album sales means good for our American economy which is nor far from a reccesion.So be a true American and not a communist(pirate)and please but your music.

majority of cds are imports...means squat to the economy...

[euan_soad]

This is crap, but if they are going to do this they'd better

1)not charge tax on cds
2)stop them being ridiculous prices. I am sick of seeing cds I bought on release date being double the price 3 years down the line.

[Adamus9]

To anyone who says that downloading is a way to sample the music is not that smart. bands have myspaces and the band website and put music on there to sample. that is a free way to sample music so that is not a argument.

[synth002]

enmusicerartgy wrote:

Music is art. Art is not for profit. If record companies all went to shit... so does the bad music. REAL musicians will make it happen. REAL musicians will record in home studios even if its hard to afford. REAL musicians know that the industry is ****ed and music is a means of expression, not a means of getting rich.

Real musicians need to make make money mate, music is art but some people want a career in music not just to dos around trying to make things happen in their spare time. It sucks but think of the times of maiden ect, they didnt have internet downloading then but the music industry was alive with real talent..

Sucks tho lol

[gm jack]

Well, the way I see it, the 'rising' underground scene of the moment will be crushed. Popular bands will sell CDs with downloading. The big problem is for relatively unknown bands, especially those in more extreme genres such as death metal. Not a lot of people are going to shell out for a CD when the chances of it being good are pretty low in all honesty.

As it is, people are taking the risks and getting into bands that would otherwise be skipped over due to lack of a way to sample to music (no radio airplay). Sure, a few pop artists may have to wait another week to get the money for a new mansion to come through, but for the creative side of the industry, it is doing wonders.

[omarrodrigez]

Snuggler wrote:

Whats the point of making a band and creating albums if you cant make money

Umm...to make good music? you sir, are an idiot.

[Raizer Sabre]

i mostly download bands that are either unheard of outside their own country or are so hard to get, i have no choice. this is how i got into power metal in the first place, and without all that exposure, what more have you got? i first thought the point of downloading music was to expose yourself to music you don't hear in the charts etc...chart music is crap anyway

[slapfunk_101]

I think it's pretty reasonable. The music industry has to be saved somehow.

[James_Het_Rules]

Hahahaha that's funny. Trying to stop music downloading is like trying to control 6 billion people. IMPOSSIBLE

[RockInPeaceDime]

Always sad when people are happy with fascism -.-

[i_am_metalhead]

James_Het_Rules wrote:

Hahahaha that's funny. Trying to stop music downloading is like trying to control 6 billion people. IMPOSSIBLE

+1

We all know that the RIAA tried to stop downloading in this country and have since failed miserably.

You will never stop downloading. Okay, threaten to shut off their internet - they will just find a loophole somewhere that will allow them to continue downloading without any penalties.

I think we should all download. I use to be against it until I realized how ridiculously overpriced cds are and the fact that the artist themselves get very little profits from record sales - the money goes straight to the pockets of the big wigs in the record company.

[RockInPeaceDime]

slapfunk_101 wrote:

I think it's pretty reasonable. The music industry has to be saved somehow.

The music industry brought it upon themselves. Perhaps if they produced anything besides soulja boy and MCR (aka something with quality) people wouldn't be so reluctant to blow $20 on a CD. The industry could easily take hold of the situation and make it for their own use; fact is, the music industry is primitive. If you want to be a business, you stay up on technology. They haven't. But of course, we live in a world where suing everybody and giving the government masses of control is the norm. No surprise.

[RockInPeaceDime]

On a final note, I severely wish people would shut the **** up with this hurting artists. Artists make like 6 cents per CD sale (probably less). The rest goes directly to the CEOs of record companies. Saying this hurts the artists tremendously is absurd. Artists have never made their money from record sales...

[CapnKickass]

Habit Zero wrote:

I've got about 1000 songs I've downloaded (not much, I know), but even if I couldn't download it all, I wouldn't buy it, which is I think, how most people feel. That's not lost money for the record companies, if the money was never going to be spent.

That one and

stumaster18 wrote:

Bad idea. The bands make most of their money from touring, not from CD sales. That's mainly how record companies make their money. Those 6 million people are just in the UK...imagine what North America is like. People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers? And if someone really likes a band, they'll buy the CD anyways. Downloading is just a means of sampling the music before you either buy it..or delete it, or leave it on your computer and not listen to it. At least that's how I see it. If I download CDs and I like them, I will buy the CDs. I do this all of the time. But if I don't like the CDs, I either delete them or forget about them. This is how everyone should approach this situation.

that one

[FiveStarMotel]

I live in the U.S so this won't affect me but even so I eventually stopped stealing stuff from limewire. I realized it's not just the music for me, I like buying the actual album, looking at the liner notes and stuff. I never buy Cds from itunes, I buy it from amazon and it's almost the same thing as stealing cuz its so cheap.

[roarinflames]

i say all the people of the uk
overload their ISPs with downloads
the government cant arrest 6 million people

just go download crazy

[FiveStarMotel]

Artists make like 6 cents per CD sale (probably less).

I'm pretty sure they actually make over a dollar per CD but it's still not much at all.

[JK2.0]

imjq87 wrote:

Peer Guardian, anyone?

Ahoy!

[MoshMaster101]

This is what it comes down to: lower the greatly extorted prices and I'll start buying more music.

[Sculptor]

omarrodrigez wrote:

Sculptor wrote:

Fantastic.. i hope it is introduced all over the world.
sowhat360 wrote:
in most cases it has the opposite effect, and it's been proven by the decline of touring festivals, and big outdoor venues needing to close down because they can't sell enough tickets.....people just download the songs they like and dont become a real "fan" of the band

Those are 2 of the stupidest things I've ever heard.

In my opinion downloading music is exactly the same as stealing a CD from a shop.. Should that go unpunished?? No.. didn't think so.

O and.. your an idoit.

[Raizer Sabre]

roarinflames wrote:

i say all the people of the uk
overload their ISPs with downloads
the government cant arrest 6 million people

just go download crazy

that, and our prisons are overcrowded with paedophiles and illegal immigrants as it is

[Grimme]

I'm sure we'll find out some way to do it without them knowing.

[Megallica666]

lol. i love downloading music. when i like it ill buy it. im not going to buy a ****ing album if it only has one good song on it.

[tintoenail]

thank god I live in the us =)
artists make about $1.50 per cd
noone is going to pay $20 a cd when they have so many songs that it would be 100s of cds and if the record companies would give us more stuff like metallica ozzy zeppelin and maiden instead of soulja boy and 50 cent and other sh!t maybe sales would go up

[Craigo]

Most people who have posted here have wound me up so much that I'm basically gonna say this instead of an essay. Here's the key points;

Every time you download you're stealing from the band and the record label. Record labels aren't capitalist pigs, most are seeing sharp sails losses due to downloading and have made cuts in jobs, bands on them, and band payments.

And you still reckon it doesn't hurt anyone?

Bands spend a lot of time writing and recording away from their own families... Don't they deserve their money? 99.9% of bands earn little money from gigging, it's mostly to raise awareness, so don't go for that attitude.

Want a sampler? Go to their myspace or whatever. 'fraid only one song will be good? Read a review. Can't find the album? play.com, amazon.co.uk, their records websites...

It's not hard. Grow up.

Additionally, this is the perfect approach. roarinflames, they're not arresting people, they're banning internet access. With a three strike policy, this doesn't sound too bad. They got no excuse of 'I didn't know'.

If you dependent on downloading to find new music, what's wrong with myspace, e-zines.....

[Black Revolver]

quite a few grammar mistakes in this artical lolzzz. Theres good and bad sides of everything. I dont think it should be downloadable, but maybe preview of full songs because people always wanna hear the cd before they buy it so they dont waste £12-£20 on a cd they wont like

[Thienskater]

well good thing i buy cds and rip them to my hard drive.

[AVA_Plus44_182]

Thank god I don't live in the UK.

[James_Het_Rules]

Id rather gig anyways, our band sells our shit for a whole 5 bucks a CD and we put it out there and advertise by ourselves, then we still make money, and people can get music at a good price

[Shor-T Zero]

^^ thank you Black Revolver, it seems like no one has caught all the mistakes in this article, when in every other article, people flame it non-stop.

Anyhow, out of that mode, +1 for Jondy and Craigo

[madmanomaironed]

Personally, I think that this will have a huge negative effect on the music industry. If people who dont have the money to buy the music dont download it, then they wont ever hear it. The effect of that is, that bands wont have as big a fanbase and less people would appear at their gigs as hardly anyone would no about them. A lot of people who illegally download also buy the music if they like it. I dont download anymore but when I used to, if I liked the music i'd go and buy the CD, if not i'd just delete it. The music industry should give up on CD sales as they're isn't much profit to be made in that. Instead they should focus on gigs, etc, as there is more profit to be made in that. Infact, if they lower the price of gigs and start building more gig venues, there'd be more overall profit.

[James_Het_Rules]

^^ To madman

I agree. half the bands such as dream theater i never really listened to them. I downloaded a bunch of their stuff and have bought all of their albums this year. Downloading is some of the great advertising a band can get. Hell i've even put some of my own music up there.

[jamsking]

every body keeps saying bands make their money from touring nowadays and downloading only hurts the record company please do some research if that were true why can bands (exception of like stones joel springstein) only do tours if there is like ten of them on the ticket and have you looked at the venues being played way smaller than 20 years ago how bout the length of said tours 2 months 35 shows compared to 8 months 150 shows back in the day they do make money touring if people go but tickets cost money and thieves arent willing to spend it so just figure your ways around the new law and continue stealing that is the way of the world but quit pretending that what you are doing only hurts big corporate record labels it hurts the music let me repeat the music is being hurt

[James_Het_Rules]

Dude... I'm in a band. I DO know.

[Lin]

to me this is just the government bowing to industry pressure as the labels try to hold back the sea. In an age when many people like prince and radiohead are finally giving up on putting a price on an idea, this is seriously backward thinking.

New bands don't fail to make it because people are downloading their music. It is damn impossible to find obscure stuff on file sharing networks. The only people loosing out are the huge artists who make the vast majority of their money through touring anyway.

The digital revolution has been a huge boost to the industry. When you can listen to your music whilst jogging, driving to work, or fragging people on Unreal Tournament, it stands to reason that you're going to consume a hell of a lot of music. no one 20 years ago got a new album every week like me and my friends all do now.

[madmanomaironed]

I think the only way for people to be able to understand how the music industry will have to change is by giving this example: Enter Shikari. Now most of you are probably not fans of that kind of music but they are a good example of what things are going to be like. This band started off in St. Albans playing a small venue called the pioneer (I went to see them once) and they grew in fame through a simple technique: passing around their music and playing loads and loads of gigs. The majority of their fanbase downloaded demos of their songs and then went to see the band live. The band gained most of its fame and money this way and thats how it reached fame. The truth is that its not about selling the tracks but about selling tickets to shows. Face it, technology will always progress and people will always find a way around things. But true experiences like going to gigs wont be replaced and hence that is where the musicians will make their real money.

[jane_says]

idk y isp's would cave to this, there gonna lose a lot of customers, cuz as soon as they get banned, there not gonna want it back, theres other ways to solve this problem, MAKE CD PRICES LOWER, and i always thought it was the music b4 the money and fame, i praise radio head for letting there album go up for free download and maybe a few more bands should think about doing this.....for there fans.

stoopid money guzzling artists these days, especially hip hop artists

[RockInPeaceDime]

Craigo wrote:

Most people who have posted here have wound me up so much that I'm basically gonna say this instead of an essay. Here's the key points;

Every time you download you're stealing from the band and the record label. Record labels aren't capitalist pigs, most are seeing sharp sails losses due to downloading and have made cuts in jobs, bands on them, and band payments.

And you still reckon it doesn't hurt anyone?

Bands spend a lot of time writing and recording away from their own families... Don't they deserve their money? 99.9% of bands earn little money from gigging, it's mostly to raise awareness, so don't go for that attitude.

Want a sampler? Go to their myspace or whatever. 'fraid only one song will be good? Read a review. Can't find the album? play.com, amazon.co.uk, their records websites...

It's not hard. Grow up.

Additionally, this is the perfect approach. roarinflames, they're not arresting people, they're banning internet access. With a three strike policy, this doesn't sound too bad. They got no excuse of 'I didn't know'.

If you dependent on downloading to find new music, what's wrong with myspace, e-zines.....

Artists make the vast majority of their money from shows and merchandise. They've never made their money from album sales. Pretty much any source would agree with that.

And again, it's sad when people are okay with signs of ensuing fascism.

[James_Het_Rules]

^^ madman,jane, lin

Finally some people that understand... lol

[Homeslice91]

stumaster18 wrote:

Bad idea. The bands make most of their money from touring, not from CD sales. That's mainly how record companies make their money. Those 6 million people are just in the UK...imagine what North America is like. People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers? And if someone really likes a band, they'll buy the CD anyways. Downloading is just a means of sampling the music before you either buy it..or delete it, or leave it on your computer and not listen to it. At least that's how I see it. If I download CDs and I like them, I will buy the CDs. I do this all of the time. But if I don't like the CDs, I either delete them or forget about them. This is how everyone should approach this situation.

right. but i think id rather be deprived of a few new bands than get banned from the internet. your right but. nobody would buy the cd unless it was great and even if i download an album i buy the hard copy if its good enough.

[trickie]

Cant anyone see that the record companies started stealing from us first? This just the robin hood effect

[kidwizz88]

One should make music purely for music's sake. Thats how it used to be in the beginning. Then people realised that if people liked listening to it, they would pay for it. And so the music biz began. It shouldnt be a business, its an art form. It is created for the joy and pleasure of creating. I am not saying you shouldn't pay to listen, as musicians need to get by, but record companies complaining they are losing sales is the company losing money, not necessarily the bands. Some bands may, but the bands that will make money in the 21st century are the ones that can do things indepentently. If you happen to make money off of this, you should consider yourself very lucky. Very lucky indeed. We all would love to make millions off writing and playing our own songs, and to live the rock star lifestyle, but face it, there are many easier ways to make a million.

[coheed.666]

ha ha UK sucks....jk iron maiden is awesome...good job guys

[kidwizz88]

rant over

[madmanomaironed]

stoopid money guzzling artists these days, especially hip hop artists

I dont think that "real" hip hop artists should be condemned. Only the new ones who just chat total bull. The real hip hop artists like the NWA wouldn't care about their sales as long as they got their word out. Its all these new money hogging artists like 50 cent who complain about record sales. Fact is that new hip hop artists cant properly perform gigs like the old skool guys could. Just like how rock musicians wont take as much of a blow because they can perform live. I'm guessing that the true people who suffer due to illegal downloads are the musicians who cant play live.

[troyponce]

There is no way in hell that I could afford the 1050 albums that I have on my external. I think the bands would rather have me listen to them and not pay than not listen to them and still not pay.

[FlamingYouth]

madmanomaironed wrote:

stoopid money guzzling artists these days, especially hip hop artists

I dont think that "real" hip hop artists should be condemned. Only the new ones who just chat total bull. The real hip hop artists like the NWA wouldn't care about their sales as long as they got their word out. Its all these new money hogging artists like 50 cent who complain about record sales. Fact is that new hip hop artists cant properly perform gigs like the old skool guys could. Just like how rock musicians wont take as much of a blow because they can perform live. I'm guessing that the true people who suffer due to illegal downloads are the musicians who cant play live.

+1

[smb]

Totally unworkable and will never happen.

[Colchester91]

TheSouthernator wrote:

People shouldnt play music for money, and any up and coming band in it for the money shouldnt be playing in the first place. it should be free to download-and band worth their salt is gonna make plenty in the live show anyway...

If you found out your favourite band were only doing it for the money would you stop listening to them?

[as_i_lay_dead]

Colchester91 wrote:

TheSouthernator wrote:

People shouldnt play music for money, and any up and coming band in it for the money shouldnt be playing in the first place. it should be free to download-and band worth their salt is gonna make plenty in the live show anyway...
If you found out your favourite band were only doing it for the money would you stop listening to them?

no, bit i would have a much reduced opinion on them

[cyanide02]

So does this mean that because i'm going to have to pay for every album i listen to, i'm going to be refunded when i buy a crappy album? because then they will have stolen my money.

[madmanomaironed]

At the end of the day we can blame the neocon capitalists who just assume that everyone has enough money for everything and if you dont then oh well. I wonder what Rage Against The Machine would say if they heard about this legislation.

[rhakiath]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA
thats bloody likely!

[SL!!!]

ChoPxSueY wrote:

hellchild101 wrote:

finally somethings being done about this. imagine how hard it is for a new band to get a record deal when no-ones gonna pay for it cause they can just as easily download it.
Imagine how hard it is for a new band to get their music heard if the only way to hear it is to pay to see them or buy their cd. It's not always a bad thing. It lets people sample the music and hear new bands. I think they're overreacting a bit with the "while music and film companies say they are losing millions as a result." Thats if everything thats downloaded was purchased from a shop, i've got loads of shit on my harddrives ive never even seen, i just download it for the sake of having it.

Yeah, a lot of people who download wouldn't have bought the cd in the first place. This won't go over well. I really doubt they'll ban millions of people from the internet. Haha, cus seriously, a lot of people download, even if this is just in the UK. But yeah, this is just not going to happen. It's like those people here in the US claiming they are really going to round up 20 million illegal immigrants and ship them back, yeah, sure.

[Repo]

several of you are ****ing crits don't act like you've never used limewire or old napster..

[real6]

People should just do what Radiohead did and let the buyer choose the price. I read that Radiohead made much more money than most bands under contract. So if bands did that, the bands are happy with money, and consumers are happy with their prices. Everyone's happy. (Except the record companies, but who honestly cares if their happy? All they do is make money off the bands like a disease. Maybe they do some PR work, but I don't care.)

[Waterboy799]

this will never work for a few reasons;

one, tell a child not to touch fire, what are they going to do? touch fire

two, it's highly unlikely that internet companies are going to like the idea of losing customers because the government is in bed with music companies, unless then the internet companies start getting in bed with government *cough*corruption*cough*

three, this is 6 million people you're talking about here, and 6 million in the UK only, imagine what numbers there are in the U.S. plus other countries? you can't make 6 million + people just stop downloading just how you can't make crack addicts stop taking crack.

[Moontard]

getts182 wrote:

Good for the UK. People get punished for stealing a CD, why should people get away from it by stealing over the Internet. Glad I quit doing that years ago.

now that you've admitted to it i think you should be punished .

[LedZepKicksAzz]

why dont they just rip all the sites off the web? make everything itunes and if you prefer stores. if youre afraid only one song will be good, just buy one song. single songs should be fifty cents so ppl can afford it. if you want the album, buy it. and itunes has to sample the full song. this way, there are no reasons for stealing, and the record company is happy. i should be in congress.

[markovh]

does this mean that we will be able to get our money back for buying an album, then finding out that its shit?

[ChainsawSnake]

More ineffective attempts to stop piracy.

Although it is refreshing to read a story about it from another country, and not another one of the RIAA's jokes of a solution.

[Kayfan]

Can somebody please send me a link to at least 20 bands that have gone bankrupt within the last 10 years due SOLELY to internet downloading?

I'm curious to know why everyone wants to support these "crazy" measures to prevent people from enjoying music at a reasonable price (since as we all know music is about the art, not the profits).

[gm jack]

The people who say it is the same a stealing a CD need to really think. With downloading, the companies do not lose anything, other than a POSSIBLE sale (remember that not everything downloaded would have brought otherwise, and even then some downloaders start buying CDs they downloaded and liked). When you steal froma shop, it has actually cost them money to print the CD and ship it to stores (no matter how little that may be).

I have downloaded for a while. There si no way I would have got into the music I am into without it. Therefore, all the bands that I have downloaded then gone to gigs, or bought shorts etc have benefited from me.

[alex-led-zepp91]

get rid of ridiculous cd prices and i'll get rid of limewire

[fiftysteps]

I believe this is good. I don't know why people are soo against this. Piracy is a bad thing, I used to download music and buy cd's. Now I solely buy CD's, maybe because of the packaging, because of the better sound quality. Better in the sense that I'm not stealing anything. There are millions of websites out there for you to preview movies. Every band has their official website and every band has their own myspace. There is no way for people to complain that they do not know what they are buying. I just hate the hearing and reading about Cd's and film's being leaked on the net. Hopefully this might work.

But people will always be cheap, people will always steal, and people will always complain about not being allowed to steal. Funny huh?

[Raizer Sabre]

gm jack wrote:

The people who say it is the same a stealing a CD need to really think. With downloading, the companies do not lose anything, other than a POSSIBLE sale (remember that not everything downloaded would have brought otherwise, and even then some downloaders start buying CDs they downloaded and liked). When you steal froma shop, it has actually cost them money to print the CD and ship it to stores (no matter how little that may be).

I have downloaded for a while. There si no way I would have got into the music I am into without it. Therefore, all the bands that I have downloaded then gone to gigs, or bought shorts etc have benefited from me.

+1000

[Wildchild92]

Punk_Ninja wrote:

I'm all for not downloading if you're downloading, metallica, megadeth, umm, slayer, popular music that you could easily take 20 minutes out of your life to nip into town and buy an album but trying to get somme music is murder, I recently downloaded a load of songs by Luna Sea and the Sex Machineguns, because I can't get them anywhere else other than limewire.
Same with Paul Gilbert, every town surrounding (and including) my own doesn't stock his music.

Exactly, where the hell do I get some Yngwie Malmsteen from??? Not Virgin/Zavvi thats for sure ¬_¬

[GNRAGE_2010]

This sucks because there ARE bands that don't care about it.

[~DrEaM ThEaTeR~]

good thing i dont live in the UK, cuz as a college student i dont have money to spend on music, so downloading it is the way to go.

and who gives a **** about the record companies?
bands dont make much money on their cds anyways, just the live shows.

downloading music has introduced me to so many bands i would never have listened to

[Human Typhoon]

art is free.
music is art.
music must be free.

enjoying art is not stealing.
20 bucks for a cd is stealing.

[freshtunes]

FiveStarMotel wrote:

Artists make like 6 cents per CD sale (probably less).
If they go platinum that is a million dollars just from CD sales. If they go gold that is half a million. That is 10 years salary for the average middle class American.

I'm pretty sure they actually make over a dollar per CD but it's still not much at all.

[Black Hole Sun]

Music and film industries aren't losing millions every year, they're making a couple less millions. They're still making ****loads of money. Greedy ****s.

[freshtunes]

Human Typhoon wrote:

art is free.
music is art.
music must be free.

enjoying art is not stealing.
20 bucks for a cd is stealing.

The have to lower the prices on albums.

[Gibson Phoney]

What they dont realise is people still wont buy cd's, they just wont get any music or just do it the old fashon way or find a different way(Google hacking anyone??)

Idiots

[Human Typhoon]

Waterboy799 wrote:

this will never work for a few reasons;

[...]

two, it's highly unlikely that internet companies are going to like the idea of losing customers because the government is in bed with music companies, unless then the internet companies start getting in bed with government *cough*corruption*cough*

exactly

[fiftysteps]

One last thing.

Art is free? Tell that to the artist who has to buy paint for his drawings.
Tell that to the musician who needs to take his guitar to the repair shop. And needs to buy a bigger amp to play in clubs.

ART IS NOT FREE.

[suminorudder]

i think its silly that there doing this. for one thing, the record companies are idiots to think that they dont MAKE money off of illegal downloading. heres why:

everytime somecody downloads "the ultimate alt rock of the 90's" torrent, or what have you, they get a hundred or more artists easy. its a well known fact that record companies send out samplers for free to radio dj's for free. and most sampler cds get put on a shelf because their not singles that they can really play. with torrents and other sharing there are people that will actually buy a cd by the artist.

another reason is anyone who finds a band they really like are way more likely to buy tshirts, concert tix, etc.

and i always make it so that i never download a bands entire discography. you cant rely on everybody to do that but most people arent complete jerks.


pluse there is the fact that file sharing is still a live legal issue anyways. a major canadian label actually hired a lawyer to protect a person being sued by the RIAA. plus (though this doesnt really apply to britain.) the u.s. supreme court already ruled that music replication devices (a.k.a player pianos.) were constitutional, when classical musicians complained that the player pianos were cutting concert attendence and sheet music sales.

[RockInPeaceDime]

Colchester91 wrote:

TheSouthernator wrote:

People shouldnt play music for money, and any up and coming band in it for the money shouldnt be playing in the first place. it should be free to download-and band worth their salt is gonna make plenty in the live show anyway...
If you found out your favourite band were only doing it for the money would you stop listening to them?

I wouldn't have a favorite band who played just for money in the first place. It doesn't take rocket science to determine which bands truly love music and which bands are in it for the fame/money. You can tell by the way they write, how long they spend on albums/songs, how quality their writing is, how much attention they give it, how much time they spend on the red carpet, etc.

[Sound_Garden_X]

I'll download a song a two from a certain artist then normally go out and buy the cd, does it cost money yes it does, does the artist get money from no not really. Does any of that matter no. As much as I love my ipod for the most part I hate digital music, the fact that I can have so much of it with in one place is cool, but I personally like to have the cd or vinyl depending on my mood. I like being able to hold the album in my hands to me downloading music is like going to a concert and losing the ticket yes you were there but you cant show people the proof you guys get what im saying?

[freakypop]

thats awesome stop the ****ers at the root

[cloudy_skies]

ThunderPX wrote:

Maybe they should get rid of ridiculous CD prices- problem solved.

Thank you! The music industry has been acting like the mafia for decades and screwing over its clients (i.e. artists) and consumers. Hell, The Who sold millions of albums and were broke for years because of stupid record company business.

Is this just a coincidence, or do all the artists who are really against piracy already have money to burn? And all the artists in support of piracy are on indie labels, aren't a part of the mainstream, or otherwise don't have the money to fly private jets and buy diamond-studded swimming pools?

[Human Typhoon]

there are thousands of museums and libraries so full of art you can enjoy out there.



you can buy a book if you want but if you want to just read it you arn't compelled to do that.

an artist can sell you his drawings, but if you want to just take a look you can freely go to a museum.

why should be different with music?

anyway, i play guitar and i am payed for my shows. i go there and work, and so i am payed. what's wrong?

[THE BULGE]

right end of the day it cost a lot of oney to release a cd my art teacher is doing it himself and its gonna cost him 6 grand out his own pocket he probs wont make it back so people say music shouldnt be for profit should shut up i agree music is too expensive and why do we need to pay extra for old music ie a beatles album half them are dead so like why does a beatles cd cost 3 times more than a chart cd!! record comapanies are greedy but so are people that just want to fill an ipod for free

[metalhead2459]

thats ****in stupid! and that still wont stop me... im not gunna ****in buy cds... ill just do what i used to do before i had the internet... borrow friends cds that i want and burn copies.

[phenom1991]

I smell this is something in style of Metallica Vs. Napster hehe...

[crazyj]

RockInPeaceDime wrote:

Colchester91 wrote:

TheSouthernator wrote:

People shouldnt play music for money, and any up and coming band in it for the money shouldnt be playing in the first place. it should be free to download-and band worth their salt is gonna make plenty in the live show anyway...
If you found out your favourite band were only doing it for the money would you stop listening to them?
I wouldn't have a favorite band who played just for money in the first place. It doesn't take rocket science to determine which bands truly love music and which bands are in it for the fame/money. You can tell by the way they write, how long they spend on albums/songs, how quality their writing is, how much attention they give it, how much time they spend on the red carpet, etc.

WTF! So they are suppose to just play for the hell of it. How and the hell are they suppose to pay their bills. People tend to forget that by downloading music illegally your screwing someone out of money. It doesnt matter if they are corporate dickheads or the janitor that cleans the record labels building, your still stealing someones source of income. Stop trying to justify what you are doing by saying that the record labels screw the bands or the consumer because if thats the case yhou are just as guilty as they are.

[sestemofatowel]

TheSouthernator wrote:

People shouldnt play music for money, and any up and coming band in it for the money shouldnt be playing in the first place. it should be free to download-and band worth their salt is gonna make plenty in the live show anyway...

Um, it costs money to record an album dude, instruments cost money, lets what else, oh yea, life costs money. Do you know whats its like to spend like 18 months with like 10 people inside a little astrovan. Hoping that someone doesnt break into while you stop to eat at some nasty little resturant?

[Death-Speak]

Wow that mandate is like telling your local street department, to make sure no drunks use their streets.

I think someone's priorities are off a little....

[Nor'Easterbass]

i personally think this could save the music industry if it gets passed. since music recording is my major, this really comforts me a bit because i was starting to worry that i was gonna enter a dead field.

[365_days_gone]

Perfectly legal in Canada. Glad I'm Canadian!

phew...checked!

I think I need a lie down now...

[strat0blaster]

hellchild101 wrote:

finally somethings being done about this. imagine how hard it is for a new band to get a record deal when no-ones gonna pay for it cause they can just as easily download it.

Actually, as a musician now who's gigging, recording, and playin shows, as well as growing up in the industry, I can tell you that the revenue which makes impact directly to the artist comes from A) Merchandise sold, eg. tshirts, stickers, posters, etc; and Touring, which is where the bulk of it comes from. Sorry.
And -

ValoRhoads wrote:

stealing is stealing, this is a bit harsh but they could do worse

Like stealing by pricing a cd too high and taking 18 of my 21 dollars when it only costs 3 to make a cd? Yeah - stealing is stealing. They only cost around five bucks to make. When Cds become priced FAIRLY, I'll buy every one that I like. Also, unfortunately, the musical climate today is one of constant disappointment as far as albums coming out with a few singles and a bunch of filler. If I download an album and like it, I'll go buy it to have the art as well, however I can't justify throwing 20 bucks against the wall for a cd that could, in all probability, suck hard.

[Social D Rox]

there's about 10 million pissed off people if this goes down. people could not work without the internet.

[Seattle_sound35]

ChoPxSueY wrote:

hellchild101 wrote:

finally somethings being done about this. imagine how hard it is for a new band to get a record deal when no-ones gonna pay for it cause they can just as easily download it.

Imagine how hard it is for a new band to get their music heard if the only way to hear it is to pay to see them or buy their cd. It's not always a bad thing. It lets people sample the music and hear new bands. I think they're overreacting a bit with the "while music and film companies say they are losing millions as a result." Thats if everything thats downloaded was purchased from a shop, i've got loads of shit on my harddrives ive never even seen, i just download it for the sake of having it.

That's a good point, but bands can always post songs on a myspace page or blog, and people can sample them that way. If more bands do what Radiohead did when releasing In Rainbows, everyone would benefit.

[dimebagsmygod]

This ain't gona stop me downloading! Why pay for something that you may not even like?

The bands don't exactly get there fair share from album sales anyway, it's more the record labels and shops. If all the money goes directly to the artists than I'd be happy to pay for all my music.

[Jonjy2]

Wow.. Probably a good thing really.. I mean it's really unfair to all the musicians and record companies.. Just sucks for everyone else..

But I can only say that cuz I dont live in the UK... =P

[Xeus]

i better get downloading

[dimebagsmygod]

strat0blaster wrote:

hellchild101 wrote:

finally somethings being done about this. imagine how hard it is for a new band to get a record deal when no-ones gonna pay for it cause they can just as easily download it.
Actually, as a musician now who's gigging, recording, and playin shows, as well as growing up in the industry, I can tell you that the revenue which makes impact directly to the artist comes from A) Merchandise sold, eg. tshirts, stickers, posters, etc; and Touring, which is where the bulk of it comes from. Sorry.
And -
ValoRhoads wrote:

stealing is stealing, this is a bit harsh but they could do worse Like stealing by pricing a cd too high and taking 18 of my 21 dollars when it only costs 3 to make a cd? Yeah - stealing is stealing. They only cost around five bucks to make. When Cds become priced FAIRLY, I'll buy every one that I like. Also, unfortunately, the musical climate today is one of constant disappointment as far as albums coming out with a few singles and a bunch of filler. If I download an album and like it, I'll go buy it to have the art as well, however I can't justify throwing 20 bucks against the wall for a cd that could, in all probability, suck hard.

+1

[sillybillym]

did UG make a typo or does the the spokesman for Dept. for CMS really have hes own spokesman

"A spokesman for A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport"

[Death_To_Emo]

I don't necessarily like it, but it needed to be done

[False_God]

Artical made me laugh.

Prolly wont stop anything tbh.

[Roedy0309]

ChoPxSueY wrote:

I think they're overreacting a bit with the "while music and film companies say they are losing millions as a result."

companies are losing money because there arent any big bands anymore, no more zeppelins, just crappy emo punk

[Sevenfoldizm]

Us Americans will never have to worry about this, seeing as back in the late 90s the ISPs lobbied a ****-load to get laws passed so they CAN'T be held liable.

[peaceonearth52]

SchitzoJoe wrote:

One more step away from Anarchy.

+1

[IbanezRGSHRED]

Ahhh.. I love America. =]
.. Most of the time.

[blues-guitarist]

Good thing i don't live in the UK lol

[linkrevolver]

Ticks & Leeches wrote:

perhaps you should pay for your music

sure, but perhaps music shold b cheaper

[Lambey]

i hope in light of this more bands will follow radiohead's example. some people love music but cant afford to pay extortionate prices for it. if people cant afford to keep buying music they'll have nothing to inspire them to play. then there'll end up being less decent bands around anyway.

money ruins everything.

[Macabre_Turtle]

Habit Zero wrote:

I've got about 1000 songs I've downloaded (not much, I know), but even if I couldn't download it all, I wouldn't buy it, which is I think, how most people feel.

This has always been my moral reasoning. Plus if I can't download your music, you can't convince me to buy your shirts and concert tickets.

[Hultan]

Band's shouldn't make music for money anyways.

[strat0blaster]

Macabre_Turtle wrote:

Habit Zero wrote:

I've got about 1000 songs I've downloaded (not much, I know), but even if I couldn't download it all, I wouldn't buy it, which is I think, how most people feel.


This has always been my moral reasoning. Plus if I can't download your music, you can't convince me to buy your shirts and concert tickets.

Perfectly stated. That's where the money's made anyway. And as far as it costing money to make music, you can buy a cheap dell, get a recording program, and record your own stuff that will sound better than studio recordings did for some of the 80's stuff haha. That's what I do when I don't go into the studio for roughs and demos. What ever happened to the day where you did ROUGH demos and sent them out, gaining interest by your skill in a LIVE SHOW? People complain about "it costs money to make music' becuase they're not skilled enough to draw record label attention with the shows, which is how it should be. It's also why, in the 80s, you had a TON of SKILL as opposed to a ton of mediocre playing like you do now.

[qOcOP]

Better download a shitload of music before it comes to the U.S!

[Frusciante30]

When I saw Serj Tankian open for the Foo Fighters in November, he was ranting on about politics and other issues like he always does and one of the things he said that really stuck in my mind was something like 'I had a dream that I was playing this song, and it was exactly as I'm going to play it now. It made me realise that music doesn't come from the artist, it comes from the universe. Doesn't music belong to all of us?' Or something like that.
Maybe downloading free music is stealing, maybe it is against the law, but sometimes you have to do bad things for good reasons. Music is overpriced. They just think 'Right, how much can we charge these kids for an album and get away with it?' If nobody pays for music, prices will have to come down.

[craggis19]

This is stupid. I would never have got into the music I like if I hadn't downloaded it. I'd see a recommendation in, say, Kerrang! (shame it's not that good now)download the music, buy the CD if I liked it. Then buy T-shirts (£13) go to concerts (£20+) and buy posters (£3+)....They've made their money out of me.
I'll accept this when they lower Cd prices to £5.

[booboo738]

Habit Zero wrote:

I've got about 1000 songs I've downloaded (not much, I know), but even if I couldn't download it all, I wouldn't buy it, which is I think, how most people feel. That's not lost money for the record companies, if the money was never going to be spent.

My musical tastes change too much to even buy songs for $1 each. Maybe for 50 cent each and you give me back 50 cent credit anytime I get tired of a song and delete it (which would be fairly often)!

that sounds great

way better then this law... jeeeez

[tj-666]

so in a country where the police already currently "to busy" to prosecute murderers, rapists and the w@nkers that go around stabbing people like its a hobby....

they now are going to prosecute us for downloading music?

the police in the UK couldn't catch a cold

also...

6 - 10 million people have their internet cut off?

at £20 a month, thats £120 a year... x however many million people...

even i know thats enough money to hurt an internet company

espescially when you consider that over 30% of all internet traffic is 'File Sharing' related...

incase you havent guessed...
im an computer geek, a musician and a realist

[Chickenfrmheck]

Twiggy81R wrote:

mp3's = The Millenium Mix Tape

Everyone used to make mix tapes and we never had lawsuits, etc.

TheSouthernator wrote:

People shouldnt play music for money, and any up and coming band in it for the money shouldnt be playing in the first place. it should be free to download-and band worth their salt is gonna make plenty in the live show anyway...

exactly my thoughts.
i could record off the radio, or mic my computer and record youtube to itself and it'd apparently be fine.

also, i'd be in it for the music if i made it big, even if i had to work another job to make ends meet.

plus, bands do make plenty and most of their money touring, cause you can't download an experience, only the music. a live show is something you have to go to

unfortunately, my parents haven't brought me to a concert yet though : (

[rifftnstrings]

This is wrong. All so the undeserved filth of the industry can continue to line their ****ing pockets. The incompetent and uncreative will ALWAYS ride on the coattails of the competent and creative.

[FS Guitar]

Sure i'll stop downloading, but i'll be damned if they take away me Audacity! Yarrrggghhh!!!

[GuitarSpike]

Piracy is not stealing.

[dimebagsmygod]

Frusciante30 wrote:

When I saw Serj Tankian open for the Foo Fighters in November, he was ranting on about politics and other issues like he always does and one of the things he said that really stuck in my mind was something like 'I had a dream that I was playing this song, and it was exactly as I'm going to play it now. It made me realise that music doesn't come from the artist, it comes from the universe. Doesn't music belong to all of us?' Or something like that.
Maybe downloading free music is stealing, maybe it is against the law, but sometimes you have to do bad things for good reasons. Music is overpriced. They just think 'Right, how much can we charge these kids for an album and get away with it?' If nobody pays for music, prices will have to come down.

Prices will only go up so they can get more money.

[fredzeskater]

but I download a few songs by the artist, and if i like it.. i buy the album ....

im not taking the risk of losing my ISP

[Page/Rhoads]

Ha ha yeah! It's about time!

[adamdrulz]

HAHAHAHA, TAKE THAT UP THE A$$ INTERNET PIRATES!!!!!

[TheAngryMob875]

5_Strings wrote:

wtffff are you people talking about!! .. downloading music is the best thing that has ever happened to the worldddd .. and these guys who are against it right now .. I'm sure you'll feel what I mean when you'll be deprived of it .. and having to buy every artist's CD for a song or a couple of songs .. I hope it doesn't come to US =( .. LEAVE US ALONEE

You are so god damn stupid its unbelievable. maybe people can go back to their old ways of putting out signles as cds for people to buy. if you were a musician, you'd be crying your eyes out right now, and this is a good idea.they deserve all the money they would be getting.

[yourillusion]

the main problem i have with the ISP thing is that i may download a song to see if i like it, then delete it and buy the cd. with this, i could get banned anyway.
thank God we Americans are free from Britain. lol.

[guitaluva15]

another easy way to get free music is to rent it from the library and just downloaad it. it is that simple!!!

[lateraluspiral]

adamdrulz wrote:

HAHAHAHA, TAKE THAT UP THE A$$ INTERNET PIRATES!!!!!

what have you lost from people pirating art?
nothing?
oh, okay.

[envoykrawkwar7]

okay perfect example here
artist cd sells 100000 dollars worth
that artist is only gonna see 300000 on just the cd
now when they go touring
ticket price about 30 bucks
teh venue to rent about well say 20000 for a small stadium that holds 5000 people
30x5000= 150000
thats half the album sales [give or take] in one night

still think all the money comes from album sales
[we went over this in ap music apreciation, any artist could survie of just shows, no problem]

[envoykrawkwar7]

envoykrawkwar7 wrote:

okay perfect example here
artist cd sells 10,000,000 dollars worth
that artist is only gonna see 300,000 on just the cd
now when they go touring
ticket price about 30 bucks
teh venue to rent about well say 20,000 for a small stadium that holds 5,000 people
30x5000= 150,000
thats half the album sales [give or take] in one night

still think all the money comes from album sales
[we went over this in ap music apreciation, any artist could survie of just shows, no problem]

i wish thhere was an edit button, fixed

[Feel bad inc.]

really bands arnt loosing money as much over downloading as record companys. All downloading does is take money away from greedy corporate executives who dont give a rats arse about the music being produced as long as it sells. Meh, normaly I download to see if I like a band then go buy the cd, but guess if this happens in australia ill have to go back to just listening to bands people tell me are good.

[Chaingarden]

God damn, finally. Artists can make a decent living again. They may make nothing on record sales, but how are they gonna get a label to back them unless they can sell? Most musicians can't pay to get decent studio time, a producer, set up a tour, etc. by themselves.

Anyone who says people should play music for free and that "people who are in it for the money shouldn't be playing" are ****ing idiots. How do you expect them to keep up the music you're hearing? They have to eat and pay the bills to live, so either they make a living off their music, or they get a "real" job, which significantly cuts into time making music. You're a fool if you don't think making music and distributing your art for people to hear doesn't take a huge amount of time and money.

[ultrablue123]

the corporations are greedy, it just proves that they really dont care about showing people a good movie or some good music all they care about is the money. gay.

[TooFast]

sowhat360 wrote:

gsr2k6 wrote:

stumaster18 wrote:

People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers?

I download alot of stuff I have never heard about (Mostly going off recomendations and such) and I have played out this scenario many times because of it.


in most cases it has the opposite effect, and it's been proven by the decline of touring festivals, and big outdoor venues needing to close down because they can't sell enough tickets.....people just download the songs they like and dont become a real "fan" of the band

Yes.

No.

[leony03]

envoykrawkwar7 wrote:

okay perfect example here
artist cd sells 10,000,000 dollars worth
that artist is only gonna see 300,000 on just the cd
now when they go touring
ticket price about 30 bucks
teh venue to rent about well say 20,000 for a small stadium that holds 5,000 people
30x5000= 150,000
thats half the album sales [give or take] in one night

still think all the money comes from album sales
[we went over this in ap music apreciation, any artist could survie of just shows, no problem]

venues cost loads to go to for the band. they have to pay for everything so u think about it, they prob only get about 20 - 30% of it. does some of that money go to the record companies cos they dont run the show do they? they dont hv much to with it. they just produce the albums and sell em lol

[MindDecay]

Lol I laughed at this arctice...Sorry. You know the second they start to ban people from the internet people are going to start finding ways around that and keep on downloading files illegally.

Why don't you actually hit the P2P file sharing netowrks and do something about them instead of issuing a ban? That will stop the downloading right then and there for a period of time..


Or better yet, charge the people who are using Limewire,Kazaa, ect a Monthly Fee or something. Like what Rhapsody does...

[Jeffray85]

stealing is stealing I agree but if it were stealing from the artists they wouldn't be doing anything about it, no it's the rich record executive who may not get to buy another yacht this year that makes me angry, I think this is a good thing because as long as music has existed record companies have said "**** you" to the fans and the fans had no choice, now it's funny to watch them actually have to try and be polite to the people, watch them cry about it, watch them **** up hiring the riaa and lose money, you get what you give and it's been a long time coming.

[gigson111]

this is good, i agree, they should get in poopoo (:P) cuz theres bagillions of small bands out there and nobody can get a record deal cuz nobodys buying cds, i pay for my music, so should everyone else... this is why music world has closed

[2mins2midnite]

so if i have free limewire version on my pc, im gonna get done for?
casue i better delete it quicktime

[envoykrawkwar7]

leony03 wrote:

envoykrawkwar7 wrote:

okay perfect example here
artist cd sells 10,000,000 dollars worth
that artist is only gonna see 300,000 on just the cd
now when they go touring
ticket price about 30 bucks
teh venue to rent about well say 20,000 for a small stadium that holds 5,000 people
30x5000= 150,000
thats half the album sales [give or take] in one night

still think all the money comes from album sales
[we went over this in ap music apreciation, any artist could survie of just shows, no problem]

venues cost loads to go to for the band. they have to pay for everything so u think about it, they prob only get about 20 - 30% of it. does some of that money go to the record companies cos they dont run the show do they? they dont hv much to with it. they just produce the albums and sell em lol

well you realize on an average tour theyre playing in excess of 30 shows, and its acutally not that expensive to book all the shows and dates, and its always planed to be a massive profit on evey show, say after that 20000 small arena, they book a large arena at oh say 95000, the arena is going to hold about 20000 people at ticket prices of about 60 bucks each, thats 1200000, on the one show, that only cost them a totaly of under 100000, at the end of the tour they do end up with massive profits for greater than what they make from recording companies, and far more than recording companies would make, so thats why theyre so concerend about music being stolen, because record ceos are money hungry beyond belife

[Mortalitas]

All of the music ive illegally downloaded i wouldnt have brought anyway, so they music industry isnt losing any money because im downloading.

[)Eric(Draven]

Do it.
I might stop downloading.
But I still won't buy CDs.

[demole]

this will never happen

[utjimbo2010]

Yeah, i occasionally download music for free if its artist i'm curious about, but i admit that it's stealing. A company pricing their product however high they want to price it is not stealing. Ex: a record company could price an album for $40. Some people have the reasoning that the price is too high so they'll just download it. That's stealing. Use logic. If the album was $1 and you were interested, you might pick it up. You would have bought the album. The fact is, most people don't want to pay for music. I didn't mean for this to be an argument against illegal downloading, because I'm for it. I just want people to admit to it and accept the consequences.

[Shread_6009]

instead of punishing the people that download the pirated videos, punish the ones selling it. i buy my CD's, but i used to download songs and i think thats a litle harsh. if it's not being offered noone will be able to buy them

[brentondig]

sowhat360 wrote:

gsr2k6 wrote:

stumaster18 wrote:

People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers?

I download alot of stuff I have never heard about (Mostly going off recomendations and such) and I have played out this scenario many times because of it.

in most cases it has the opposite effect, and it's been proven by the decline of touring festivals, and big outdoor venues needing to close down because they can't sell enough tickets.....people just download the songs they like and dont become a real "fan" of the band

Most touring festivals, ie. Gigantour, which I saw (the 1st one), are only ever good for a few bands (in the case of Gigantour 1, Dream Theatre, Symphony X, and Megadeth). Personally, I'd rather just see one band's concert, and not be fed trash I don't want to hear. The problem with metal festivals nowadays is that there are so many newer metal bands that just suck. Either that, or the good old metal, like Megadeth, have gone sour like milk left out of the fridge.
I still go to concerts, just not those fruity festivals. Unless I get out to Germany sometime. I want to hit up Wacken Open Air for sure. \m/

[dtstuff9]

http://torrentfreak.com/illegal-downloaders-will-not-face-uk -ban-080212/

[6sic6_blank]

I'd buy CD's if I had money. But I don't, so as a turn around, I download. I mean, MP3 files are good, but where's the album art? The 'right' lyrics in a fancy book? It sucks being poor sometimes...

[GREENWARRI0R]

Sounds lame, kinda. I don't know... I DL music, but it's kinda like a try before you buy thing for me. If I like the band, then I will buy the CD. If I don't then I just delete the music, simple as that. I like the idea of actually owning an actual CD of a band i like (why I don't buy albums off iTunes much, if at all) but if I havent heard any of it before I purchase, I'm very hesitant. What if I don't like the CD? There's $13+ dollars down the drain for me, and 30 second track previews just don't cut it for me. THEN! theres just some music that's a bitch to find (i.e. Buckethead) so what do you do then?

[Rizzo!]

5_Strings wrote:

wtffff are you people talking about!! .. downloading music is the best thing that has ever happened to the worldddd .. and these guys who are against it right now .. I'm sure you'll feel what I mean when you'll be deprived of it .. and having to buy every artist's CD for a song or a couple of songs .. I hope it doesn't come to US =( .. LEAVE US ALONEE

It's called a job. Get one. And maybe a life too.

If I make some art and put it up for sale, and you take that art without paying and you don't own the copyright to it, then you have stolen it. Period.

[Detonation]

Wow if this is to come to the US i would go nuts. I even found my favorite band "Trivium" on limewire one day just doing searches looking for some new stuff. This probably the worst thing ever since this new music they release like Greenday and stuff like that.

[perilouspete]

can't blame em for laying down the law, i download all the time but the bottom line is it's wrong. it's not like this is unfair if you think about it.

[IlikeMetal]

Yarrrr, this ain't be good fer me.

[Mudvayne_4_Life]

Good thing I don't live in the UK. lol

[RockInPeaceDime]

gigson111 wrote:

this is good, i agree, they should get in poopoo (:P) cuz theres bagillions of small bands out there and nobody can get a record deal cuz nobodys buying cds, i pay for my music, so should everyone else... this is why music world has closed

They can't get record labels because the record labels don't care about quality music. They want fad music that will catch on and make them a million dollars in two days. Stop blaming downloading for artist's inability to get signed. Record sales account for an extremely minute income for artists.

[guitaluva15]

you guys suck. music's not about money, its about the power of the music!!!

[dgme92]

Shit, if this gets brought in in the UK, I live in Ireland, basically next door... Oh shit.

To contribute to conversation: I feel that CD's are priced too highly to buy now anyway, tbh. I recently saw an NIN album going for €30 in HMV. That's sheer wallet-rape. CD's should be €10 a pop, they cost nothing to produce, and people would actually buy them if they were that bit cheaper. If, like me, you are a music-loving secondary school student, currently without a job (too young), you would download too.

I see this particular industry as just like having a real job, anyway. You get up, and you work at it and practice every day, to get better at what you do for your living. Then, if the opportunity arises, you get to record a CD and release it, for the money, seeing as you need to eat, sleep, and pay bills somehow. Trust me, even famous musicians have to pay for heating and electricity, and sometimes have mortgages to pay off if they are only a rising star.

Point is, I personally feel that music is too expensive to buy, but I would gladly buy music if I had enough money to afford each and every CD I'm interested in. Musicians are people too, and they deserve their pay, which while that does mostly come from touring, it does include album sales to a certain extent. And until the record companies executives get their heads out of their arses and see the light of day by charging less for CD's, I'm afraid I won't be the one that's paying the musicians, unfortunately, no matter how good they are.

[IlikeMetal]

dgme92,

Yeah that'd suck for you guys having part of your country still belonging to the UK. Don't you guys have reps. in Britain's Parliament too, that might make your lives even worse.

[thycrusader]

imjq87 wrote:

Peer Guardian, anyone?

whats that?

[Mihyaeru]

A spokesman for A spokesman for the Department for Culture

Haha spokesmen have spokesmen...:P

I can see the arguement from both sides bieng both a music lover and musician myself...Being able to download music has actually bolstered my cd collection as OI've been able to download bands I've not heard before and if I like thme I'll go and buy the album, if not no money wasted! But on the flipside it is stealing if you never purchase the bands album(s) its like stealing a finely crafted guitar. Someone goes through all the effort to build this peice of art and then you steal it from them, don't give them anything in return for their hard work!! That is wrong downloading doe demoing purposes with the intention of purchasing an album is fine in my books If more labels/bands made available a select number of songs form the labums then more of the public can hear it and decide whether tis worth buying without forking out £10 and risking the potetntial wasteo f money

[7StringMassacre]

CD's cost to much. maybe if we got charged alot less for them you'd see less of this. plus like in alot of the other comments if ISP's are required to start cutting off people and suffering a loss from it they'll be up in arms pretty soon. I blame Metallica

[Dethklok_Fan07]

No matter what people will find away around this...

[GTB24]

i see this as bad because if people dwload one track illegally they might then be encouraged to go and buy the album
and they will find another way around it

[Mamono]

i think radiohead had the right idea

[hijeopi]

Record labels have been getting away with murder for years, and haven't changed a thing. production costs on a cd are probably less than a dollar each, yet I'm paying over 10x this price? Where's the injustice?

[BuryYourDead]

i agree that bands (not popular, well known, already established bands. i.e. Linkin Park, Paramore, ect. ect.) are losing money off all their music being pirated. but they still will make money off all the shows they do and merch they sell. so they're still earning a decent amount if they have enough fans.

[Paul DB]

...bollocks.

[drumbum4life]

good job about the music, but why movies too?! =[ i already paid to see it in theaters most likely so why pay for it again? oh well though i guess

[Emergancy Exit]

hijeopi wrote:

Record labels have been getting away with murder for years, and haven't changed a thing. production costs on a cd are probably less than a dollar each, yet I'm paying over 10x this price? Where's the injustice?

your paying for a service! and also there was many people's time involved in recording the album enginears, artists, producers ext. it is the same concept as paying for shipping.

[WeR138]

The bands and labels provide enough free downloads out there for a person to sample, plus you can sample a song on itunes and amazon before you buy it so thats no excuse.

Sure it only costs a few bucks to make a cd but the efforts of manufacturing, materials, legal costs etc it all adds up. Granted some CD prices are too high even so. Not to mention it takes petroleum to make plastics so with the rising cost of petroleum you also have the rising cost of materials for CDs. Just because the overall material cost is low doesn't mean the overhead is low.

[omarrodrigez]

I will never buy a CD from a major label, ever. They are the anti-music.

[hijeopi]

Emergancy Exit wrote:

hijeopi wrote:

Record labels have been getting away with murder for years, and haven't changed a thing. production costs on a cd are probably less than a dollar each, yet I'm paying over 10x this price? Where's the injustice?

your paying for a service! and also there was many people's time involved in recording the album enginears, artists, producers ext. it is the same concept as paying for shipping.

i say that including the costs that they're paying for the services. otehrwise i wouldve said the cds are costing 5centish if not less

[GuitarHero1081]

*sniff* I smell lawsuit soon enough in the future if/when it goes down, and its a terrible idea

[me_llamo_juan]

Twiggy81R wrote:

mp3's = The Millenium Mix Tape

Everyone used to make mix tapes and we never had lawsuits, etc.

Well they did try for a blank tape tax.

[dimebagisgr8]

ok then why dont they go for the people who actually put the albums etc up on the internet not the people who download it plus how are they gonna police this as millions of people use isp i very rarely download music but i cant see it working.

[yus_yus_13]

FUCK THIS

Music should be free

[Moggan13]

All i can say is...I hope they don't check how many songs i;ve already downloaded...(Uninstalls Limewire and Bearshare)

[Phill-Rock]

There'll be trouble over this... One way or another.

[scott316]

haha, ISP's will shit it, no point to internet if you cant download stuff, its a farcical situation.

[JC13]

Downloading music hurts the industry just as much as not buying a CD does.

[insurgentsteve]

lol, 13 british pounds is like 25 dollars...

one british CD = 25 US dollars...

hell, i'd steal it too.

[Anjohl]

Stop stealing music is the solutionm. One-two albums downloaded per person, or downloading as a preview is fine. The problem is that MOST downloaders are young teenagers who have no concept of contributing to the economy, and have 10-15,000 songs at least. That's ridiculous.

[soul_power]

This will never work. Once internet service providers start going bankrupt and they look over at record companies who although not doing great will be doing a lot better than them they will turn around and try to sue. Not to mention all the people who would sue their ISP's for violating the 4th amendment (if you're in the US) and monitoring their activities. This has Supreme Court lawsuit written all over it (if it makes it as far as the US of course).

[ghostmouse859]

i would start buying cds if they didn't cost twenty dollars. Some Dylan stuff is around 30 for just two cds.

[ydoclester12]

olliemo wrote:

on one hand this is bad, you cant try music before you buy the overpiced CD, but, if it happens, the price of Cds will drop because theyll make more money, unless theyre totally profit crazed, which would be probable nowadays

i siggest www.launch.com it gives you a 30 second sample and you get to watch free music vids, and its totally legit

[DenDen1010]

downloading is a great way for music to be distributed, and a great way for new bands to be heard

[Kartman]

You know, it doesn't sound like a bad idea.

[Warheart1188]

Trying to track down internet pirates won't work. In the U.S. alone, there are millions of internet users who pirates songs, movies and software and I don't know about the U.K., but I won't be surprised if the numbers are the same. I think like 2 people have been caught and I've heard of people being sent warning by their ISPs but only for downloading excessive amounts of material. It's hard to find anybody who hasn't downloaded a few hundred songs but stealing is stealing. I pay for my music because I enjoy owning a cd. But artists nowadays get $$ from merch, concerts, DVDs and sponsorships and the occasion iTunes purchase.

[Les Paul Ell]

I think this is great news! Countless times I've been speaking to people and they just casually say "oh yeah, I was downloading the Aerosmith (or whoever) discography last night, i'll probably never listen to it though", so why did they download it? "Just for the sake of having it". If you download music then it will have much lower value to you than if you buy it. Since I stopped downloading music I've been appreciating the music that I've bought so much more. Not only that though, it's still stealing and I'm glad that my country is doing this. Also, it means that more CD shops will be around soon, or the existing ones will just start stocking more stuff as more people will shop there so i'll be able to get harder to find albums easier and what not

[Warheart1188]

If somebody downloads a new cd for free, there's money lost. But if somebody downloads John Tesh's "Romantic Christmas" from 1993, I don't think they would've made money anyway.

But the big argument is not every country has the same copyright laws.

[Shpongled]

hellchild101 wrote:

finally somethings being done about this. imagine how hard it is for a new band to get a record deal when no-ones gonna pay for it cause they can just as easily download it.

I don't think you'll typically find an album for download by a band that is unsigned. Usually the fan base would not be large enough.

[Warheart1188]

You'll find harder-to-find albums on bit torrent sites, not in a cd store.

[long gone]

i get free lunch at school. my parents are way in debt. i can't afford to play any club sports, or buy expensive music equipment. I have a 4.11 GPA, but I probably won't go to college because of how expensive it is. BUT I LOVE MUSIC.

I can't afford downloading legally or buying cd's. I love music and if illegal downloading is the only way I can get my love, then so be it.

[Shpongled]

Personally I do think that downloading is not totally honest, despite that I do it. However, I am a college student with no income. How can I be expected to fork out $12+ every time I want to hear a new album? Artists make little money off of cd purchases, the majority of what you are paying goes the store that you buy it from. If you really want to support an artist, see them live and buy their cd at the merch table.

[123-Trav]

"A spokesman for A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport"

lawl

[DreadEnds]

downloading is a great way for music to be distributed, and a great way for new bands to be heard

Yes but download maybe a track or 2 not the entire album and leave it at that.
I always buy originals because if everyone downloads there won't be any bands to listen to!

SO ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO DOWNLOAD ALL THE MUSIC YOU HAVE. STOP!

And i see people saying CDs are over priced?
WTF
How is 12 pounds or 15-20 dollars alot?
If you have a job thats nothing!

[Mik3y]

I love stealing music

[macaroni]

if my band got signed, i wouldnt rely on cd sales to get most of our money, its all gigs.

[guitar_chik]

stealing music is fun though =[
it's alot less expensive than itunes or going and buying the whole cd.

[jshizznit]

haha its not alot...your just cheap

plus, i stopped downloading when lars sued napster

[SkAsupafly]

I find flippng through a rack of cds at my local independent record store quite enjoyable... though i ocassionally download some sick jams if i only want one song and the rest of the cd sucks or something

[The Virtuoso]

DreadEnds wrote:

downloading is a great way for music to be distributed, and a great way for new bands to be heard


Yes but download maybe a track or 2 not the entire album and leave it at that.
I always buy originals because if everyone downloads there won't be any bands to listen to!

SO ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO DOWNLOAD ALL THE MUSIC YOU HAVE. STOP!

And i see people saying CDs are over priced?
WTF
How is 12 pounds or 15-20 dollars alot?
If you have a job thats nothing!

Yeah, cd's begin to add up buddy. Especially if you have bills to pay, and a family to support, you can't be spending all of your checks on music. Seriously if music wasn't so expensive, and sometimes hard to obtain (i.e kickass metal bands from Europe) then it wouldn't be a problem.

[Psycho Pigeon]

There's an easy way to get round the ban, it makes downloading music/films/games a bit more of a task but it will be worth it if this police-state-like law gets passed.

[GREENWARRI0R]

DreadEnds wrote:
If you have a job thats nothing!

Keyword: If

[ColonelInfernal]

omg this is so damn stupid if they didnt price the CDS at $20.00 a peice then we wouldnt have this problem also the bands make like a dollar off every cd and if they even deserve to have there music heard then they wouldnt need the CD sales to support them what about live shows and merch? this is so stupid i cant stand the high coporate ****s takin this outta proportion.

[Ghost_Knive]

ThunderPX wrote:

Maybe they should get rid of ridiculous CD prices- problem solved.

Haha amen

[[travis]]

ShamiqSevenfold wrote:

good thing i dont live in UK

That's true, but what if it hits the U.S.? That'll suck big time. Look at Limewire, and Foothill.

[Valekt]

ydoclester12 wrote:

olliemo wrote:

on one hand this is bad, you cant try music before you buy the overpiced CD, but, if it happens, the price of Cds will drop because theyll make more money, unless theyre totally profit crazed, which would be probable nowadays

i siggest www.launch.com it gives you a 30 second sample and you get to watch free music vids, and its totally legit

30 second samples don't work. Needs to be a full song, at least. I mean, can you imagine getting a 30 second sample of "10,000 Days"?

I both download, and buy, music. If it's good, I'll pay for it. Simple as that. Thing is, I do things differently depending on the band. Say, in the case of Neil Young, I've bought four albums, but haven't downloaded a single one. In the case of Neurosis, I downloaded their whole discography, but haven't bought one album.
Some bands, like Genesis (and any King Crimson I can find), I've bought all their early LPs (up to Wind & Wuthering), and downloaded the rest.

I personally think that everyone's free to make whatever music they like, but they're not always gonna get paid for it. Think about someone aspiring to be an actor. They're only gonna make it if they have talent and charisma. Sadly a lot of bands lack that nowadays, so I won't pay for it.

[RageAgnstUrJaw]

well i guess at least they are offering a warning first, before banning you....but as stated above, they should drop the ridiculous CD prices first.

[ProgIsGood]

finally somethings being done about this. imagine how hard it is for a new band to get a record deal when no-ones gonna pay for it cause they can just as easily download it.

ha-ha, that cracks me up, any band with a brain in their head knows not to sign with a record company. If you do there are all kinds of evil contracts you have to sign. By the end, you are so completely raped you'll be lucky if you earn 1 cent per album sold. All the indie bands know whats going down. Major record labels are a thing of the past. Hell, now you can promote yourself with myspace, so it's not like if you are not on a record label, you are underground. Besides, in my opinion, the indie bands are producing the best music nowadays.

[metalguitar6]

Finally someone has stepped up. Its ridiculous that we can't sit down and spend a dollar on a song or actually support the artist and go buy there CD for once. Illegal downloading like limewire sucks anyway, you never know if your getting the office theme song or Machine Heads Slanderous because the name dosen't mean thats what your getting. Thats why I stick to iTunes and CD's

[hippyguitardude]

i say kill the major labels. kill the artists (not literally of course) that are in it for the money by downloading music for free and what will be left is a music world of pure music for the sake of music.

[wertaw]

the thing is they can stop us downloading the songs but if u want to hear a song then u can always find it over the top of a final fantasy video, thers one for almost every song ffs, so they may aswel just give up

[CoolDudeMorgasm]

Isn't there like a million ways in getting around having your ISP recognized by someone anyway?

Also anyone who does the whole "wah wah wah music downloading is bad, we should lynch all music downloaders" is a moron. I mean it's not our fault the music industry never took advantage of the internet. Bad business on their behalf. I mean every other industry has flourished thanks to the internet and used it to their own advantage.

[wertaw]

i listen to loads of bands that i wouldant know existed if i didnt have limewire, i mean i would never have bought a cd by a band called "mors principium est" but know ive downloaded their whole 3 albums and im thinkin of going to see them live, same as "darkest hour" so thats not money their losing, its money they never would have saw, and also know all my frineds know of these bands, common it aint bad for publicity, if a band is big enough to not want the publicity from illegal downloads then they dont need the money thu would be paying for them

[bdubbs4420]

well I understand its hard for a small band to sell there stuff but I mean there music is really hard to find to download so I mean the rich ****s are allready rich I dont care to much.. Im an artist and itd suck but you no SHIT HAPPENS

[bdubbs4420]

and also isnt it just about the music
its not all just about money its about creating something that other people love to here
thats all that matters to me

[MTVget0FFtheAIR]

CD prices can't drop. a big reason they are so high is that sales have dropped (perhaps because of illegal downloading?). they need to make money, so if they aren't selling as many CDs, they need to make more off of what they do sell, ergo raise the prices. catch 22...

[Ez0ph]

Lol, I just read the first sentence and stopped when it said UK. Haha, brits, you have to stop downloading. Effin comunists.

[guitarhead93]

its FAIR

[deafening]

people can get past this

[the boogieman]

cd sales give shit all to the artists

why support those corporate fat cats. this is getting ridiculous

if this comes to north america the amount of people that will get banned will be too ridiculous and could adversely afftect the isps

[GuitarJunkie]

MTVget0FFtheAIR wrote:

CD prices can't drop. a big reason they are so high is that sales have dropped (perhaps because of illegal downloading?). they need to make money, so if they aren't selling as many CDs, they need to make more off of what they do sell, ergo raise the prices. catch 22...

See the article about increased downloading leads to more CD sales

[Coulterboyz]

There's no way this can work outside of the UK. Too many countries have different patent laws, etc. for them to actually force people from other countries to give up the internet. They just dont have the juristiction. Now it might influence other countries to make a similar program, but over here in America, the most pirated-from country in the world, I can download scot-free.

Also this brings to question what is illegal. Are file share programs illegal, such as limewire? So far the answer is no. Also, at least in the US, there is a website called SpiralFrog.com where you can download songs for free,completely legal. There are some problems with it (such as its DRM protected), but it is completely legal.

[dbruneau]

that headline had me scared for a second...

[Sloofus]

My problem with this is that the UK government is getting involved. The ISPs just provide the internet, they shouldn't be responsible for the actions of their users. If the ISPs are going to be getting into trouble for that, why don't they get in trouble for users that hack websites, or people who view illegal pornography, or fiends who use the internet to prey on children? They can't just nit pick because the music labels are throwing a hissy fit. It infringes on the ISPs ability to keep customers and make a profit as an ISP. It's like punishing an airline because it commuted a ton of people to a city who ended up rioting in the streets. GRRRRR!

[pringa]

ChoPxSueY wrote:

Imagine how hard it is for a new band to get their music heard if the only way to hear it is to pay to see them or buy their cd. It's not always a bad thing. It lets people sample the music and hear new bands. I think they're overreacting a bit with the "while music and film companies say they are losing millions as a result." Thats if everything thats downloaded was purchased from a shop, i've got loads of shit on my harddrives ive never even seen, i just download it for the sake of having it.

exactly. by downloading music i am able to see if its any good before i go and purchase it. theres no way i'd be able to discover more music if im not able to check it out first. because face it, who has enough money to buy a cd from every artist that they would only be interested in checking out. theres so much crap to sort through to get to decent music. if radio or tv featured more alternative artists it wouldn't be as much of an issue.

and for the argument that buying cd's support artists, well just look at the RIAA decreasing the amount of money artists are entitled to for legal mp3 purchases.
its all about the companies profits.

i wonder if anything like the writer's strike would work in the music industry? probably not but it would be interesting if something happened like that.

[irish666]

you idiots what about the stuff you file share but cant buy anywhere ok be a idiot and line itunes pockets

[holiwood420]

copyright laws state that if you buy the cd or dvd, you may use it at your discretion, to play, rip to pc, copy, use as coaster, whatever. it is illegal, however, to distribute any portion of the cd or dvd, in any manner. meaning you aren't supposed to share it with your friends, or provide them with a copy. there is no stealing involved, unless you are talking about profits from the recording company. the musicians rarely feel the financial effect of downloading. it's the recording companies who get pinched. if you honestly think the musicians are being ripped off, do some homework about how a recording contract works. they are paid to make the albums, and all the fees associated with the recording; distribution, management, studio time, cd's, warehousing, ect...come out of the artist's pocket which was paid by the recording company. 99 times out of a 100 those fee's are more than the gross sales of the cd, which means some bands have to make 3 or 4 albums to actually show profit. that is if they are very lucky and become mainstream acts. if they don't become mainstream acts the recording company has the option to keep recording and hope or cut the artist off and swallow what they lost, if anything.
downloading music is no different than back in the 80's when the public was able to make dubbed tapes. no one was complaining then, mostly because it wasn't effecting sales directly. but now that you can that song you want from someone across the world instead of across the street, and at an extremely high rate of speed and can do it infinitely, which ultimately does effect sales. the funny thing is, no matter how hard they try to stop it, they can't. just more high paid company heads b%^ching because they won't get their bonuses.

[yunkers]

this is beat... musicians make most of their money touring and selling merchandise. with illegal downloading these musicians are forced to live a life of semi-luxury, what a horrible fate for these multi-millionaires.

[pringa]

+1 to the comment by 'sloofus' above

[holiwood420]

oh, 1 more thing. i would like to see them prove that the cd's or dvd were never actually bought. you can rip a cd to your pc legally. what happens when the disc is scratched to the point of not playing and you throw it away.....or actually lose it? it's not illegal to have a song if you own the disc.....they'd have to prove you never did.

[scarfacesuit]

ThunderPX wrote:

Maybe they should get rid of ridiculous CD prices- problem solved.

QFT. Plus the fact that artists make a shamefully low percentage of profit from albums anyway.

[scarfacesuit]

In this day and age, new bands looking to get noticed have it much easier, what with myspace and purevolume... So record labels are definitely a dying breed.

[Masonpwiley]

Thats why people use PeerGuardian.

[H(i)SS]

impractical, maybe, but it's a symbolic move by the UK government. good for them.

[JoshyJordison]

I would always buy every album i wanted... but things changed when my car got broken into and every cd i ever owned got stolen(yeah i know its stupid keeping them all in there) so now i use bittorrent to get music. It's a bastard way of getting music, but wtf.

[efferus]

Having the ability to download music allows me to try out and enjoy new and different bands, of which their cd I wouldn't have purchased anyways. I'm very picky about which cds I actually buy and don't buy, and if there weren't the internet for music downloads, I still wouldn't be purchasing cds at a higher frequency...

[Quikslayer666]

this sounds something like microsoft would do o wait they already do it. its actually a bad idea then theyd ban about 90% of there costumers and eventually go out of business. I knew something like this would come along to stop pirates hey its better than going to jail.

[l3xbi]

I think its more than 6million tbh, and its not stealing, its sharing. You let your friends borrow your DVD's + albums right?! why is doing that over the internet different? the problem is CD's cost too ****ing much, if they were like £5 I wouldn't have a problem. But £13+ for a CD is way too much, and its anoying knowing that most of that the band will never see. The vast amount of music I ****ing love listening to is going to bankrupt me, I'm poor enough as it is. Surely a band would love to have more fans, because ultimately, getting your album on the internet seems to be the only way a new artist can make it in todays world.

[Ranxston]

The only people who are hurt by music downloading are greedy labels. Artists barely get anything from album sales. When profit is generated for the artist, the label finds a way to not give it to the artist, like by getting as much advertisement as they can then give them the leftover money. If they start to hurt people like this because they downloaded music, in the end the music industry is going to suffer. Smaller bands will take a long time to get noticed, unless they're lucky or make music the mainstream media wants, less people will discover the bands, less people at shows which is where almost all of the profit is generated.

[xmurderoticax]

who the **** buys music anymore?

[MetalliRage]

bout tme something is starting o be done. i was for metallicas lawsuit against napster. downloading is for lazy ppl who sit in front of the computer all day and r too scared to leave their house to use their own earned money on a cd. its okay if the band allows u to download like radiohead. illegal though isnt cool. musicians have livings to. and u no what recor companies benefit but u need record companies making good money or no bands will be signed. this is y todays mainstream is faaling to pieces

[FearTheD]

i dont live in the UK but **** this, honestly

[Dead_End]

ThunderPX wrote:

Maybe they should get rid of ridiculous CD prices- problem solved.

+1 stealing music is wrong but how many bands expect people to pay $10-$25 for each cd, its just a big mess now =/

[LazyLatinoRocke]

People who illegally download music or films may have their internet access cut off under a new plan drawn up by the government in the UK.

I'm glad i don't live in the UK

[big-red]

they will NEVER stop music downloading, why even try

[smalRaptor]

I'd buy more albums if the artists out today weren't so terrible.

[SeanHart213]

ridiculous. just make money off of shows. recording engineers need to get their names out there too.

[Aftertime]

this will be the downfall of UK

[bloodlusting28]

i don't know why but i have a feeling Lars Ulrich is behind this. if he hadn't sued napster none of this would have happened. DAMN YOU LARS!!!!!

[The Spoon]

im going on a downloading spree before this law hits. then ill buy all my music.

[Wrong person]

By the way, record companies DO NOT FOLLOW supply and demand. If they would, the prices would have dropped. Unless the quantity of CDs produced is is greatly inferior to the demand. Even to that, reduced sales should make them theoretically reduce quantity STABALIZE the price, until the market would rearrange itself. But increasing the price because you're making less money? Demand tends to reduce when the cost increases. I don't know who though up their marketing/money making plan, but he is probably a dick. If they want us to buy CDs, they should stop being dickwads abusing governments and start playing capitalism in the correct manner. Anyways, music is art, art is free (I know, repeating someone), Music should be free. Do you imagine having to pay a pretty woman (dressed, pervs!) just to look at her? I don't think you'd look if you'd have to pay, would you? And if you go down even deeper, we're all just stacks of atoms that search meaning in their existence, degrade and decompose. Why should we bother paying for vibrations (not talking about a vibrator)? When we go to a show, we're paying accumulations of matter to create pleasant sonic vibrations. We're not paying for the sounds, but for the service/entertainement. Why pay a record company for a CD? They didn't write it, compose it, play it. They're there for the profit. When a CD is made, the personnel who recorded it are paid like normal laborers. They did their job. But the stock holder or the CEO, did they do their job? They make more money for less work. Does the CEO have to tour? No. But he makes more money than the musicians and employees. Music dosen't have a place for hungry walletmen. Either musicians should all be independant or have some kind of cooperative, because this middleman is getting very hungry. Should we stop illegally downloading music? Should we only buy Cds? Should we do a switcheroo in those two last sentences to make two other questions? I dunno, I cannot decide. But then, I'll just ask myself: ''Do artists of other arts have to rely on big companies to get their art known?'' Would a sculpter sign a sculpture contract with any company? Probably not. Do all of them become rich? No. Then why should it not be the same with music? Whoever had the idea of creating an industry out of music had a very bad idea, because art =/= big money. Usually, art tends to be regional, you won't see a artist living in Saskachewan selling paintings in Romania, let alone New Brunswick. The human view of music seems to have been changed by the commercialisation of music. We tend to search for music from other countries, instead of locally. Of course, we have more choice, but is it really worth it? Instead of supporting our home-growns, we support the companies that bring us the sounds of far away. Are we supporting Art or Economy when we buy music? I'd wish it'd be the first of the two.

[Bizzarosanta2]

its all just a cluster **** isn't it? on one side, idealists who claim that no one should go into music for money anyway, so the fact that people steal music is justified! eh...what? you really want those musicians to keep their day jobs and not just play music? i don't. on the other side are record companies claiming they are losing millions from this, when many people would not buy the music they download, although I'm sure most people would buy at least some of it.

its just a mess. i buy my music personally, as well as movies, because i think it hypocritical to say "yes i value movies and music so much but i'd rather not spend money on it." that is how the things you love get destroyed people. when no one gives it money. even if it is a big bad "corrupt" music machine.

[scawti]

99% of the music I download is out of print. If I can't 'legally' download these songs, I see no reason why I shouldn't get them for free.

[GoWithTheFlow]

the only reason i dont download music is because the quality is shit and theres better stuff on the cd when you buy the album. rarely do you find songs that arent singles on limewire or whatever. And yeah music isnt about the money but it is kinda hard to get your music out there if nobody buys your shit.

[GoWithTheFlow]

yeah 'wrong person' you're wrong about the whole price thing. prices are pretty damn low compared to the 60's or 70's. do some research before you start having little fits.

[MegaRon]

Jesus, I thought America was bad. This is terrible news for the people of Britain who like to test out musicians' back catalogs before investing money in them.

[Matt2742]

they are just going to loose more business, After all why would someone pay 15- 20 bucks to buy a cd because they may or might now like it. if they like then good they got lucky but if they hate it then they just wasted 20 dollars. and i doubt anyones going to take that risk. Mp3 downloads are great aslong as you give back to the artists (buy the cd if you know that you like it) go to concerts etc. By the way Music downloads are legal in canada still right?

[KickOutTheJamsX]

If you steal a CD, you don't get banned for buying CD's ever again. You might get banned from the store, so that would be like getting ip banned from torrent sites (better idea).

You pay a third party to use the internet. What if you bought a Ford van and used that van in a bank robbery? You're not allowed to buy vans now?

There has to be a better way. British people ever heard of fines or jail?

In conclusion, this is stupid as shit.

[mesopatamius]

If they want us to stop illegally downloading music, they should stop calling it pirating. Pirates are badass, downloading music makes you a pirate, you are a badass. The cycle continues!

[LD_Luke D]

i agreee with mesopatamius. whatever the f*** that word mean i dont kow but whatever. i think its a light unishment staling is a bad crime, think if someone has stolen 1000 songs in itunes terms thats 1000 dollars (assuming you buy single song at a time) thats well classified over the misdemeanor barrier. therefore that person's a felon, they're being treated very gently for somethign like this. i mena they cant throw everyone in jail, but you can sure piss someone off that breaks the law.

HUGE Check.

[DrSnodgrass]

God forbid, not record and film corporations losing millions of the good people's hard earned dollars! When will the goverment step in and protect the rights of these helpless corporate giants and stop these cruel fans of music who want to put rare bands they never would have experienced without filesharing on mix cds for long car rides? Somebody save the industry!

[joelfaessler]

all this is going to do is make programs like TuneBite get used more on Ruckus or other similar programs. Waste of time. If people wanna do it there are ways around doing it over limewire or whatever

[HexaDakota]

This is great. People who illegally download music should get punished and this is the perfect way to do it.

People act like you can't possibly hear a song unless you download it. Ever heard of youtube? 99% of CD stores let you listen to a clip, or even the whole CD, before you buy it. Downloading music is for people who are either lazy, or just don't care enough about the musicians they're stealing from. They're used to be a time when you had no choice but to buy the CD.

Now the only thing they need to fix is the incredibly ridiculous price of CD's. I heard it costs less than a nickel to make a music CD.

[Ultimate_Gio92]

this is retarded. Do you think i have the money for cd's? I honestly think that its more important to save up for a new amp and a computer. If i bought all my music then i would never have my dean or my cell phone. Its priorities people. I just dont have money for it, so should I buy a CD instead of learning guitar? I need guitar strings, lessons, repairs. Plus since i ILLEGALY DOWNLOAD MY MUSIC i support bands by buying their t-shirts, posters, necklaces, rings, CONCERT TICKETS (lots of them), a VIP package now and then. Its smart.

[losing battle]

DreadEnds wrote:

downloading is a great way for music to be distributed, and a great way for new bands to be heard



Yes but download maybe a track or 2 not the entire album and leave it at that.
I always buy originals because if everyone downloads there won't be any bands to listen to!

SO ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO DOWNLOAD ALL THE MUSIC YOU HAVE. STOP!

And i see people saying CDs are over priced?
WTF
How is 12 pounds or 15-20 dollars alot?
If you have a job thats nothing!

Um sky high rents, gas, the overall price of food, ect. ect, I support piracy because it is another venue where people can be heard, I believe the engineers do deserve to get paid for there work, and the local music store(borders, best buy, and all of the other major chains can eat me) owner should be able to support his family. heres delema, i dont know many people who are willing to spend there hard earned money on a product with an overall diminishing quality, this is why these awefull artists only have one if there lucky two albulms that sell. HEres a metaphore we all can understand. Gibson guitars consistanly provides a good product for their asking price, there are much cheaper means of getting a guitar then buying a Gibson, Unlike Gibson guitars, CD's do not have a consistant quality(aka not sucking)Bottom line better cheaper cd's =more sales.

[jimzer]

this is ridiculous.
arent filmmakers and music artists rich enough?
anyways.

where else am i gonna find no life til leather?
its not even on ebay. but its always on the internet.

i buy from artists which i like

[PanchoDx]

well at least they arent trwoing u to jail...just imagine..were in the hell they will put over 6 million people!!xD these people suks they thing they ar smart and they wiill be remembered or somtin..maybe they will be remembered,but just as the biggest a$$ holes in the whole country!!FUK THEM

[clawsofsteel]

ya dont see the bands bitchin now do ya.just the dumb ******* record labels. though they might **** over the bands by not giving them time record.the label must be having trouble financing their 10 million mansions.while the people are starving,theres homeless people,child soldiers. and wars,america hasnt gone 10 years ever without them fighting another country.
just my 2 cents

[Metalology]

Hilarious.

[clawsofsteel]

clawsofsteel wrote:

ya dont see the bands bitchin now do ya.just the dumb ***** record labels. though they might **** over the bands by not giving them time record.the label must be having trouble financing their 10 million mansions.while the people are starving,theres homeless people,child soldiers. and wars,america hasnt gone 10 years ever without them fighting another country.
just my 2 cents

[Dyers]

i know that i download a song or 2 from bands that i never heard of and if i like their stuff i will happily go out and buy it instead of downloading it

[sspinach]

about fcuking time.
i love going out and buying a new cd.
i feel like i appreciate a bands hard effort more, and really if they're that good you shouldnt mind buying their cd.
loyalty is what they call it

[1010]

The problem with saying that your only ripping off the record labels is that if the record companies don't exist then nobody has a record in which to illegally download in the first place. It is bad for struggling artists because since nobody is buying their album, they get cut by their label and don't get the chance to go on tour. Sure, its cheap enough to tour, but but unless your the super headline that is selling out concerts, you barely turn a profit at all.
For those that seem to think that having a cell phone or a new amp is moe important than their music, would you even think about stealing them, I mean honestly, the big mean companies that make them are just trying to rip you off anyways.
And what about those that think thatnobody should be in music for the money... Thats just a very crappy attempt of trying to hide your guilt. Lets just make it so that there is absolutely no future in going into music so that nobody ever does, and no more music is ever made, shall we?

[sspinach]

Wrong person wrote:

By the way, record companies DO NOT FOLLOW supply and demand. If they would, the prices would have dropped. Unless the quantity of CDs produced is is greatly inferior to the demand. Even to that, reduced sales should make them theoretically reduce quantity STABALIZE the price, until the market would rearrange itself. But increasing the price because you're making less money? Demand tends to reduce when the cost increases. I don't know who though up their marketing/money making plan, but he is probably a dick. If they want us to buy CDs, they should stop being dickwads abusing governments and start playing capitalism in the correct manner. Anyways, music is art, art is free (I know, repeating someone), Music should be free. Do you imagine having to pay a pretty woman (dressed, pervs!) just to look at her? I don't think you'd look if you'd have to pay, would you? And if you go down even deeper, we're all just stacks of atoms that search meaning in their existence, degrade and decompose. Why should we bother paying for vibrations (not talking about a vibrator)? When we go to a show, we're paying accumulations of matter to create pleasant sonic vibrations. We're not paying for the sounds, but for the service/entertainement. Why pay a record company for a CD? They didn't write it, compose it, play it. They're there for the profit. When a CD is made, the personnel who recorded it are paid like normal laborers. They did their job. But the stock holder or the CEO, did they do their job? They make more money for less work. Does the CEO have to tour? No. But he makes more money than the musicians and employees. Music dosen't have a place for hungry walletmen. Either musicians should all be independant or have some kind of cooperative, because this middleman is getting very hungry. Should we stop illegally downloading music? Should we only buy Cds? Should we do a switcheroo in those two last sentences to make two other questions? I dunno, I cannot decide. But then, I'll just ask myself: ''Do artists of other arts have to rely on big companies to get their art known?'' Would a sculpter sign a sculpture contract with any company? Probably not. Do all of them become rich? No. Then why should it not be the same with music? Whoever had the idea of creating an industry out of music had a very bad idea, because art =/= big money. Usually, art tends to be regional, you won't see a artist living in Saskachewan selling paintings in Romania, let alone New Brunswick. The human view of music seems to have been changed by the commercialisation of music. We tend to search for music from other countries, instead of locally. Of course, we have more choice, but is it really worth it? Instead of supporting our home-growns, we support the companies that bring us the sounds of far away. Are we supporting Art or Economy when we buy music? I'd wish it'd be the first of the two.

independant labels.
i do agree with you, that music is art and art is for free but in reality, water should be free too but we do pay for it to be pumped to our house dont we?
air should be free, but we still pay for airconditioning dont we?
ok so essentially we're not pay for the music, bands could go out onto the street and play a street corner for free, but they still have to pay the bills.
Bills means money, and well to get that money they have to sell cds.
By buying cds you're playing for the engineers wage, the studio costs (i.e. power, water and other utilities). As im sure you already realise, record companies are basically like a giant bank, for a band to record an album they're going to need money and thats what a record company has. they're simply living off the interest from band's repayments(through cd sales and touring). Its allot harder running a record company than you think.
So consider all this when you begin to believe that music should be free, try running your own company, or creating a platinum selling album on a budget of $200 a week, paying for an engineer who charges atleast $100 an hour, buying $30,000 worth of equipment.
tell me how you feel then and then you'll thank the record companies for the capital contribution.
Remember, bands are makin a shit load of money too.
it all just requires a tonne of hard work and apparently you're just not working hard enough.
theres my two cents

[thisHATEinside]

well that's great and all but if i don't have the cash to go out and get the CD how am i supposed to hear the music? or what if i don't know about a band, am i supposed to buy the music even if i don't like it afterward?

music is NOT about the money, and i agree any band just starting out that is just in it to make money shouldn't even bother ... i only buy CD's of bands that i love to support them, and then i support bands by buying shirts, posters and concert tickets (which are usually very overpriced anyways)

plus it's rather ironic that there's so many people saying how people should have to pay for music on a website dedicated to the free distribution of guitar tablature

[longhornchad200]

There's no way they can keep up with this though I mean, people would find ways around it, I mean it's all about the benjamins. Why do you think weed is illegal, you can't make money off something that's high in demand and easily supplied. You cut off supply you raise prices, that's why we should all get to writing our own music... it makes this kind of shit much easier.

[longhornchad200]

Oh aaand one of these days some artists are gonna start boycotting record companies and go fugazi on everyone, then we'll see who gets the last laugh.

[FooCards]

Fuck UK
Viva U.S.A.

[face_haver]

sowhat360 wrote:

gsr2k6 wrote:

stumaster18 wrote:

People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers?

I download alot of stuff I have never heard about (Mostly going off recomendations and such) and I have played out this scenario many times because of it.

in most cases it has the opposite effect, and it's been proven by the decline of touring festivals, and big outdoor venues needing to close down because they can't sell enough tickets.....people just download the songs they like and dont become a real "fan" of the band

I'm pretty sure it's because festivals keep jacking up there prices, and often a declining quality of bands. Anyway, illegal downloading is the best thing to happern to good music, if you music is good enough to warrant buying on a CD and going to see live, illegal downloads shouldn't make too much of a dent in your income. If you are a crap band just after money or a greedy business you are getting a little bit of what you deserve.

[cj878]

Yeah like this would work.

People will pirate everything until they figure out people arent paying $17 for 1 song and 12 fillers.

Cry about it.

[jagz1521]

won't be long till the Filipino ISP's take this kind of action... I already took up 2 gb's of music... and i only listen to a quarter of 'em right now. i only support piracy 'cause there's a lotta music i wanna have that you can't find in the Tower Records here. If anyone says, "That's what's eBay's/Amazon's for, a*****," i got news for ya....

THEY DON'T DELIVER HERE!

[Taker]

Alls you have to do is change the filenames, or put it in a zip with a different name, and *presto!*. You're not downloading pirated material as far as your ISP knows. You probably won't even have to do that, torrent sites know how to get around these types of things.

[sacamano79]

Habit Zero wrote:

I've got about 1000 songs I've downloaded (not much, I know), but even if I couldn't download it all, I wouldn't buy it, which is I think, how most people feel. That's not lost money for the record companies, if the money was never going to be spent.

My musical tastes change too much to even buy songs for $1 each. Maybe for 50 cent each and you give me back 50 cent credit anytime I get tired of a song and delete it (which would be fairly often)!

+1

[rebofthetemple]

Bad idea. The bands make most of their money from touring, not from CD sales. That's mainly how record companies make their money. Those 6 million people are just in the UK...imagine what North America is like. People can download CDs, and then start to like a band, and go to a concert, buy a t-shirt, posters, whatever. But if people can't hear the music because they can't download it, could we possibly see a drop in concert-goers? And if someone really likes a band, they'll buy the CD anyways. Downloading is just a means of sampling the music before you either buy it..or delete it, or leave it on your computer and not listen to it. At least that's how I see it. If I download CDs and I like them, I will buy the CDs. I do this all of the time. But if I don't like the CDs, I either delete them or forget about them. This is how everyone should approach this situation.

+1, this is exactly what I do for everything i listen to. i have to actually hear the music before i buy it, and 30 second samples are not what you would call great. If i like the band and its music enough, i will save up the cash and go buy their CD, if not, well no harm done. I then have the 10-25$ left over to go buy something I know I will actually listen to and not let gather dust on the shelf. People who like the band and its music enough will buy the CD's and merchandise put out.

[Viking_Swede666]

well, those ****ers had what was comming too them.

BUY THE DAMN' ALBUM.

[3lusiv3]

hellchild101 wrote:

finally somethings being done about this. imagine how hard it is for a new band to get a record deal when no-ones gonna pay for it cause they can just as easily download it.

Well, new bands music is usually very hard to find in download form, but I get what you're saying. I was just being pedantic

[the boogieman]

Habit Zero wrote:

I've got about 1000 songs I've downloaded (not much, I know), but even if I couldn't download it all, I wouldn't buy it, which is I think, how most people feel. That's not lost money for the record companies, if the money was never going to be spent.

My musical tastes change too much to even buy songs for $1 each. Maybe for 50 cent each and you give me back 50 cent credit anytime I get tired of a song and delete it (which would be fairly often)!

+2

downloading also opened me up to new bands which i liked enough to go buy their albums and tickets to their concerts, which i wouldnt have done without downloading because who shells out $15-$20 for a cd from a band theyve never heard of

[thedukes]

a spokesman for a spokesman? pffft lol

[the_extremist00]

rofl

they can fight it as much as they want, file sharing, actually illegal files sharing cannot and will not be stopped
these guys should have realised that for now, doesnt matter, good, bad, loosing money, destroying the industry...whatever, they cant filter the whole internet, and even if they could, filters can be bypassed, blocks can be removed, etc...

they should figure out a way to actually help the bands using internet file sharing

[gibsonLP68]

ThunderPX wrote:

Maybe they should get rid of ridiculous CD prices- problem solved.

They aren't expensive. You just dont kinow where to buy them.

[holiwood420]

longhornchad200 :
Oh aaand one of these days some artists are gonna start boycotting record companies and go fugazi on everyone, then we'll see who gets the last laugh.

nine inch nails is in the process of doing just that.

[Ravenwoods]

I think it should be up to the artists whether they want their music to be paid for or for free

[BigD4406]

with downloads the bands are making more money because more ppl are going to there shows, and they make nothing for the CDs but I still buy the albums

[x_themetalfan_x]

I steal my music. Fuck the record companies, **** paying 20-25 bucks for a CD. It's not worth it. The artists would prefer if I came to their shows instead of wasting money on overpriced bullshit that they hardly see any profits from anyways.

Too bad for the folks in the UK. The piggybacking issue will probably present a major problem for them though.

[acerst]

A Spokesman for a Spokesman? Wow!

[Regression]

Ticks & Leeches wrote:

perhaps you should pay for your music

Ibuy as much music as i can, but I'm not made of money, I'm a student and just can't afford too buy everything. Also some of the stuff I listen to you can't find in any record store in my entire country pretty much and none of the record stores importers have it either =[ And sometimes I download tv stuff that I don't get in this country, hope they don't bring that sort of law over here, although I wish people would buy music more =[

[electricinferno]

hah i moved from the uk 4 weeks ago =DD 'it's a pirates life for me'

[Regression]

thisHATEinside wrote:

well that's great and all but if i don't have the cash to go out and get the CD how am i supposed to hear the music? or what if i don't know about a band, am i supposed to buy the music even if i don't like it afterward?

music is NOT about the money, and i agree any band just starting out that is just in it to make money shouldn't even bother ... i only buy CD's of bands that i love to support them, and then i support bands by buying shirts, posters and concert tickets (which are usually very overpriced anyways)

plus it's rather ironic that there's so many people saying how people should have to pay for music on a website dedicated to the free distribution of guitar tablature

Oh and not really, it costs $50 ($25 us) minimum pretty much to buy a tablature book here, and often you don't even want to learn most of the songs, you only want to learn 1. Btw I'm all for downloading an artists music if there is only 1 or 2 songs worth listening too. But good albums deserve to be brought.

[Zebra_Planet]

fiftysteps wrote:

One last thing.

Art is free? Tell that to the artist who has to buy paint for his drawings.
Tell that to the musician who needs to take his guitar to the repair shop. And needs to buy a bigger amp to play in clubs.

ART IS NOT FREE.

hah thats a funny one. im deeply offended. how can art not be free? seriously, an artist paints or makes music NOT for the sake of making money, but for the sake of sharing it with the world. file sharing is just a tool to help them do that. if people like their music, they buy their albums, and go to their concerts, whats the point of buying an album from a band you know little about, and relizing you've just got robbed of $20, coz the band sucks, even though there was that 'one song' that was good. the music industry is just whining coz they cant make any money tryin to pass off shit music for gold. the concept of 'art is not free' is an example of record labels controlling what kind of music an artist makes, is just proposterous.
where i live the nearest CD shop is an hour away( via a $15 boat ride), that totally blows, the only reason i would shell out money for something would be because its really good, for example, Radiohead's In Rainbows, which i heard on that Scoth mist video, and now i really want to buy that boxed set.
solution wise, if record companies really want to make money, they should lower their CD prices, so people would feel that ripped off for buying that shitty album.

[Zebra_Planet]

correction 'people *wouldnt feel that ripped off....'
and concerning my post above, i was merely refering to the last quote 'ART IS NOT FREE', no the rest of the comment.

[bazman13]

im with lemmi from motorhead on this one. its the bloody record companys fault for not getting on the internet band wagon and puting cheap and easy music for everyone out there, like say radioheads latest album. they were too busy being greedy and filling there pockets with overpriced cds which artists barly get a cut of. yeah i download songs but only 2 or 3 from an artist if i like the odd song. i love iron maiden, i have most of there albums, same with BLS, queens of the stone age. if its worth my money il buy it. if the record company suffers i say they all diserve it. greedy filty swine. worse than some broke ass kid on minimum wage downloaded afew songs

[BFMVrrule]

what the **** happened to makin music for the people.. most of the money from the albums go to the bloody record company anyways so whats the fkn point... ive got 1100 songs which ive downloaded.. now think... 12-15 songs per album times $25 aus dollars for an album.. thats ****n $1800..

HAHA I DONT THINK SO.. id have to spend more than twice as much money to get the songs i want seen as though there are mainly only 2-3 at max songs worth listenin to on an album.. i pay $25 for 2 or 3 songs?

F(_)CK off

im all for pirating..ISP's wont do that anyways otherwise their business will go downhill.. this is coming from a ****n 15 yearold

[mordecaisalive]

I am not going to defend the major labels. Their profit margins, even with diminished retail sales, is absurd. The argument that the labels make all the $ off album sales and the "artists" make all their money from touring (tickets and merch) is just plain short-sided. No artists have ever just started out with the money that is neccessary to conduct on a tour. The labels put up the money for those tours and that money comes from album sales, wich thay also fund the production of. So, until the "artists" start composing,producing,engineering,mixing and distributing their own material(as a few do), the labels will be a neccessary evil. Our only hope currently is that by illegal dl we can pressure them to lower the cost of their "product", but so far they would rather just sue us for the profits they may or may not have recieved.

[Gadget]

What about the monthly fee we pay to ISP's? I'm sure I won't give away 30€/month for a good internet connection if I can't use it. If downloading stops, be it either music, films, etc, I could very well live with the old dial-ups to watch my sports pages and newspapers online and nothing more.

This is business. And I'm afraid the record label's time is over. Hard to swallow I guess for people that have spent decades earning millions out of other people's work, degrading and destroying what music should be. And now they somehow realize business isn't going too well, and blame it on the internet? For God's, sake, I can't watch MTV for more then 1 minute, it's hardly music at all.

[Kaervek]

Screw Capitalism, Democracies, Republics, and Empires. Let's all get together, smoke some hookah and some herb, sing songs, party, and feel alright!

Peace out.

[nightwalker903]

this is messed up, people say go to another ISP. but they may black list your name but i doubt that cause say 6million people get banned completely from the internet, thats 6 million people not paying 20-30quid a month and they gonna lose a whole lot of money. basically less people can sample bands which means less people find out about the band and buy the cd and all the ISP's lose business so if this plan doesnt work out sucessful the internet providers and entertainment business is going to lose alot.
fair do's people who download album after album and never buy anything but i wouldnt want my internet took off me for trying to download a song i heard on kerrang which i thought was good but i never heard any of their other stuff. how do they know im going to buy the cd or not.

lets just see how it goes.

[South-of-Heaven]

They are basically saying that sharing (file sharing) is illegal, so are they saying that we must keep everything to ourselves and not let everybody hear the cool stuff we've purchased?

[pigmaggots]

Ticks & Leeches wrote:

perhaps you should pay for your music

Perhaps stores should lower the price of music to something reasonable like £10 per cd like the independent stores that I used to go to[before the chains bought them out and started charging £16].

Perhaps record companies should give bands more freedom in terms of recording and not ask for singles.



I personally hope this doesn't happy. I've downloaded some full albums lately, the ones that I like, i've actually just ordered from play.com[which is reasonable!] and the ones that I didnt, I just deleted. Personally, I don't see the harm in thar...i'd rather that than try and risk buying an album i can't really afford on the basis of one song thats been on mtv2.

Eventually, somewhere along the lines, the music industry has to go 'wait a second, maybe this is because of our greed...maybe we need to move with the times and grow with the way that music is going, rather than continuously try and fill out pockets'.

Rant over.

[kaust]

this sucks. its not like we have all that money to buy cds
if you like a band then maybe buy merch
hey everyones not that rich
and what about those kids & teens out there who have to beg their parents for money if they want to buy stuff
what about trying out new stuff
bands' cds arent going to sell if noones heard about them
they have to publicise over the net
good thing i dont live in uk

[Hamburger89]

This sucks, I don't live in the UK but I spend a lot of money on Vinyl. I'm not intending to start buying CD's or paying for downloads, artists make enough money already with concerts.

[WhammyBear]

why is everyone saying the record company like its one huge infinitely rich entity, the rest of the money that goes "straight" into the pockets of big rich CEO's goes to pay the recording engineers, studioes, distributers, techs, producers. Im not saying that this is entirely right because i still see it as an incredible tool for promotion because you can promote bands through word of mouth and its still the same as borrowing your mates cd which everyone has done but still, what are you gonna do if you want to record and the engineers and studios cant afford it.

[officially dead]

save the music kill the industry

[sirpsycho85]

Bull. Stealing is stealing yes, so fine appropriately. The ISP is too far from blame, it's an absurd type of punishment.

[roketsox23]

insane punishment for a hypocritical crime. seriosly ime not paying all that money to a greedy record label hu has just released an album by a band with "new sound". lemme get the sound, not pay 8 quid for something i have never herd in my life. record companies are greedy idiots hu want money and dont care about the music. ime not payin. ime guna keep downlodin and nobody is allowed to give

[JilaX^]

READ THE ARTICLE IT IS AGAINST BRITISH LAW AND WILL NOT BE IMPLEMENTED! ARE YOU INCAPABLE OF READING THE ARTICLE ITSELF BEFORE GOING AHEAD AND MAKING SOME REDUNDANT STATEMENT WITH NO REAL COMPETENCE ON THE SUBJECT!?

CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL, ETC.

[roketsox23]

ps. its not the people hu make the music complaining. its the record people hu the musicians bitch about behind ther backs.

[dysentery_gary3]

radiohead set a perfect example of how to combine the internet with the label

and a lot of people actually boughht the record online

[BFMVrrule]

JilaX^ wrote:

READ THE ARTICLE IT IS AGAINST BRITISH LAW AND WILL NOT BE IMPLEMENTED! ARE YOU INCAPABLE OF READING THE ARTICLE ITSELF BEFORE GOING AHEAD AND MAKING SOME REDUNDANT STATEMENT WITH NO REAL COMPETENCE ON THE SUBJECT!?

CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL, ETC.

you dont know it wont be implemented shut the hell up.. they can voice their opinions all they bloody want d!ck

[steve45]

i dont know how to react really..

[slayer_rule_\m/]

what about the people who download one or two of the songs of the album to see if the albums worth buyin eh?
and dont the bands make most of the money threw shows or something
maybe we should find a replacement for record labels

[Satch_Boogie]

I would never have discovered any new artists if I didnt download music. But once I download the music and enjoy it, I make sure I get the CD if its a good album.

[Kurnalklank]

what did people do before downloading existed WORD OF MOUTH thats what i really can't see a problem here

[TheForge]

Ok so if you have a band going you record an album someone buys it, rips it on to their computer burns off a few hundred print off shitty cd inserts and sells it on making money off of your creativity thats fair? You can buy albums cheap of the internet from amazon, ebay etc... if you want a sample surely your local music store would let you sample the music before you buy. Failing that there are loads of bands with myspace pages where you can listen and sample their music. I personally like having a material manifestation of the music by way of professional cd case with inlay. Hey check out my cd collection>Hey check out my mp3 collection.

[Irontallica09]

Raaaaar wrote:

contract terminated..bit deal you will just go to another ISP

umm no I'm pretty sure they will have someway of recording your info and passing it on to other ISP's

This is bullshit, I don't download any films for free but I would download the occasional song. I have downloaded a good few Iron maiden and metallica tracks to sample them over the years (btw I own every Maiden and Metallica CD) and the only reason I own all of their cd's is because I was able to listen to their tracks so freely (mp3's on my mp3'player). Whenever you start to restrict the internet it means end of the internet, just the start of the net being taken over by large media corporations

[foopeppers]

Im with Garf72, rocketsox, gagdet, kaust and rebofthetemple we use the illegal stuff to sample music besides if i get band i cant do my homework or get gd marks at skool if they bann me

[tommyt]

"Our album leaked last night, go download it!" - Rody Walker - Protest the Hero

suuuuure, the bands don't want us to steal their money ... do they?

[whirleygig]

Blah blah blah, whine whine whine, downloading is gud 4 the artists, cos i can get music without havin 2 pay lololol

Whatever advantages there may be, it's still stealing. And stealing is illegal. Downloading music for free without the band's consent is illegal. So it doesn't matter what advantages there are: YOU SHOULD NOT BE DOING IT. It's not a case of what's best for the band/record label/fans/whatever; it's a case of THE LAW.

[Ziggums]

Black Revolver wrote:

quite a few grammar mistakes in this artical lolzzz. Theres good and bad sides of everything. I dont think it should be downloadable, but maybe preview of full songs because people always wanna hear the cd before they buy it so they dont waste £12-£20 on a cd they wont like

[ShaDoW0lf]

ISP is not an acronym for the law. ISP's are Internet Service Providers, providers being the key word (not Police, providers.) If they monitor every customer they have (0.o incredible thing to do) and then cut off their targets from internet access, its reminiscent of the law confiscating your weed. So far as I'm concerned, if the law wants to track down downloaders and punish them, they must do it, not my ISP.

[TwistedLogic]

This is interesting in two respects. On one hand banning someone from access to the internet could be seen as a violation of basic rights and civil liberties as such much of public like now relies on internet transactions. Doing banking, accessing government documents and information or providing info to government bodies / agencies, job searches, keeping in contact with friends and relatives, online schooling. The list of things people do out of need on the internet is growing at a pace that makes it very hard to participate in society without access to the internet. Secondly, I read an article recently that detailed how most musicians make money. At the bottom of the list was record / cd sales. While I do not totally believe the article, it stated that most musicians make money off selling things like t-shirts and posters, concert ticket sales, allowing use of published songs and the resulting royalites. So, if that is the case then just how big a deal is free downloading of music. In its total amount I guess its pretty big, but from the stand point of the individual artist losses of revenue from cd sales reduced due to illegal downloading, according to the article, might not be as big as its made out to be. Makes me think that the RIAA and its supporters really care only about themselves and not the artists.

[whirleygig]

ShaDoW0lf wrote:

ISP is not an acronym for the law. ISP's are Internet Service Providers, providers being the key word (not Police, providers.)

They're still bound by the law. Presumably they're doing this because they don't want illegal actions going on through internet connections they are responsible for - they could get in trouble with the police for that. And if the police were to ask them to co-operate, they wouldn't have a choice.

Regardless, downloading copyighted material is illegal, so even if it isn't enforced (which is more because it's hard to enforce than they don't care) you're still breaking the law by doing it.

[TwistedLogic]

/\If they did not want illegal actions occuring on ISP's, then service providers should be doing a better job of combatting spam and data tracking and mining virus's. They cannot have it both ways.

[guitarbutt]

GOOD!!!!! YOU DONT GO AROUND STEALING THINGS FROM STORES OR STEALING NEW CARS OR STEAL YOUR GROCERIES!!!! PEOPLE WORK TO MAKE MUSIC AND THATS THEIR JOB!!! YOU TRY WORKING FOR FREE!!!!!

[zackk]

this is a good thing... i buy all of my cds and i think that others should do the same. it is good for the artist as well. the little money they do make off of record sales, they should be able to make it.

[whirleygig]

But what can they reasonably do to combat those things? I'm not an expert on the matter, but as far as I know it's pretty hard to stop spam and viruses any more thoroughly than they do at present. I'm sure ISPs aren't happy about spam and viruses, it's just that P2P networks are something they can actually do something about.

By the way, I'd love to be able to use your username against you, but unfortunately your point wasn't that illogical :p

[octopig]

this is great...my parents are always bragging how the music i listen to these days dont sell any records and make no money. this will change

[cherrylespaul]

its great that there doing this, pirating has hurt small, but fantastic artists. Of course this isn't going to help anybody like metallica, but sill...

[TBezza]

Well, the bottom line is here - It's illegal, yet everyone does/ has done it, it's useful for sampling albums. Maybe theres an easier way of doing that, like having limited time legal streaming places for albums, so you can sample them, maybe there already are websites like that...But you don't want to go out, get an album for £12 or whatever and find its absolute shite.
Do what Radiohead did...I downloaded it for free then when i listened to it, I bought it for a fiver.

[AnomHero]

Music is art. Art is free. Music is an expression that should be shared with everyone.
Would you pay someone to speak their mind to you? - No.
Would you pay someone for an album consisting of their views and feelings? -..Yes
Without file sharing some bands won't even have a chance of becoming successful because it is with today's word of mouth on the internet that bands are recognized.
Just because people have downloaded a bands album, it doesn't mean that they won't buy it.
A music download is a taster.
People go into stores such as boots or debenhams and use the sample perfume with no intention to buy it in the first place so why can't people listen to a little music?
Yes, some may choose not to pay for it.
But there are some of us that would.

Let's face it, digital is here to stay and piracy will always find a way to exploit.

[SGuitarist33]

tommyt wrote:

matttt wrote:

I think its good, more artists potentially brilliant artists will actually benefit from being paid.

not from the pittance cd sales give them

true... i was about to say...

[Styx]

Ok this is good for the artist that are being stealed of their great work.But there a lot of albums that have 1 or 2 good songs not worth buying them. Anyway i don't think paying a buck or 2 will kill anyone but as long as u can do it for free wich one u guys think they'll choose?

[Red Death]

TheSouthernator wrote:

People shouldnt play music for money, and any up and coming band in it for the money shouldnt be playing in the first place. it should be free to download-and band worth their salt is gonna make plenty in the live show anyway...

wow...you've obviously never had a job or even written a song for that matter, have you? how would you like it if you spent months making a song and then, instead, of being paid for the work that went into it, some punk just up and effing steals your work? or if you built a house or something and your boss didn't pay you? people don't do shit without being payed for it because living costs money and a man's gotta' eat.

[bendystraw]

my plans:
1. make 1000s of pirated CDs
2. move to the UK.
3. sell CDs on street.
seriously the "pirates" are really just trying to get to experience new music. fuck the labels.

[bendystraw]

Red Death wrote:

TheSouthernator wrote:

People shouldnt play music for money, and any up and coming band in it for the money shouldnt be playing in the first place. it should be free to download-and band worth their salt is gonna make plenty in the live show anyway...

wow...you've obviously never had a job or even written a song for that matter, have you? how would you like it if you spent months making a song and then, instead, of being paid for the work that went into it, some punk just up and effing steals your work? or if you built a house or something and your boss didn't pay you? people don't do shit without being payed for it because living costs money and a man's gotta' eat.

hmm... maybe recording artists shouldn't be millionaires then? the same arugurement against professional athletics applies here.

[smittyclk]

yeah, there is nothing wrong with doing something you love for a living. but if you expect to sell cds with a label to make money, you are living in the past and just waiting to get ****ed by your label. people find music for free on the internet, and if it doesn't totally suck, then people pay money for your merch, live shows, whatever. thats how the radio used to work. file sharing is the new outlet for getting you music in people's ears.

[Jmoney07]

5_Strings wrote:

wtffff are you people talking about!! .. downloading music is the best thing that has ever happened to the worldddd .. and these guys who are against it right now .. I'm sure you'll feel what I mean when you'll be deprived of it .. and having to buy every artist's CD for a song or a couple of songs .. I hope it doesn't come to US =( .. LEAVE US ALONEE

there is now way that the US could inforce, to many hassles that have to go through, bill pass, law instated, it would take years

[omarrodrigez]

Red Death wrote:

wow...you've obviously never had a job or even written a song for that matter, have you? how would you like it if you spent months making a song and then, instead, of being paid for the work that went into it, some punk just up and effing steals your work? or if you built a house or something and your boss didn't pay you? people don't do shit without being payed for it because living costs money and a man's gotta' eat.

I work on songs all the time that I don't get paid for. My "pay" is the satisfaction I get out of writing original music, making money would just be a bonus. And if some "punk" "stole" my song, I would be happy because that means I have someone that wants tp hear my music. Stealing it would be saying you wrote the song, not downloading it.

[smittyclk]

and obviously if it's illegal, that means there is no way you should do it... ya know what else was illegal for a long time? women voting, interracial marriage, drinking alcohol in the 20's. it's called civil disobedience people. i for one don't let any government tell me what's wrong or right. think for yourselves.

[omarrodrigez]

smittyclk wrote:

and obviously if it's illegal, that means there is no way you should do it... ya know what else was illegal for a long time? women voting, interracial marriage, drinking alcohol in the 20's. it's called civil disobedience people. i for one don't let any government tell me what's wrong or right. think for yourselves.

+1000

[Scourge441]

I'd like to tell you a story about a band called Ne Obliviscaris.

Ne Obliviscaris are a progressive black metal band from Australia. They recently released a demo called The Aurora Veil. This demo has propelled the band to great heights in popularity among the metal scene, at least for an unsigned band.

Now, how the hell would so many people find out about such a great band from Australia

That's right kiddies, downloading! If the demo hadn't been uploaded/shared/torrented, no one would know who they are.

Ne Obliviscaris have received several label offers, and will look into signing when they find a new lead guitarist. They have plans to release a full-length album when they accept an offer. When they have to tour to promote this full-length album, they will already have a bunch of fans in other countries who will go out to see them because they were able to download their demo.

And people say downloading is bad for new artists.

[Simskre]

I do not want to buy crappy mp3's from a downloading site... That should be even more illegal than downloading....

[TheBurningFish]

I think it's funny how record companies say 'Support your favourite artists...' when these people would quite happily and without a seconds consideration screw over 'your favourite artists' if they knew they'd make a prophet out of it.

[foopeppers]

gd point scourge411 !!

[cherrylespaul]

Scourge441 wrote:

I'd like to tell you a story about a band called Ne Obliviscaris.

Ne Obliviscaris are a progressive black metal band from Australia. They recently released a demo called The Aurora Veil. This demo has propelled the band to great heights in popularity among the metal scene, at least for an unsigned band.

Now, how the hell would so many people find out about such a great band from Australia

That's right kiddies, downloading! If the demo hadn't been uploaded/shared/torrented, no one would know who they are.

Ne Obliviscaris have received several label offers, and will look into signing when they find a new lead guitarist. They have plans to release a full-length album when they accept an offer. When they have to tour to promote this full-length album, they will already have a bunch of fans in other countries who will go out to see them because they were able to download their demo.

And people say downloading is bad for new artists.

It is bad, for a small signed artist. Now if your unsigned, you can become known via torrents and what not. But remember, once your signed all your songs all still out there available for download. =/

[GoWithTheFlow]

Snuggler wrote:

Whats the point of making a band and creating albums if you cant make money because stupid people want to download illegaly and not pay for an album. I think this is a good thing, Its also good for the economy,not to sound like nerd.More album sales means good for our American economy which is nor far from a reccesion.So be a true American and not a communist(pirate)and please but your music.

oh man there are so many reasons to create a band other than for the money. wow. you do know this is only for the UK. some americans always try to find a way to fit in " be an american and do what i say!" lots of people i know download a bands music just to get a feel for what they sound like. if they like it they will go spend that money on the album. but if they dont they will not download that stuff and spend their money elswhere it still will be spent on their own countries shit. but just not on that bands album.

[ShannonOBrien41]

I never thought I'd say this but I'm from the US and you pals in the UK are living in a police state! I thought things were bad here but at least we don't have CCTV cameras on every street corner yelling at us and at least our government knows better than to interfere with businesses to the point that they demand companies to enforce the law for them and then punish them when they don't.

[tintoenail]

Roedy0309 wrote:

ChoPxSueY wrote:

I think they're overreacting a bit with the "while music and film companies say they are losing millions as a result."

companies are losing money because there arent any big bands anymore, no more zeppelins, just crappy emo punk

+1