Why do we steal music?Music 

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Epic, I'd like to tell you that today I just purchased Hail to the Thief. I was going to get the LE one, but my brother convinced me not to....
 
I download music because I know music that way. I have met a lot of artist that way. Im sure that If I didnt download those albums, I wouldnt have known badns such as Death Cab for cuttie, HEM, the flaming lips, the disco biscuits... the list goeson and on. and of course I want to buy their CDs... but in some cases, they are impossible to find. the flaming lips are now part of my top 5 list, and Im buying those albums, starting with yoshimi battles the pink robots. I use this to know much more music, to test some songs. I will buy those CDs... since I download music, my list of CDs to buy has grown about three or four times. and I also download because I have access to many, many bootlegs and thinsg like dat that would be impossible to find in any other way. As frustrated palm said, I just support the artist that is really worth supporting, but I cant tell if I dont know. that why I download music.

Cano
 
Originally posted by Cano
since I download music, my list of CDs to buy has grown about three or four times
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thats the point, and im sure there are many stories like that. i doubt many and certainly not the majority of people can say that they used to buy loads of cds but since they found kazaa haven't bought anything cause downloaded music is better...
 
Originally posted by Klostrophobic
I steal music so I can get it for free.

I buy music because I like to own good quality music.
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je... well, yeah, that is one true fact, too...

Ca
no

-__-
 
Because the music industry is made of greedy extorsionate pigs.

Why should I pay £10 for an album that probably cost less than £2 to make?
Because the artist needs to be well paid for doing something they love?
Because everyone wants a piece of the cake. Manager, artist, maufacturer, label?

I buy albums that I think are a good deal. Usually cut price, Why? Cause I'm on a limited income and can easily use the net instead.

I'm not stealing I'm just playing as dirty as the music industry. :sly:

[EDIT] I just realised how old this thread is [/EDIT]
 
lol thanks for bumping it then. now i am not the reason its alive again <8- P i get music because i do like hearning new things. if someone is featured in a song that i like i will look into their music. one thing i do like is rhapsody. i don't have it anymore but when i had it i did not download any music. i get music because i need to know its quality. so many "artists" are just in it for the money. look at kanye west. he was proud of the fact that he can come up with a song in a few minutes. music takes time. a band such as the roots plays all of their own music 👍
 
There are two reasons I don't but many CD's, price, and lack of any music that I would justify spending that price on. However, I probably have purchased more CD's than 90% of people my age, and nearly 2/3 of those CD's I have bought have been because I liked some songs I heard through file sharing. Without file sharing, I'm willing to bet I wouldn't be listening to any music right now.
 
There are only a couple reasons why I buy CD's sparingly. There are alot of one-hit-wonder bands or bands with one or 2 songs that I happen to like. Now, if I were to buy those on a CD, that's equal to $7-10 per song. Otherwise known as too much. With the music I listen to (almost exclusively classic rock), most tracks you want can be downloaded. Besides, haven't ZZ Top, Van Halen, Led Zepplin, etc. either already made their millions, or died(Hendrix,etc.)? I'm sorry, but I'm sure Jimmy Page can do without my $20. And if I really want quality, or truly respect the artist (SRV), I will go and buy the album. But not before some price hunting.
I think it's permissable to 'steal' music from the people who have already established themselves in the music industry. However, it is very wrong if you are stealing music from a band that is just starting up, the unknown people.
 
if you want decent music you gotta find it, imo there is not enough unique but decent bands, hardly any, i listen to loads of music and very rarely i will find something good, and it has never been mainstream. and if its good enough ill go buy, bands im not so sure of i'll download a few and then decide whether or not to buy, also one of my mates is good at finding the good stuff and gives me loads of great music. it takes a lot to impress me musically but its so lame that most people dont go out and find the stuff they really like. with downloading they have the chance to get some good music without the risk of wasting money on the poor stuff that they only listen to once
 
I download music for one reason only,not because the stores dont have what i like, but beacuse i want to save money.If i had the money to buy all the cds i wanted i would purchase them legally, but until i win the lottery that isnt gonna happen,so i'm gonna keep downloading.

ps: i do purchase music, but only when i really like the artist and have heard the album to make sure i wont be let down.
 
here will be the main reason.... its a lot cheaper. and we can put all our favourite songs from different artist onto 1 c.d. and not always switching c.d's to find a good song.
 
'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone' - never anything was better said than that.

I agree with many people here. Buying a CD without knowing how much you will like its contents is a major waste of money. So, nothing wrong (well, entirely wrong) with the downloading+trying+deleting+buying process. People want to be sure of what they buy before they do, and I don't blame them, as money, as far as I know (somebody back me up on this one please :D ;)) doesn't grow on trees. I want to be sure as well. The only two groups I buy the CD blindfolded/hearfolded are U2 and Pink Floyd. I already know they won't disappoint me... It might take some getting-used-to period for some of the songs, but I will eventually end up liking 90% plus (at least) of the album.

I agree with neon_duke and others... yes, stealing music it's unethical. But I would be an hypocrite if I didn't say that it's unethical to ask $20 average (or thereabouts) for a CD and it's even more unethical to ask for that much if the CD will end up having 2 or 3 good songs on it (aka, the ones you hear on the radio) and nothing else.

Who is stealing from who here?
a) People that download music, and probably make a dent of a few thousand dollars on the musicians/producers 'deepdish' wallets
or
b) Musicians/producers that make millions of dollars out of one album by putting some effort on 3 out of the 20 songs that album contains?

I am not talking about groups that actually put some hard work (which for me, my opinion here, would be U2 and Pink Floyd and a few others that I personally like) of course.

And yes, if you don't like it, nobody is forcing you to buy it... But people will end up buying that album anyway, just because they like those 2 or 3 songs they hear on the radio and they will end up disappointed by the rest...

Just my 3 or 4 cent worth of opinion... nothing else - feel free to agree/disagree... it's just an opinion after all ;)

EDIT: :crazy: Didn't realize this thread was almost 2 years old... lol!

The Wizard.
 
I don't think this is an simple, black & white issue. Stealing music by downloading is nothing to be proud of, but at the same time, record companies are not helping the matter by retailing mediocre albums at prices reaching almost $20. I'm all for $7.99-$9.99 CDs, but any CD that retails higher than $16, $17 sounds like an ripoff to me, and same goes for the DVD Movies as well. Sometimes, there are rare tracks, demos/unreleased materials that are hard to come by, and only way to get them might be by downloading. Fans can't be blamed for those types of downloading IMO.

I have never downloaded music(I don't even know which sitesto go to), but I have stolen music before by copying. Once in a while, I copy CDs from my friends or make a copy for them. About 50% of the time, I still end up buying the original CD anyway.

I agree with neon_duke that stealing music is wrong, but I don't care enough or qualify to criticize anybody for downloading either.
 
It doesn't really come across to people as 'stealing' - as in, actually sticking a CD under your shirt and walking outof the store without paying. It's detached, easy to do, and available, so the ethical boundary isn't really there. And it's availabilty makes it that much more appealing.

I use iTunes and regularly purchase music off of that program, because I don't have to get up and drive to the mall. Nobody feels like doing that when they can just download it - for free - right off of their computer.
 
I buy my favourite cds. Unfortunately, a lot of the artists I listen to are a tad obscure and next to impossible to find in stores or online. Musicians like Last Emperor have cds for sale online, but I would have to go through Amazon's UK site. They of course, may or may not ship it to Canada depending on territory issues. Not to mention that shipping from the UK would be expensive and I'd have duty to pay. If I buy off of ebay, I have no idea of the CD's condition and the artist won't be getting any money anyways. Then of course, there's the many artists in my collection who have out of print CD's. It's considered illegal to download that stuff too, but then again, it's out of print. No matter what source I get it from, the artist won't get money. Plus I'd be paying someone a premium in order to get the album.

I absolutely refuse to use iTunes as I used to have an iPod and really hated the program for the most part. Napster and the like are useless to me as well since my player doesn't support DRM protected music.

If I *do* find music I like and can't be arsed to pay $20+ for the album, I'll go to www.allofmp3.com - they're a russia based site that sells at a few cents per meg. They claim that their service is legal and they provide music in just about every format under the sun - all without DRM bullcrap. If quality is an issue (like for those really kickass jazz albums), you have the option of downloading most music in true lossless formats like Flac.
 
I don't "steal" music anymore because...

1. it's hard to find (especially ambient electronica)
2. I listen to my current collection

I do have to say if it wasn't for avenues like Napster type of programs as well as streaming music I would not have found the diverse non-cookie cutter music that I do have today.

Whether it is or isn't stealing the RIAA isn't filling my need for the obscure stuff I look for. I don't give a rats ass about "albums" because I'm usually looking for a certain song. I rarely get any albums.

I should also note that when I was d/ling it was mostly on a modem so I don't have any remorse because there were people d/ling albums hand over fist.

I absolutely will not buy CDs and RARELY use Napster type of paid services...

emad
If I *do* find music I like and can't be arsed to pay $20+ for the album, I'll go to www.allofmp3.com - they're a russia based site that sells at a few cents per meg. They claim that their service is legal and they provide music in just about every format under the sun - all without DRM bullcrap. If quality is an issue (like for those really kickass jazz albums), you have the option of downloading most music in true lossless formats like Flac.
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Like emad if I do d/l anything it's on Mp3 Search Club which is really similar. Seems that this legal way is starting to suck too much of the RIAA's greed so they forced Paypal to stop afiliating with them... ho well...

Other ways I get music is through a site called Iuma.com which is free and legal

If not those I can using my mp3 player and record directly to .Mp3 format from a line-in or radio built-in to my mp3 player (how's that sound RIAA? ha ha...)

Then there's streaming music and thanks to a ripper program that too saves whatever I'm listening to straight to .mp3 format which I can then drag and drop on my mp3 player and enjoy.

:D:tup:
 
I do it because it's cheap of course. I have realized that about half of my songs are downloaded, meaning that if I were to have bought them all on itunes it would have cost over $1000 at 99 cents a song. No way I want to pay that much. Most of the music I have found the best were cd's I bought and forgot about, only to pick them up years later. One of the big limiting factors with mp3s was the ability to carry them. Before I had to convert them to wav to play on a cd player, then I could do a cd of mp3s, now I have an mp3 player that can hold my whole collection. Less and less reason to pay for music. I have heard about that russian site and am considering it. One of my neighbors put in about 15 dollars, downloaded a couple gigs and still had most of his money left.

Edit: Oh and I have had groups were I wanted all there music, but the cd was out of print, so I DL-ed it. THere are certain groups that I need to have the hard copy of there music.
 
xcsti
I do it because it's cheap of course. I have realized that about half of my songs are downloaded, meaning that if I were to have bought them all on itunes it would have cost over $1000 at 99 cents a song. No way I want to pay that much.
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So just because you 'don't wan't to pay that much', that gives you the right to steal it?

I don't want to pay $150 a week for my groceries, so expect to see me coming over to your house to raid the refrigerator. It's OK, remember, because it would be too expensive to buy that much for myself.
:rolleyes:
In all honesty, I don't have a problem with d/ling as a method of auditioning CDs. Neither do most bands - many of them have lots of samples on their websites. So does Amazon or www.allmusic.com . So there's really very little excuse for stealing hundreds of songs except cheap-ass people who know they can get away with it, and don't care to support the bands who make the music.
 
I find that I moslty download music to see how it sounds first, and then ill find a couple more from that album to see if it is worth buying. thats how I got my 6 Marilyn Manson CD's. 2 years ago I never would have even considered buying his music, but because of the internet, he's managed to fanaggled about $100 out of me. :lol:
 

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