well I agree with you guys on these points.....I am in NO way siding with the RIAA or record labels or anything, but let me respond being an artist myself and working in the music industry, I would like to reply at an artist's point of view.......
Matthew:
Hey right now I think that would be the best plan for any artist.. I mean hell why pay some at the label that is not really backing your album.
-- Yes it does work great because most recording contracts don't favor the artists, the label's frame of mind is that they are taking the financial risk so the artists are lucky if they get 10-15% of record/CD sales which works out to about .10cents per CD/tape, etc....and that is AFTER the label has recouped all the money they spent on the production, advertising, marketing, promotional items like videos, sampler CDs, etc, printing up of CDs, and any advance money they gave to the artists, yes all of that money comes out of the artist's percentage of sales..............
JMINIS: I file share. **** bro I turn on MTV and see everybody with there million dollar homes, 6 cars, and diamonds out the ass. I don't feel so bad in my little three bedroom house. I see the top artists going multi platinum. They're selling records with no prob. ---
------reality check, most of the stuff you see on all of these videos, or TV shows, are BS....most of those things are rented just for the videos and the artist doesn't really own these things, like the cars, jewelry, women etc all of those are usually rented, truth is, a very low percentage of artists are rich....I know guys that have sold 1 million albums and are to this day, broke and living a normal life just like you and me, true enough the record label owners are the ones that make the money, not the artists. Recording contracts are shady and not to mention all the so-called "going platinum", those numbers can be manipulated where it appears that the artist sold 1 million records, but in reality, the actual number could be more or less depending on who is promoting your album.
a good promotions/marketing person can make it look like a CD sold 1-2 million CDs when actually it probably only sold 500-800,000.---------
"I download but if there's an album that actually has more then 2 good tracks I have no problem buying. I respect that artist because it shows he put time into the album not just two commercial hits and the rest of the tracks are just space fillers. "----I agree with you totally on this bro...if the artists took time out to make good albums then record sales would be no problem...the music industry is about 10% talent and 90% business, it's not about the music anymore, it's about money.
---I agree with MACHINA on his points totally, it is bullshit and about money, they are just trying to make examples of people by using lawyers and pushing their weight around with money, but I agree with you on using downloaded music as a preview to see if it's good enough to buy, but what you have to understand, Machina, bro, is that most of the shared files or downloaded music on the internet is stolen from the artist or someone at the studio or somebody who has the inside hook-up on getting the latest music, and this is copyrighted material, it's the same as you writing a book and somebody stealing it off your computer or your office and selling it. it's like you are doing all the work and somebody else is getting paid for it........how would you like going to work 9-5 everyday and then every pay-day somebody comes and steals your pay-check? this is the same thing, no difference.
IRON WARRIOR: Jesus, we're having our right to share music taken away. I have a fuckin problem with that because the music being shared belongs to us the people who are sharing it, not the artist. I think the music industry needs a fuckin reality check, cause they can't get away with high way robbery for too long. And none of the main artists are on welfare and starving to death either so I don't mind having downloaded the 3,000 + songs into my computer. I hope sharing music doesn't get people in jail because some people have egos the size of Texas.
That's almost as bad as being forced to buy our **** at GNC because they manipulated the legal system.--
---bro you are partially right...the music is copyrighted, so legally it DOES belong to the artist or record label, not the person sharing it.....just because it's in your possession does not mean it legally belongs to you, that's like stealing somebody's car and then saying it belongs to you just because you have it in your house.....make sense now?
but trust me bro, I'm not defending the record labels at all, because they are all shady and DO **** you over, all I'm saying is that shared/downloaded music does not legally belong to you......
JERGO: "Its the same thing. You DL music from others on the net, plus your not even buying it then, people just give it away. The used scenario is worse, your buying them.
Actually wtf?? People aren't buying it so whats the big deal? How is that illegal? All I can see wrong is that if you bootleg a CD then you resell it. Or you make a copy and resell it. Everything else doesn't make sense.
Its like selling books at a flea-market, or anything else thats copywrited. I'm clueless.......
---buying USED CDs is NOT the same thing...once again, this material is COPYRIGHTED, which mean it's is legally the property of the person or company which owns the copyright, which makes it illegal to share, sell or even broadcast (radio, tv) without their permission. Downloading it on the net is illegal because 90% of the time it's stolen material, the only legal way to posess it is to purchase it, and I don't mean bootlegged stuff either, I mean from a legitimate retailer. making a copy and selling it is bootlegging, which is stealing. if you go out and steal somebody's car, then sell it to somebody else......what is that? STEALING......maybe I'm comparing apples to oranges here but it's the same principle, this material is copyrighted. And buying it USED is OK because most of the USED CD retailers are also legitimate retailers and sell NEW and USED CDs store which means that they also can order old and new album and these kinds of stores get credit for albums that they sell and the sales can be tracked by the record labels, unless they are a store that sells only bootlegged CDs/albums.
I agree with all you bros on the point that these big record labels are only doing this to make an example out of people and it is wrong that they are attacking the little people who cannot defend themselves, but that is what they do....record labels **** you over......
and I also urge you to look at the point of view of the artist who make this music, when you download/burn songs off the internet or purchase bootlegged CDs instead of purchasing it from a legitimate music retailer, you are hurting record sales which in turn hurts the artist. so if you have any love or respect for the artists you like, please go out and purchase a REAL CD. if you think they are too high then just don't purchase it, just go steal it...that's the same thing.