AquaVita

So he wasn't going to buy a CD anyway right? No one loses.

And if you think for a second that the artist can even eat off the money he or she gets from CD sales, you are pretty badly mistaken. Artists see anywhere from 10 to 30 cents per cd.

They make money from touring, sponsorships, and merchandise sales.

Mike S.

The whole "piracy is killing us" bit by the music industry is a scam anyways. The amount of money spent on music in 2001 in the US dropped only about 4.1% from 2000 and was the third biggest year ever (I didn't adjust for inflation but you get the point) and was roughly 12% higher than the average from the pre-piracy period of 1994-1997. What they don't tell you is that during the 94-97 period there were an average of 32,675 new albums released per year compared to 27,000 per year in 2000 and 2001.

So they have actually increased revenue per album while eliminating the ones they lose money on. If any corporation were able to drop from 32,675 employees to 27,000 while only seeing a 4.1% decrease in revenue they would be worshipped as cost-cutting gods (except by their employees of course). When music executives do it they get to lay a guilt trip on the public about how we are killing great artists. If they actually cared about the average musician they would let him or her have more than 7% of the profit their albums bring in.

Stats from the RIAA on revenue: http://www.riaa.com/pdf/2001consumerprofile.pdf
The new releases link isn't working for me on RIAA.com right now but here it is if you want to check it out: http://www.riaa.com/MD-US-6.cfm

beoba

None of the CD's I buy have ever had a terms of use agreement. Unlike software, where I am given fairly explicit instructions as to what I should/shouldn't do with the software (for example, Windows has some thing where more than 10 people can't connect to your computer at once, or something), CD's are just data that I can use for anything. There's nothing stamped on the case saying "YOU MAY NOT LISTEN TO THIS HOWEVER YOU WANT".

I think that if record companies don't want people to be able to read their music on any device, they shouldn't release it in digital form in the first place.

beoba

Oh, and yeah, the fake-madonna voice thing is pretty shifty, though funny. They (record companies) seem to be getting particularly desparate lately.

Jimmy Higgins

Yes - Keys to Ascension 2
Sting - Ten Summoner's Tales
King Crimson - the construKction of light
Rush - Vapor Trails
Extreme - III Sides to every story

I just pulled those quotes directly from the CD's themselves. I think the message is quite clear. You aren't supposed to make copies and give it to someone because the message says that you aren't allowed to make unauthorized copies. Once again your only excuse for doing it is a legal loophole, if one exists, and that its not hurting the band.

How much are you getting screwed? Lets see. You hire the band. Then get a studio. You get a crew to help record the album. Then another crew to do the mixing. Then hire people to produce the CD. Now, go out and distribute the CD's for sale. Come on, it must be simple. I mean if the record companies are gouging you, it musn't be that hard to make an album. So you can get Rush to come to your home. Record the album and then distribute for sale.

The record companies are making plenty of money, sure. But people are still buying the records at the price they are offering. So why shouldn't they be setting those prices? Because you don't think its fair? There are other outlets to get CD's for a lower price, ie used and/or online. So this has nothing to do with the price the CD's are being offered at, but the fact that you want free music.

Equal_Mark

I am a subscriber to several online web based forums, and most of them prohibit the posting of images or cutting and pasting of online images as this is against copyright laws. One particular group I hang on, www.egullet.com does not allow images or text from other websites or scanned from books or magazines to be posted.

beoba

I forgot to reply to this in my earlier post:

As this thread started with the subject of the RIAA using unorthodox means to keep people from listening to music, much of that post was centered around problems with the current business model of the music industry.
Perhaps if the music industry doesn't want people to listen to their music without going through them, they should provide a better, more convenient means of providing it. Rather than trying to punish listeners, they should find an incentive for people to continue buying music from them.
Apple's iTunes is an example of a system they could adopt.

Jimmy Higgins

Sure, support such things, though I don't believe Apple's deal is available for a Windows system. There are places like EMusic where you get downloads for one flat price, etc... As I said before, there are ways to go about, but downloading MP3's with the soul intention to avoid paying is stealing.

beoba

Yes, (oncoming curveball) unless you happen to already own the music that you're downloading.

Example: Buy CD that contains song, and later on obtain same song that has already been paid for in CD form.

Jimmy Higgins

??? I can understand it from a tape or record perspective, ie, I have The Who's Quadraphenia tape. I borrowed my friends CD version to more easily burn the MP3's, something I could do with the tape, but why do it that way?