Pseudonymph

And uncapping our cable modems no less...much to the chargrin of the providers I imagine...

Pseudonymph

I certainly wouldn't.
The CD you bought did not have the song you had hoped for, so you obtained the song that in many ways you still have a liscence to own. I see no problem with that.

Writer@Large

Well, I do. Evil, wicked, bad, naughty QueenOfSwords!



--W@L

Perchance

All my mp3's are either downloaded from sites where it's free and the band allows it (like mp3.com) or copies from a CD that I owned and copied because my mother was always borrowing it. It's lucky that I copied it; the CD is now permanently lost, and I hate buying duplicate copies of anything, on the off chance that the original might turn up someday.

I also have purchased two CD's because I could hear but not download the songs, and it drove me absolutely bonkers. So artists can sell CD's that way.

-Perchance.

Kvalhion

As technology has increased and developed, the music industry has simply not adapted. I see no reason to purchase a CD where only $.30 goes to a band when I can download the CD much cheaper.

Should we continue to give money to record labels simply because they have a history of producing records and DVDs? Should we ignore that the technology is easily available for bands to record their own music and distribute it over the web?

Before the technology for digitizing music existed, producing cassettes, records, and CDs were the only practical and viable way to distribute music. Consumers paid a high price for these simply because there were no other options. Now that the techology exists to provide more efficient options, do we owe something to the record producers? The answer is no.

Obviously there is still a large market for CDs. However we cannot simply ignore that other options now exist. It seems obvious that the way in which music is produced and distributed should be adjusted. However instead of doing this, the ones who have profited for years by monopoly on music are isntead focusing their efforts fighting a battle they will never win.

I am not going to stick with an archaic system because other people refuse to embrace and improve upon technology. In fact, for me, I have little use for CDs anymore. I own a 10 GB USB hard drive that plays MP3s (Archos Jukebox Recorder) where I store all my MP3s. The only use for a CD for me at this point would be to take it home and convert it to MP3 format.

I realize that downloading MP3s for free it is not a good solution. In fact, I want to pay reasonably for quality music to ensure that quality music is produced in the future. However, at this point there are few if any reasonable solutions. So I will continue to download music, go to concerts, and even occasionally mail cash anonymously to bands whose music I enjoy.

I will not be deleting my MP3 files for the simple reason that I refuse to pay the price for other people's incompetence.

galiel

I you really care about the artists and oppose the recording industry's heavy-handed tactics and unfair labor practices, and if you really want music to be available at a fraction of the current price, not to mention give artists the right to distribute theirs online freely if they want to,
You should support the effort of the Recording Artists' Coalition, or RAC, founded by Sheryl Crow and Don Henley, which now includes over a hundred top artists signed with major labels, from Alanis Morissette to Beck to Jimmy Buffet to Pearl Jam to No Doubt to The Offspring to Social Distortion to Bruce Springsteen and everyone in between. RAC seeks to break the back of the recording industry oligopoly and free artists from onerous contracts where the publisher makes essentially all the money from recordings and artists, even the biggest sellers, only make money from exhausting, bombastic tours with high ticket prices.

Many artists have said that they could sell their CD's direct for 2 or 3 dollars--including production, packaging and shipping costs--and still make a lot more money than they do today.

<a href="http://www.recordingartistscoalition.com/" target="_blank">http://www.recordingartistscoalition.com/</a>

Nataraja

I own plenty of CDs. MP3's means only that I get two-hundred and seventy-eight times the variety I would get otherwise. Generally, I only buy CD's if it's too much trouble to track down a song or I find myself buying on impulse at a store. Sometimes it's just nice to have a real album (and often the quality is a bazillion times better, as well).