Filesharing & Guilt
I don't like filesharing. I recently subscribed to the emusic service which lets me download 40 songs per month for $9.99 and I feel guilty about that. I want to know that the artists get paid at least what they would get paid if I bought the CD.
Before I got married to a musician I didn't like filesharing either. Today I find to my disappointment that 'It's Art Dad' is now on at least 2 filesharing networks. I'm not a member of either of these exclusive download/torrent sites, but it's pretty easy to find out about this stuff using basic internet searches, so I can see how major record labels can easily find people to sue. The thing that makes me sad is that a lot of people justify downloading because they disagree with the record industry practices or they say it improves sales and is a valid promotional tool. In the case of 'It's Art Dad', they only person they are hurting is the artist, since this is a totally self-released (and payed for) CD. A promotional tool? As the only person besides the band selling this, I can tell you I've seen absolutely no increase in sales and I'm sure they won't see an increase in sales at the shows either.
I think the only time it may increase sales if if someone had downloaded the album, liked it, and saw it in BestBuy or Walmart - a CD that takes absolutely no effort to find. Basically downloading is all about not having to get off your ass to hear music. Lazy consumers.
Before I got married to a musician I didn't like filesharing either. Today I find to my disappointment that 'It's Art Dad' is now on at least 2 filesharing networks. I'm not a member of either of these exclusive download/torrent sites, but it's pretty easy to find out about this stuff using basic internet searches, so I can see how major record labels can easily find people to sue. The thing that makes me sad is that a lot of people justify downloading because they disagree with the record industry practices or they say it improves sales and is a valid promotional tool. In the case of 'It's Art Dad', they only person they are hurting is the artist, since this is a totally self-released (and payed for) CD. A promotional tool? As the only person besides the band selling this, I can tell you I've seen absolutely no increase in sales and I'm sure they won't see an increase in sales at the shows either.
I think the only time it may increase sales if if someone had downloaded the album, liked it, and saw it in BestBuy or Walmart - a CD that takes absolutely no effort to find. Basically downloading is all about not having to get off your ass to hear music. Lazy consumers.