Downloading Especially Hurts Al

[stupidsurgeon27]

QUOTE Most people who downloaded the songs, however, wouldbt buy the album anyways.



Not exactly. I have a friend who tends to download songs, but still buys albums when he has the money. Maybe I should buy him PH since he does tend to take forever.



-CindyBob

[Electric Amish]

If I'm intereested in music, I generally download one track, and then buy the whole cd, then rip it to mp3.. that way I have both a legal copy, and an mp3 backup of it.



I'm happy to say I support artists and the MP3 community.

[green jacket]

there's nothing wrong with a little downloading. First of all, i own poodle hat yet i stil downloaded hardware store and WBYL so I can listen to them more often and burn them onto cds easier. Also, I believe that when an artist has as much success as Al, they don't really need the money. Al can easily live well for the rest of his life with the money made before poodle hat. although I want to see his albums do well in the charts, i don't see a problem with downloading a couple songs from even worse or off the deep end because I'm not rich enough to spend 18 bucks on a cd. Metallica didn't need to shut napster down, they just got greedy, they were filthy rich. believe me, if the record industry charged 7 bucks an album there would be a lot less downloading. :choon:

[autrefois]

Also, I believe that when an artist has as much success as Al, they don't really need the money. Al can easily live well for the rest of his life with the money made before poodle hat.

First let me say this isn't directed at you, but just how I feel in general.

I don't get how so many people seem to think there's nothing wrong with downloading music for free.

Even if Al is rich or very well-off (I have absolutely no idea whether or not he is--he does have to pay a lot in royalties to the artists he parodies...), doesn't he deserve to be paid for the work he does?

Most people would agree that we don't have a right to see an artist perform at a concert for free: he deserves money for performing for us. He does his job, and we pay him for doing it.

When we buy the CD, we are paying him for months of song writing, recording, remixing, etc. We get the chance to have a mini Weird Al concert whenever we pop in the CD or listen to the tracks. For that, he definitely deserves something, doesn't he?!

Not to mention that there are hundreds of other people involved: the other members of the band (who as much as they love Al, I assume they would like to get paid for their work!), guest performers, Al's manager, studio technicians, the people involved with the photo shoot, the people who work in the plant where they manufacture the CD, etc., etc. They all get paid because of the revenue generated by the purchase of the CD.

i don't see a problem with downloading a couple songs from even worse or off the deep end because I'm not rich enough to spend 18 bucks on a cd.

Based on what other people have told me, and maybe you're different, most people who use Kazaa do not download a couple songs. They download songs on a regular basis. Some people are good and buy the albums they listen to, others don't. I used to be dirt poor, as in "my clothes didn't fit me and I would get made fun of" kind of poor, so I know it sucks not being able to buy the cassettes or CDs you want, but that's unfortunately just the way things are sometimes.

believe me, if the record industry charged 7 bucks an album there would be a lot less downloading. :choon:

I agree the record industry is fleecing consumers. It costs a lot less money to make a CD than a cassette, and yet cassettes are often sold at half the price of CDs.



But if you don't buy CDs, it's more likely you're hurting artists, especially lesser-known ones, than the companies themselves. In many cases, these are multinational corporations for whom music is only one part of their business. They wouldn't tell Britney Spears they have to let her go because of declining sales in the industry--they just won't sign as many bands and we'll have even less variety in popular music than we already do these days.



Believe me, I don't usually defend corporations. If there were a way for prices to go down some and/or for more of that money to go to artists or other people involved with the album instead of the CEOs, I'd be all for it. But as long as we live in a system where people receive money for the work they do, there's no reason the music industry should be an exception. Everyone, from the multi-million dollar artists to the minumum wage worker in the CD plant, deserves to be paid.



That's just my 27 cents on the issue. [/rant]

[Orthography Enthusiast]

Is there any place where you can't find a store that sells Al's back catalog for less than 18 bucks a pop? I bought all the studio albums last year (newbie fan) and $11 or $12 was more like it, except for RWS and maybe BHD. But nobody was still charging full fare for the 80's material.



I know I said it before, but if you measure the cost of Al CD's in terms of, say, movie tickets or fast-food meals, it doesn't come out that bad. The entertainment-value-per-dollar of an Al CD is much better than most movies, and once you've bought the CD, you get to keep it!

[Stupidhippie]

Heck, at Wal-Mart you can buy everything except Poodle Hat for $9.98. I only paid 14.98 for Poodle hat the day it came out. So if you don't wanna pay 18 bucks for a CD shop around a bit before you buy. I also have to say that Wal-Mart (at least mine in Benton Harbor,MI) still has Poodle Hat on it's hot new music rack :biggrin: ! I said it in an earlier post. I have used Kazza a couple of times but only to listen to songs that someone has suggeseted that I perform on stage and I've never heard before. I've never used it to burn CD's from. I think I've downloaded a total of 5 songs over the past 4 months. I think the bands who put the time, effort and money into creating those songs desearve to get paid. If I ever made it big I would want to make my money! Don't worry I think your ears are safe. I doubt I'll ever be famous.



Stupidhippie

[CatraDhtem]

Not trying to pick on anyone in this thread, but I agree that price is hardly an excuse anymore. I can't think of ANY brick-and-mortar retail store that sells CDs for the full $18.98 price....even if there are such stores, there are dozens of other chains that sell music for much cheaper. "Poodle Hat," just as an example, was as low as $11.99 at Circuit City.



If money is an issue for a consumer, then it's a matter of shopping around or calling stores for prices. Perhaps it's a little time-consuming, but hey, so is downloading.



And do you know what people used to do when they didn't have money for albums? They didn't get to listen to the music. Sorry if that's a harsh reality, but if you want to legally enjoy something that is for sale, then you need to pay money for it. It's a simple fact of commerce.

[scottidog]

Also, I believe that when an artist has as much success as Al, they don't really need the money. Al can easily live well for the rest of his life with the money made before poodle hat.

I'm nearly speechless. :eh:



You've got to be kidding. I hope you are, anyway. The music that is sold is Al's job. I assume you have a job. How would you like it if your boss told you he had given you more than enough to live on, so you don't really need this week's paycheck?



Theft is theft. No matter how you choose to justify it to yourself. It's wrong to steal even from someone you don't like. People who download Al's (or any artist's) music may like the music, but they are not fans. They are thieves. Plain and simple.



Harsh? Not as harsh as saying Al doesn't have a right to make as much money as he can. If that makes him wealthy, then good for him. Who are you to decide how much he should be allowed to make?

[anotheralfaninmd]

first of all, I'm hopping mad about the RIAA thinking they should be allowed to criminalize people swapping their own personal files. I've supported the record industry when there was good music out there, I wasted money on cassettes that only ended up having 1 or 2 good songs on them, and being upset that I had to spend it. With file sharing, I can not only find the single songs I am looking for, but I can also find demos, unreleased songs, and new artists that I hear on places like VH1. Take Remy Shand, for example, I heard him on VH1 ( he sounded like Prince to me, so that caught my ear) and looked him up on Winmx. I downloaded a couple of songs, and liked them so much that I bought the CD. Not many people on file sharing sites actually download a WHOLE CD, just specific songs, downloading a whole CD would take way too long.



I myself bought Poodle Hat, and was glad I did. I've got alot of Al cassettes, and I hate to buy CD's (I like cassettes better) but having those home movies made them worth the cost. Maybe artists should make it worthwhile to buy the CD by putting those types of "extras" in the CD. Maybe then the record industry would see a jump in sales, and not have anything else to complain about!!!!!



Great CD Al, especially "Wanna B Ur Lover"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!







Love, Diana

[scottidog]

first of all, I'm hopping mad about the RIAA thinking they should be allowed to criminalize people swapping their own personal files.

But don't you see, that when you swap a "personal file" it's no longer yours? It becomes someone else's "personal file" and so on and so on. If you were swapping actual tapes or CD's you couldn't do that. With file swapping you get to have your cake and eat it too. While it is stolen right out of the artist's mouth...