What are your thoughts on free downloads of songs?

Alright I am so ready for bed but this is a big question for me and I will try to keep my ranting to a minimum. (I know I will fail)

I am going to start off by stating, and answering MQ2 at the same time, that I have honestly never downloaded a song. I have listened to songs on youtube and streams from band's myspace or other websites. I do understand that it is expensive to collect CDs, I have probably spent over $50,000 on CDs in the last 12 years, but I do not think that is an excuse to steal music. ShredDoctor, I would have to say that your approach to it is being more respectful to the artists and the industry then most peoples and I understand where you are coming from about keeping track of what you have heard and liked. It is difficult to keep track of everything that I discover, I have a list for every genre of metal on each of my computers of bands that I would buy CDs from and there are well over a thousand different bands on those lists.

As a business owner I tend to look at things from that point of view. I have heard just about every excuse that people make, some are included in peoples answer here, to justify their illeagal downloading habits. The one that humors me the most is when people say that the bands does not make their money through CD sells but only through touring. The bottom line is that if the record company does not sell records then the bands will not be given the oppritunity to tour. Like I said I am a business owner and those that do not know I have two restaurants. If someone came into my restaurant and stole all my food then I do not have the ability to turn a profit and guess what that would mean that I would have to shut down my business and guess what I would have to let go of all of my employees and no one would be making money period. The same would happen to the bands if everyone stole all their music.

*edit*

Another thing I have heard from people is that it only costs a little bit of money to make a CD and that they are being greedy for charging so much for them. I read a report put out by an independent singer/song writer that made a high quality CD and it cost nearly $20,000 to produce. With the cost of renting studio time, legal fees, accounting fees, hiring a producer, having artwork made, having everything mixed, etc, etc. That sort of makes the music industry a lot like the phamaceutical industy. Sure it might cost next to nothing to make a pill but it costs a small fortune to make that first one. The same goes for CDs. Just do the math to see how many CDs need to be purchased at $15 a piece just to break even on the production costs.

Being a frequent buyer of CDs I have begun to notice that it is becoming amazingly cheaper to buy CDs cause the industry is lowering the wholesale costs of them. The store I buy from also offers a discount card that costs me only $25 a year and I get a 10% discount off all CDs I purchase. When I renewed a couple weeks ago they told me that I saved over $300 last year, well worth the $25 spent. I have been averaging $10 a CD this year, all new. I was also told that in December the prices are going to drop even more and they projected that CDs would be sold for around $8 each. I am psyched about that.

I could go on further but will stop here. I do not see a problem with grabbing the occasional free download as long as it is legally done. Most bands that have websites will give one or two and most labels will offer some free downloads as well. Just remember it is called the music industry for a reason.

MA2: I think I answered it already but the answer is no.

BA: I have averaged about a CD a day purchased in the last 10 years. So that is 7 a week.

MQ: I think it is perfectly fine to download music if there is an intention to buy the album. Personally, I would rather buy the album. But going into MQ2... I am a 16 year old without a job. I don't get an "allowance", I can't get a job because there are none, and so I download. And people can get mad all they want...but I download any album I want, and if indeed I do find a job, I have every intention of buying the music I listen to, or better yet, buying the band's merch. Either way I'm supporting them (although I have heard before it is more support to the band to buy the merch but I don't know so much about this..). I have bought a couple albums already when I get some money, but rarely do I ever have any and my dad won't buy me music. so it's either I download or do without until I get a job of some sort...but, unfortunately, it is really hard to where I live :(

I completely agree with you. There are respectful downloaders like yourself, who really cannot afford (all) the music they want; they want to try out a new band; and the band is extremely unknown. High schoolers do have an especially difficult situation!

And then there are those who couldn't give a f*** about the artist, and just download away; although they have the financial means to buy it, especially if they are American artists, where the album is only ~$10. I sure wish my cds were that cheap!

Being a fan of indie visual kei artists from Japan, downloading music is completely understandable, especially when their cds are $30 on average, not including shipping!

I have downloaded about 20 or so songs in the past.

1) For a project for school, where I needed the music, and now! I eventually bought them though.

-and-

2) From an ultra-indie Japanese visual kei band that disbanded a couple years ago, it was physically impossible to buy their music, not even from online consignment shops.

Yet, to tell you the truth, the main reason I don't download more, is because I'm so paranoid of viruses!! My computer just got cleaned recently of over 15 viruses, malicious ones too, and like I said, I have only downloaded relatively conservatively!

BA: Per week, ...? That's too hard to calculate! lol

Usually, I buy in "bursts", a group of albums every 3 months or so to save on ridiculous shipping expenses!

....Which is about 4-5 cds every 3 months. I know, it's not that much, but when each cd is like $30, not including shipping, that's as much as I can afford!...

So, according to American cd prices, I'd be buying about 1 cd a week ($12.50/week)

Oh hello there. Pros?: It's free, faster (since most music is pirated online), and a lot more convenient to stay at home and download an album in about 30 minutes than going in your bus/some sort of public transportation, going to a shop, trying to find a shop that has the CD you're looking for, etc. Cons?: Struggling indie bands (indie as in without a label) would have maybe a tougher time selling records and getting a profit. But since most of a band's money is actually made going on tour and doing gigs, this isn't as big as a problem than you'd think. Facts?: Eh wot. Not sure what this means :S Consequences?: The record companies might raise prices on CDs, but uhh, I don't really see any negative things to illegal pirating besides that. Solutions?: Due to the Internet being a huge influence on just about everyone's lives since at least 1997, I don't see any quick solutions to pirating anytime soon. But I don't know what RIAA etc. are up to, so I don't really know how to answer this accurately. Legal sites: Ohh, I dunno. I guess iTunes is legal. Other than that site I don't really know. Alternatives: Actually buying the CDs, or downloading songs off of legal sites, maybe even borrowing a CD from a friend. Affects on: Music industry -- All I see is them doing in the future are raising prices and begging Congress to pass laws on pirating. Listeners -- Easier access to music. Artists -- I think posting their albums online are one of the best ways to promote their band, I mean, just think about how many people around the world have access to the Internet and how many people could be possibly linked to your own album. BQ: Uhhh...I don't know, a Rage Against the Machine song? lol I hope I'm coherent. I'm half asleep.

I have no objection to free downloads.

I do download but on legal filesharing sites only.

I have never bought an album before but I would would download less than one album a week.

If you find a new band that isn't very well known, try looking at their myspace website to see if you can order it online.

Also, I don't know if you already know about this website but I find it very useful.

metal-archives.com

It has just about any metal band you can think of and also a link to a random band page. And on each page is a link to their myspace and other stuff.

MQ: It's a good way to try some songs out from a group before getting an album

MQ2: What I d/l is mostly anime OSTs that are not available to buy in the US at local places like Wal*Mart.

BQ: We buy alot of used CDs at relatively cheap prices. Bought 13 this past week. 8 or 10 two weeks before that.

What people don't understand is that it isn't the big artists that need the money it is the people that work on the album. The masterers, The Recording Engineers, and all of the other important members that go in to creating an album. They need the money. Also up and coming artists can't afford to have people just steal their work.

1.) I would say to download the songs if the CD's and products of the band/artist are really high.

2.) I only download songs that cost a lot of money.

3. ) Per week? People let me borrow their albums and I just store the songs onto my computer.

I think that free music downloading is ripping off the musicians. They work hard to put out those songs so that people will pay for them so they can make a living. I mean, what if you were the musicians and your fans were doing that to you. Wouldn't you be upset? Also, a lot of those free music downloads have viruses. Then again, a lot of them don't. It just depends on what your morals are. I don't download because I feel bad stealing from the musicians and there are a bunch of dangerous viruses that accompany these downloads.

mq i think that it is ok in moderation i usually buy on song by a favorite artist than i download the rest

mq2 yes i do download for free if not i would have spend 12000$ on music

bq i buy an one albums worth of music a month