Overall, With All Things Considered?

Boy..that is a tough call.

but overall.. I think it is probably more in the good column than the bad.

My main good reasons?

1) Exposure. Pre-Internet.. did we ever get the chance to get excited about music from some band from the Maldives? (Nothnagal is a great Black Metal band) we now have access to more music and types and cultures then ever. I pretty much love that.

2) It has done a lot to break the stranglehold the music industry had. More bands are able to succeed without the huge corporate sponsorship, and attendant corporate control than ever before. It has made albums overall not only more available, but we have far more option as finding it, forcing them to make the albums more affordable, on average.

3) It lets people TALK about their passions. Yes it also allows for rants, and people overreacting to stuff, but I can think of literally dozens of bands and types of music I would never have listened to if not for various music chat rooms where people convinced me to give it a shot. And going back to the ease of availability it makes..now I don't have to buy an album to find out if I will like it.. which makes us more likely to be open and experimental about music.

but there are a few cons.

1) Piracy.

People can justify all they want.. stealing is stealing. Too many of my friends are artists.. and make their living that way. Stealing their works is the same as taking food off their table, or hacking in and taking money out of someones bank account. It's cool that some bands are open about it, and let people have their stuff, or just want to spread it out.. but that does not justify taking it from those who don't. Go into walmart and stick a CD in your pants, and see how far your excuses and justifications get you. In the end, the real reason people do it is the sense of anonymity they get from the internet. If they truly felt they were being watched, could get caught and have to face consequences, they would not consider it. In that context.. sounds kinda cowardly, don't it?

2) I think that the down side to the exposure and access.... is that we don't really feel the same attachment to music that we did pre internet. Back in the day, if you had a couple hundred albums.. you had a huge collection, and it was hard to regularly listen to all of it. Now we seem to see music as almost disposable... and people can fit more albums in their Ipod than I have collected in 25 years.... and I would bet probably over 3/4 of it sits unlistened to.... but the need for more is a large part of what fuels this sense of entitlement that spawns most music piracy. Of course... the need to constantly find NEW music, might also speak to the quality of music most of us seem to glut ourselves with.. since if it was real good, we would not need to replace it so frequently.

GOOD

1. People have access to more music from around the world.

2. Self-distribution is far easier now, which is to say it's easier for up-and-coming artists and bands to share their music. Of course, finding people to listen still presents certain challenges, lol.

3. Once-firm lines--between artists and fans, between consumers and the musical product--have been blurred or obliterated, which can be exciting.

BAD

1. The concept of the album seems to be dying, which troubles me. I want to cry (haha) when artists/bands who've released superb albums in the past say they're considering just becoming a singles band, releasing a new song every few months via a blog. The LP as a medium shouldn't be let go.

2. The music industry IS an industry, i.e. it puts diapers on babies, food on plates, etc., and I do feel for people who are struggling while the industry ponders how to turn a profit in this new 'net-centric generation.

Overall, I'll say it's good, but with certain reservations.

The internet is very good for music.

- Helps people find new bands and makes finding music in general easier.

- Instantaneous music. You can listen to whatever band/album/song whenever you want to.

- More bands are out there than ever before. Its easier for bands not on huge labels to make it and with the current state of mainstream music that is a very good thing.

- You can download whatever album/song you want to for free. While many of you have said this is a bad thing it can also be quite good. It helps more people listen to the bands music and therefore will be willing to pay for tickets to concerts. Not to mention its obviously good for the people. After all it is free music.

Damn, it's both, but I'll say good, since I'm such an optimistic person :P

1) Music can easily be shared through sites like Youtube, Mysapce.

2) Which will, in turn increase their fame, and hopefully, more people will attend their live shows, the place where bands make most their money.

3) I don't have a third reason....

Good question, by the way, better than most these days, and definitely better than mine, haha ;)

Good

-It's next to impossible for rising bands not to get noticed through the internet with sites like Last.fm, Purevolume, Tumblr, Facebook, Youtube, and I think bands are still using Myspace.

-The internet is an excellent tool to allow bands and artists to communicate with their fans nation and worldwide.

-The internet has gotten many a band discovered by the big wigs

Bad

-Albums can be leaked online before they are officially released

-Of course there's illegal downloading

-Because of the internet, many people no longer appreciate the value of a physical copy of an album

Its sorta bad on the industry but good for the fans.

actually, lets see if i can make a case for good:

-Larger options of advertising on the net

-there are people who DO pay for music online, makes CDs/concert tickets more available to the public

-discovering artists to sign has never been easier

Bad: Revenue from sales has gone down.

Vinyl is dying out :(

Good: More people have access to music.

Up and coming bands can get noticed easier

You can listen to music whenever you want (i.e. on YouTube or something)

Both

Good- with youtube lots of artists can get their music out their easier and have a better chance of getting discovered

Bad- Illegal downloading is killing the music industry

Definitely good. It's made music available for everyone (music should be free and definitely not so expensive) and it's made sharing and finding music easily.

Both ---

1 -Most Pages advertise & promote artist who are signed to major labels which means people are listening only well-known artist

2 -Illegal Downloading

Good

1 -easier to discover other artist if you search

2 -Soundcloud etc, helps independant artists get signed