Time is a great healer my friend :D

Precisely. I agree with the German collective The Ocean when they say that music should be more than just the amount of space it takes up on your hard drive.
That doesn't mean that I don't download occasionally, though. If there's a band that I'm curious about, but I'm ready to shell out $10-20 just to find out if I like the album or not, I'll probably download it or get a friend to burn it for me first.
Being a musician, I understand the idea of wanting your music to be your livelihood. If nobody buys the CDs, then that idea is next to impossible.

Not to mention. If we're talking vinyl or digital. You just don't get the same sound from a CD as you do on vinyl and vice versa.

As understandable as that is, I'd be glad that my music is well-known enough that there is a demand for it to be downloaded.

Legally or illegally.

Don't get me wrong though, I agree with what you have to say.

I like that saying, people who download singles and are content with that are idiots. Especially when they say they love the arist. E.g people download Sex On Fire and now they love Kings Of Leon. It's a joke, they call themselves fans when many people, such as myself have had their 3 other records for a while.

You're a musician? what do you play? you in a proper band, doing gigs? if you do gigs, what kind of things you play? cover songs? I'm in the process of learning the guitar and I write alot. Best of luck to you :thumb:

It's also about giving a lot of money to people who had nothing to do with making the actual music.

Some bands like Radiohead have already found a way around that.

And you don't need CD's to have a successful music career, music predates the invention of compact discs by a few thousand years you know. There's a little thing called touring, which is where the bulk of a musician's income comes from in the first place.

Record executives make more from CD sales than the artists do, and I don't really feel too guilty about stealing from them.

boo boo speaks the troof

While that may all be true, for me owning the album is more about just having the physical item that represents the artist/music I like, having the nice artwork and liner notes etc, rather than trying to support the artist by paying for the CD. I buy many CDs used anyway so no one's getting paid but the person selling it.

^I'm the same. I'll download what I can't get my hands on but pay for what I can if I see it second hand.

I thought of something else while walking home from work today. Artists may not get much from CD sales, but good CD sales make records labels renew contracts. I would think that's generally a good thing, whether indie or mainstream. ;)

i used to DL free music alot using Bearshare back in the old days but they shut that down

Now it seems alot of people DL free now using torrent programs but ive yet to attempt to try that out and the slection seems to be no big

I buy cd's and Get single songs i like from itunes

you have a good point there, maybe i should get back to buying cds again.

unfortunately most cds stores i go to don't have the widest selection, and i already have most cds i'd usually be looking for :(

I've often thought "does free downloading really hurt the artist as much as it's made out"?

There's touring and merchandise and the record company pay them for making a record? so no.

But for young musicians who start out, it must make getting successful a bit more difficult? then again, if people get to hear their music through download/myspace/online streaming, get into the music, then they'll buy tickets for the show..

Not necessarily.

If they're downloading for free, who's to say they're going to spend money on a show?

If you're really into the music, you'll buy tickets for a gig.

I was thinking of Arctic Monkeys..

They gave way their music online, to collect a fan base, then look what happened to them, headliners of Leeds/Reading with their 3rd album coming out.

Both.

Vinyl is pretty neat.

True, but I said before, that I was going to buy the music if I was really into it, you know?

If I'm not, or I'm just remotely interested, then I'll download it.

Lend us £300 for airfare & hotels per gig & i'll happily agree with you.

Well if the band is half decent then people will. I downloaded Matisyahu's discography last Friday listened to it, liked it, then saw that he was coming to town on Monday so I went out and bought a ticket for myself, a friend, then at the show I bought a t-shirt. Altogether I spent $75 dollars which for the most part go directly to the band rather than the two or three bucks that would've gone to the band if I went out and bought all three of their CD's.

I also don't always download for free, there is a paywebsite called amiestreet.com that has a good share of Independent bands up for download at far cheaper rates than anywhere else. Usually somewhere between free and $5.00 for an entire CD at 320 kb/s. I wrote an article two weeks ago for the MB Zine about downloading music and how if anything it's opened the door for a lot of new artists.

I agree. xD I have nothing to say to that because it's true.

Proper music fans, if a band is good, they'll want to go and see them because they have a passion for live music.

Only the 14 year old girls download Sex On Fire and Fallout Boy and are content with that.

Most music fans, if they buy or download, if they like what they hear, they'll be interested in going to see the artist and if the price is right, they will.

=P You're not aruging against my point though... you're basically saying what I just stated... except in a different way.

Arguing implies hate and animosoty.

I'm a lover.

But yeah, what exactly is your point?

To me your point is people won't go to gigs if they can download for free

On the contrary

I think they would buy every piece of merchandise & clothing of that band they could get their hands on.

*Types in Ebay - Pete Wentz lock of hair*

$1,000

BID BID BID!!!

But yeah, I actually disagree, I'm only a young lad, and know a fair few 14/15 year olds from school and people around that area - God I sound like a closet paedophile.

But yeah, they're quite content with having **** loads of singles on their iPod and aren't actually into the music enough to be ****ed even downloading a whole album.

Cunts of the highest order IMO.

I concur, for the most part.

Well if they're not that bothered about the music then they're not going to buy the album anyway. Doing that is no different to me taping of the radio or borrowing a friends copy when I was that age, I only had small amount of money to spend. If i'm not that bothered about an album i'm not going to waste my money on it am I?
So basically the band have lost no money

Even older people, people around my age, they're content with using Limewire. Not even Rapidshare/Megaupload or Torrents ffs.

If you're gonna download, do it right. It's them people who have the music, call themselves a fan, but don't put any money into it. You're not a fan if you don't buy gig tickets or albums.

And people I know have said to me, why do you buy your music? with such confusion in their voices, they don't understand the appeal of having a collection, the art work, the giving something back to the artist that has given you. It's annoying.

The music industry have had it coming for years, I have no sympathy for them whatsoever.

And artists should never go into music thinking they'll make anything other than a loss. They know what the score is, there's no point getting into it & then moaning about it.

The only way to get round it, is use it to your advantage, use the net as a way of getting your name out there, and hope that people like you enough to buy tickets and come and see you.

Developing an underground die hard cult FTW

Not in the literal sense.. I'm not into that.

i download my music because i dont have the funds and i dont have a music store close enough to my house for it to be worth going out of my way to get a cd, instead i download full albums, burn them on a blank disc and bring them to my car. however i do find that i enjoy listening to an album more if i purchase it, something about having a case and a bit of artwork on the cd makes it more of an experience when it enters my stereo.

I won't pay for something I can't physically hold in my hand.
80% of my music collection is MP3, but that's only because of a lack of money.
If I have money, I like the album, and It's availiable on anything except MP3, I'll buy it.

Also this way, I'm not paying crap bands for their crap music. :D

How far away is your local record store? the Manchester market street from me is 10 miles away, bit of a pain, wish there was one a walk away.

there is an hmv reasonably close, maybe a ten min drive from me but i dont really like shopping their. id much prefer to by my music from a used record store but the only good one is maybe 15 - 20 mins away.

i like to think that i pay back the musicians by attending every concert that comes to town if i have an album, live is the best way to hear a band right? cept there is rarely a good band playing at a good venue, half the time a good band will come to town and they will be playing in some big open place with terrible acoustics so you just hear blaring distortion for half the time.

15-20 minute drive?

Takes 40 minutes to get to HMV from my house.

How come you prefer used record stores? I prefer HMV because I know I'm gonna get what I want there. And I don't know of any record stores close by :(

Least you're not a total music sponge just downloading, if you go to the concerts then at least you're giving something back :)

i can agree with CunningStunt about getting cds instead of singles. in my experience, i've enjoyed more the songs on an artist's album more than the singles that made me get it in the first place. people who only have the singles are missing out, imo.

I have a plan, involving rohypnol, a clown costume and a large knife.

To exterminate these singletons.

PM me for details xx

But in seriousness, they are missing out big time. I know a girl who is a Kings Of Leon "fan" because of Sex On Fire and Use Somebody. I told her to fuck off and come back when she's had a listen to Aha Shake Heartbreak. Such an annoying thing, people who listen to the charts and call themselves fans despite not buying albums going to gigs, hell, even hearing a 5th or 6th song off of the artists album.

I always buy the actual CD. It's alot better.

All i've seen you do since you've been here is bitch & whine about 'real fans' and it's getting really old.

So she's not heard the bands entire discography or been to gigs. Big ****ing deal, she obviously likes them based on what she's heard so she has every right to call herself a fan. She might go off them or she might get more into them, there's nothing wrong with that either that's how things work.

If you had made that kind of comment to me I would have bought that album, came & found you, then inserted it nice & deep into your anus.

Tape, CD, Vinyl?