Internet.. P2P.. A saviour or a killer?

Well, to me it is absolutely a saviour.
I've learned about a lot of good bands through the internet, and bought cd's online which I wouldn't know without the internet.

Heck, I even download a lot of music just to see if it is any good, so I don't buy any crappy albums! There are a lot of (legal) internetsites where you can listen to cd's but not download them. I don't really see the difference as long as you support the artists by buying the original cd's!

Man Made God wrote: Well, to me it is absolutely a saviour. I've learned about a lot of good bands through the internet, and bought cd's online which I wouldn't know without the internet. Heck, I even download a lot of music just to see if it is any good, so I don't buy any crappy albums! There are a lot of (legal) internetsites where you can listen to cd's but not download them. I don't really see the difference as long as you support the artists by buying the original cd's!

I think you've hit on the nub of the problem there. A lot of people will just download a load of music and the artist will never see a penny of it. I too have discovered a load of bands via the Internet that I never would have heard of otherwise and have been buying their CDs, but not everybody does this.

Well in my experience P2P programs have given me the opportunity to get to know many bands and albums that otherwise I never would have known. I admit that I don't buy all of them once I've tried them and I've liked them, but CD's are expensive in my country and I only can afford part of that costs. I have to say that my collection of "legal" CD's is big as well.

I'm sure that many, many people wouldn't have got to listen to an entire discography by artists from the 70's if it wasn't with the help of this programs. So P2P programs contribute to expand the culture.

But of course I know that this is not good for the discographic industry and for the musicians.

But technological advance is unstoppable and I'm afraid that in a few years it's very possible that albums won't be sold anymore, because everybody will get them for free. Musicians will have to find other ways to get money (live concerts...).

In fact in my country when you buy a CD-R or a DVD-R you're paying a percentage which is destinated to the Authors Society of Spain, even if you'r buying the CD for other purposes. In some way this is like saying us "Well, you're allowed to download and copy the music, but you'll pay more for the CD-R's instead".

Let's see what happens in the future...

Dirk wrote: With legal sites the problem might be that there still are records which you can't find there. In that case i think downloading and then buying the cd if you like it is ok (i think the artist in question would agree in that case).

Sure, but you can always use legal sites for the albums which ARE available there. I use 4 different legal websites, and those albums which aren't available on any of these websites I try to find on Ebay or in used CD stores. This strategy works quite well for me, and it might work for others too.

I think that part of the prog revival observed recently is due to internet download sites. The opportunity for the new generations to know the works of prog-legends was (is) great.

About the (i)legality I have many doubts. Older people here will remember a device in the 60s/70s/80s sound systems that allowed to record directly from the LP to the tape. Some guys could do dozens of copies every day and sell it "low price" and artists and labels got nothing. This device was an integrant part of the apparatus, made officially by great companies! I can't remember any kind of complaint then...

Duncan wrote: Legal downloading might be worth considering when it's not all shoddy bitrates and protected formats at essentially the same price as a normal CD.

The "shoddy" bitrates seem to be no problem on the illegal websites ...

About the protected formats: You should have a look at the subscription based services. I don't like to buy music electronically for pretty much the same reasons - it's nearly as expensive as the real CD, but with much more usage limitations. But a flatrate like Napster or Yahoo provide ... that's a very nice offer for music freaks.

TheProgtologist wrote: I am not going to argue or debate  downloading via P2P. But all you people that think by downloading you are robbing an artist of revenue,artists only see a few cents on the dollar for every cd sold,the lion's share go to the record companies. Most of a bands money is made on tour and through merch sales.

Agreed. But most bands still need album sales. They determine if the record company produces more albums and how much energy (money) they devote to promoting the band. And both album sales and promotion make it possible for the bands to tour and earn money.

Of course the best strategy for new bands is to produce the albums themselves and sell them on their website (or on modern platforms like www.mindawn.com). That way they also profit from album sales and aren't totally depending on the live performances.

TheProgtologist wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ sure, I don't want to imply that illegal file sharing is an "evil" thing in itself. But I feel that people underestimate the illegality and no matter what the effects for the artists are and how unfair you think the music business is - illegal downloading is still essentially stealing. I just think that there are better alternatives. It's here,it's not going away. Now the record companies are scrambling but they are way too late,it got out of control long before they even attempted to get a handle on it. They'll never put a stop to it.

Amen!