What`s The Point of Reviews

I think that P-C said everything needed to be said... and so, this topic is closed.

Philéas wrote: Prog chick, out of curiosity, what do you think of downloading music by an artist who don't care if his/her music is downloaded? And what do you think of the fact that many people buy far more albums after they started downloading music illegally than they did before they started downloading?

This theory is based on what? your experience?
I can tell you it DOES damage and drastically effect sales. Damaged sales lead to bands deciding to call it a day, or going back to the day job, if your fav band goes back to the day job you can kiss goodbye to long tours or albums.
IF a band doesn't mind, and wants you to have it for free then they will probably give you access via their own site.
If there is no free access via their own site, but rather there is a web-shop then I suggest that it is because they wish to SELL their music.

There is too much guff about the price of a cd, the price you pay isn't the piece of plastic, it's the unpaid year or two it took to write it, to produce it, to record it, to mix it, it's the money spent on engineers and artists and printers, it's the money spent on food and petrol whilst that long process goes on. Unless you are up there with the (very) big boys, (Genesis, Yes etc) then a musician earns less than a street sweeper, yet, you still find it acceptable to take stuff before you pay for it.

If you don't like a meal in a restaurant you still have to pay for it, even if it's not the taste you wanted, I find it SHAMEFUL that folk wil happily just D/L stuff.

Believe me it has a DRAMATIC effect, I will grant you that SOME folk D/L THEN buy, but the majority DO NOT.

It's morally unacceptable to take something before you agree to pay for it.

P-C

Prog chick, out of curiosity, what do you think of downloading music by an artist who don't care if his/her music is downloaded? And what do you think of the fact that many people buy far more albums after they started downloading music illegally than they did before they started downloading?

Because not everyone pirates music (I think more prog fans buy their albums than other rock music fans), and I imagine it would be quite difficult to find a torrent of some of the more obscure albums here. Sure, you have to pay for it, but if you're reasonably sure you will enjoy it it's worth the risk. Or something.

Frippertron wrote: I suppose there is an easier way.

Develop an audio/visual/photographic memory and go to see the bands you like once and think about it a lot.

One thing that does boggle my mind as some people have pointed out here is where do people find time to download all this music and how do they find time to enjoy the music that they`ve downloaded? Do they live on their computer? These people are not really getting it for free but paying for it in time ( time = $$$ ) and in the process taking the livley-hood away from the bands as prog-chick pointed out. I remember when the problem in the industry was cassette taping but now it`s taken on a whole other dimension.

k, so you think that reviews arn't important because we can get free songs online?  well... in tht case, maybe someone could get me Hoyry-Kone's first album... but that's besides the point.  I find reviews to be valuable because I have no opinion about music whatsoever and I need someone to tell me what to think.



Seriously, I find reviews valuable, because there are MILLIONS if not BILLIONS of songs available, and I don't have time to listen to ALL OF THEM to find a few minutes of songs I enjoy.  For example:  Say there is an album that is by a band I've heard of, but the album is one song that runs 80 minutes.  38 reviews say that it is the worst song in the history of the world, and I respect many of the people who wrote the reviews, so I'm not going to waste my time listening to 80 minutes of trash just because it's free.

Arsillus wrote: It's better than wasting your money on something disappointing.

Better for who???
Certainly not the musicians who try to earn a living out of album sales.

Vibrationbaby wrote: With all the new technology just about any recording you care to name can be obtained through cyberspace either by streaming them or pirating them if you`re good enough with computers, which is what a friend of mine does. I don`t agree with it , but I was over at his house over the weekend and just to test his claim that he could download just about anything I started naming songs from lesser known prog bands such as Eiliff, Pell Mell, Gate, P.Mobil, FRUUPP, Ruphus etc. etc. and sure enough he got everything I could name off the top of my head almost instantly.I`ve written 150 or so reviews on this site and try to write reviews for records or CDs which haven`t got that many reviews trying to stay away from stuff like Discipline or DSOTM which have dozens upon dozens of critiques. I`ve said this in the past on this site, when I started out collecting music it was go out and buy the album and hope for the best . If you were lucky maybe you would see a review in one of the few record guides that were available or in magazines like NME or Rolling Stone. If you can hear the whole thing on your computer why read someone else`s lowdown?Don`t get me wrong, I find it interesting to hear what someone else has to say about an album I`ve had for years or will actually read  reviews at random in hopes of discovering  that  "new band". So what`s the point of reviews? Are they just redundant or just simply entertaining?

The point of reviews?
To hear the opinions of your peers rather than steal from your heroes.

I make up my own mind wether or not to buy an album, but once I understand another persons likes and dislike I will sometimes take advice from them. I sometimes buy a turkey. It happens. I will go to a band's official website and listen to what ever is available. I enjoy reading the reviews of albums I already own, I am constantly fascinated by the differing way many people hear something.

P-C

^^

It hasn't even been officially released!

How did you buy it?

And you shouldn't trust reviews on an album before it is officially released because you have no idea to what they were listening to when they wrote the review.


Edited by progismylife - April 30 2007 at 13:52