Students put their own spin on downloading music

USA today ^ | 4.20.03 | Jefferson Graham

[freepatriot32]

LOS ANGELES

[steve-b]

If the national music industry falls apart then people will be exposed to less music

Nonsense. First, most of what one is exposed to via the national industry is more accurately described as "wailing" than as "music". Second, the internet allows the typical local producer to reach anyone in the world rather than merely the people who happen to wander into earshot.

[discostu]

There's a major difference between one road trip without music and an entire culture without music.

[discostu]

Thanks for proving EXACTLY what I said in the next few sentences.

[discostu]

Not nonsense. You not liking the music being played on radios today is a non sequitor. The internet isn't allowing anything. You don't reach out from the internet, you make something available for other people to reach into. How will you be exposed to a new artist on the internet if you don't go to their website? How will you know to go to their website without hearing of them first? There's the catch 22.

[steve-b]

How will you know to go to their website without hearing of them first?

[Extremist]

If mp3 sharing discourages just one person from becoming the next Justin Timberlake, I'm all for it!!

[Labyrinthos]

You are pretty pathetic. Call it what you want, rationalize the behavior anyway you want, but like it or not, the copyright laws prohibit the use of another's creative work without that person's consent. Online music swapping is not like a library, because libraries are not-for-profit, educational organizations that buy the books that they then loan out free of charge under the fair use doctrine. Kazaa, Morpheus, Grokster, and similar websites are commercial businesses that are making money by facilitating the unauthorized transfer and use of someone's artistic work. Although the music industry may very well have failed to keep pace with the times and modern technology, that does not give you or anyone else the right to steal the music anymore than it gives you the right to rob a gas station that still uses old fashion pumps, or hack into a computer and steal personal information because the person who owns the computer hasn't kept up the firewall up to date. And while the music industry may be guilty of charging a lot of money for a CD with only one or two hits, that does not give you and your gang of thieves a license to steal the music any more than you would have the right to rob a restuarant because you were served a lousy meal. And just because I don't like you as a person, that doesn't give me the right to beat the crap out of you and steal your wallet.

[discostu]

And how would you know to google for them? You've never heard of them. Youve got to know a product (or band) exists before you can go googling for it.

[steve-b]

Don't be (more) ridiculous. It's trivial to search for genres, statements by trusted reviewers, etc.

[discostu]

Really? If you say so. you're saying I can easily find a band that sounds kind of like 2nd era King Crimson but with a Nick Cave touch to the lyrics and more emphasis on keyboard? Trivial even.

[mrMJ]

Pathetic... Hardly. But enough about Me.

You need to use your noodle. Why do you care so much? Everyday people go to work to meet the specifications and demands of their customers. They have to do things that they might not like to deal with, but if they don't, their livelihood diminishes. This what the music industry needs to do. You call it theft, I call it a change, but either way the industry needs to adapt to the situation and figure other ways to make profits. I'll tell you right now, there will be no way to stop it whether you believe it is right or wrong. And that is the 'funny' part about it to me. It will drive you and thousands of other people insane(to the point of calling other people names), yet you can do absolutely nothing about it.

It all boils down to this-- you cannot control the situation whether you sit here beat the hypothetical bible(copyright laws), go out and become a hacker yourself and destroy other people’s hard drives (like a vigilante), go to law school, write your legislator, and on and on and on... It is your fundamental choice now, if you think it is wrong, don't listen then, spoil all the fun for yourself, and waste your money at the record store on an industry that isn't needed anymore-- But do me one favor before you start flaming up on people again, think about how stupid you might make yourself look for caring so much about something you can't do anything about. I know it’s not too hard to make yourself sound tough or smart on a computer screen, so stop pretending.

[Labyrinthos]

I can't do anything about the high cost of gasoline other than stop driving, but since I like to drive and the gas suppliers refuse to lower prices to meet my needs, I'll just rob the freaking gas station. Their fault for not adapting to the needs of the consumer, not mine. I'm a victim. You make me want to puke

[MacDorcha]

you do realize it costs money to make a concert in the first place right? you dont see money from it until the tickets are bought, and then you are compinsated for your investments. as for endorsements, that alone wouldnt keep michael jordan rich. he's living off o savings and is supplementing it with the nike stuff. you have to have the money to make either of those into a profit, you dont have to have that much to make a great selling sample cd, which blooms into a contract,which they would then get paid for. i know plenty of up-start musicians to know how that would work. you arent just ripping off the companies when you pirate music, you're ripping off your band, your self, and the entire idea of a free economy. it's nice to see you're thinking though, it shows you are trying to come up with the correct answer.

[mrMJ]

I can't do anything about the high cost of gasoline other than stop driving, but since I like to drive and the gas suppliers refuse to lower prices to meet my needs, I'll just rob the freaking gas station. Their fault for not adapting to the needs of the consumer, not mine. I'm a victim.

You are missing the whole point. Your insight into the situation is being obscured here. Innovation and technology makes old ways of life, old ways of life. For example, the invention of the automobile put almost all the shoesmiths out of business after awhile. The guys who used to sell 8 tracks, had to learn how to make cassette player if he wanted to stay in business. No two ways about it man, whether it is RIGHT OR WRONG, they still need to adapt to the situation and overcome. They are wasting thier time, money and resources trying to stop free-distribution.

As far as trying to make me sound like a bleeding heart victim claimer, you can stop making yourself look stupid again. I never claimed to be one. As far as trying to compare gas stations to music-- you're absurd. We're talking about to diffrent things here-- intellectual properties, and someone's actual property. By the way, if some company came up with a fuel that was cheaper than gas and it would make people's cars go still, they would use that instead and put the gas stations out of business.

You make me want to puke Go ahead-- don't be shy. If you care about this that much that you would puke over it, your just proving my point about control freaks losing thier wits when it is inevitable for them to lose the free-distribution battle.

[Not Insane]

__There's a major difference between one road trip without music and an entire culture without music. __

You're over the edge on that one. Who the heck is gonna be "without" music. You give way too much credit to the late 20th century music marketing machine for the very existence of music.

Based on what my daughter brings home, I am convinced that when it comes to music, sometimes less is more.

[Not Insane]

__Thanks for proving EXACTLY what I said in the next few sentences.__

You're welcome. And may I amplify:

You said "...and a new generation will arise that won't even consider music a part of their lives, they will only associate with TV and film scores and will see no need to listen to it seperately."

You say that like it's a bad thing. Music is a commodity that has been over-hyped in the later part of the 20th century, much like sex. It will now fall back to it's propper position of significance in the everyday lives of people, much like corn flakes.

[Not Insane]

__And while the music industry may be guilty of charging a lot of money for a CD with only one or two hits, that does not give you and your gang of thieves a license to steal the music any more than you would have the right to rob a restuarant because you were served a lousy meal.__

So true. But then, prohibition didn't give people the right to drink, but sometimes an unpopular law must be brought to a close. I still pay to see music performed live.

Paying money for recorded music is SOOOOOO twentieth century.

Right or wrong, we must all "get used to it."

[discostu]

It's funny how everybody's arguement revolves around them not liking what's popular now. It's a complete non-sequitor and entirely meaningless. I don't like chamber music, should music have died then and not had the chance to progress past it?

[discostu]

That's because it WOULD be a bad thing. Reducing the level of artistic expression in a culture is ALWAYS bad, even if certain people are too damn narrow minded to get it. It's apparent at this point that you're just arguing to be an insulting dick. Be an insulting dick to somebody else.

[Not Insane]

How many times are you allowed to watch a movie when you rent it? The answer is of course, "as many times as you want." Did you know that in the 80's there was a type of videotape being developed that would count how many times a video was watched and you would then be charged for each time you watched it. If you bypassed the counter you would have been "ripping off" the rental store.

It was not worth it to them, partly because it violated the unwritten rule of our video rental culture, that it was assumed that you could watch a rented movie as many times as you want. The first store to implement this policy would have gone bankrupt unless they charged less than 1/3 what everybody else charged.

Same with the music indurstry. Technology has changed the culture. Want to sell CD's? They better be no more than 1/4 the cost of DVD's since they offer less than 1/4 the value.

Tell me, which cost more to make, The Two Towers, or Emenems latest album?

You start gouging customers, and you ARE writing your own businesses death warrant.

Why don't people make their own clothing?