Illegal Downloads...

saz

The British Music Industry threatens legal action against people downloading music illegally in the UK.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS INITIATIVE???? Post your views...

Here's what some industry figures have to say:

“People forget that the music industry is not just about the stars, it’s about the people we represent, the session players and orchestral players. The stars are nowhere without the backing singers and musicians. It is a business which is very fragile. The whole ecology of the music industry depends on our defeating piracy.” John Smith, General Secretary of the Musicians’ Union

“File sharing is illegal and if it is allowed to continue it may wipe out investment in recorded music. Absolutely no one wants that.” Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK & Ireland

“I hate what's happening with illegal downloading. People who love music shouldn't do this. The music industry provides huge choice. By stealing music you deny other people that choice in the future. Some may say it does not affect new and eclectic music. The fact is that it is precisely this kind of music which gets displaced. For small businesses it's particularly tough. Most of us came into this business not to get rich but because we love music. No one who loves music would steal it.” Paul Birch, Managing Director of Revolver Records

“Inexpensive paid downloads have resuscitated the singles market in the US - already over 2 million sales per week are being recorded - and the weekly total is rising all the time.” DJ and music expert, Paul Gambaccini

“Illegal downloading is sucking revenue out of the record industry and threatening its ability to invest in its future. It is essential that it takes firm action against illegal downloaders.” Helen Snell, an analyst at UBS monitoring the music industry

“It is our priority to make as much of our music available for sale through digital channels as possible, but at the same time,due to the amazing possibilities provided by this new technology it is just as important to assert the rights of all involved in the creation of that music .” Tony Wadsworth, Chairman and CEO of EMI Music UK & Ireland


“Serial uploaders are guilty of a cynical and deplorable act of stealing from those who create and invest in music. We endorse this campaign to warn them of the action they open themselves up to.” Alison Wenham, Chief Executive of Aim (Association of Independent Music)

“In the battle to educate consumers about the unethical nature of music downloading, we must, as an industry, make it clear that unauthorized copying of music is illegal, and hurtful to artists and every person who makes a living working in the music business.” Nick Phillips, Chairman of Warner Music UK

“As a new company selling legal downloads to the consumer on behalf of major and independent labels as well as artists and managers, we have had a lot of success with the likes of Coldplay, Ash, Will Young and Zero 7 downloads. But it certainly doesn't it make it any easier when people are able to download music illegally for free using Grokster, Kazaa and illegal MP3 websites and newsgroups. The difference between us and them is that with us the artists get paid for their work.” Ben Drury, Managing Director of 7 Digital Media

“A new generation of computer-literate music fans have grown up who seem to believe that music on the internet is in the public domain and do not understand why on earth music should be paid for; a business acquaintance has a 16- year old son who has downloaded 10,000 tracks and has never paid for music in his life. This cannot continue. Otherwise small independent labels like Boss Music will simply not be able to survive.” Andy Ross, Managing Director of independent label Boss Music

“The internet is not only a brilliant creation, but it has undoubtedly changed our lives. Accessing information, pictures and of course audio has never been simpler. But this has created a major problem: people seem to think that just because you can access and download music from a particular site, then surely that must be OK.
“Wrong. In most cases it is just theft. Pure and simple. It’s like walking into a musician’s house and stealing a CD he has just recorded from under his nose and then allowing anybody else to take a copy. Artists really do deserve to be paid for their work. Let’s be honest: only a tiny micro-percentage are multi-millionaire superstars! So please only use legal music internet sites.” Neil “Doctor” Fox, presenter of Hit 40 UK on commercial radio

“Innocent or intentional, illicit downloading represents a kind of global shoplifting spree which no business can sustain. The video industry is learning vital lessons from the music industry's experience, hence the BVA's partnership with the BPI to research and understand better the impact on-line copyright theft is having on the creative industries, with a view to developing a strategy to address the issue.” Lavinia Carey, Director General of the British Videogram Association

“Breaking new artists can take years of investment and hard work. Illegal file-sharing takes money from the business and from the artists. If it continues it cannot help but compromise our ability to invest in new British music.” Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music UK

“People who enjoy music need to understand that illegal file sharing damages the entire infrastructure of the music business - not just record companies but also musicians, writers, composers, producers and studio technicians. The full effects of stealing music need to be appreciated.” Tim Bowen, Chairman and CEO of BMG UK and Ireland

“Illegal downloading affects independent labels as much as anybody else. It is theft. If someone walks into a record store and takes a CD without paying, they open themselves up to criminal prosecution. It is no different on the internet.” Steve Mason, Chairman of Pinnacle Entertainment and is responsible for the UK interests of Arvato Entertainment Division

“Illegal downloading is very bad for us. It’s a constant battle and the scale of it is enormous. We put promos out on vinyl and we have artists coming in and complaining ‘It’s only been out five minutes and it’s up on the internet’. Sure enough someone’s ripped it and uploaded it. If people take the time and effort to make music, they deserve to be paid for it.” Matt Cadman, Director of dance label All Around The World

“OD2 has succeeded against competition from illegal sites in building the beginnings of a legal downloading infrastructure for the UK. We have proved that discerning consumers will pay for the better quality guaranteed from the legal sites that we manage.” Ed Averdieck, Sales and Marketing Director of OD2

Halo

illegal ways of getting music will always be more popular than legal more costly ways for two reasons.

1.The convenience
2.The cost

alpha_monkey

What gets me about iTunes is the way it limits what you can play your legally purchased mp3s on.

I have a Sony mp3 player and wouldnt be able to use any legally downloaded mp3s from the iTunes site on it.

badanto

they never gonna stop it
records comapnys are just full of .... as they want to make even more monet that they makin already

Melkor

If bands are good enough people are going to buy their stuff anyway. The internet gives bands a chance to really get their stuff out there, so they have to take the downside of it.

What makes me laugh is it is the guys with all the money that are moaning about this.

badanto

“	Originally Posted By: Melkor If bands are good enough people are going to buy their stuff anyway. The internet gives bands a chance to really get their stuff out there, so they have to take the downside of it. What makes me laugh is it is the guys with all the money that are moaning about this.	”

agree on this one

mrfichie

Has everyone seen that itunes will no longer be doing drm


1dawg.com

GerManager

http://mp3weblibrary.com/
New one and very cheap, 0,04-0,6$ per song. It's not very popular and has liberate prices for now.
Absolutely legal download. All genres are available.

DustySkidz

I think that in the long run illegal downloads will destroy the music industry. If you are making music professionally, you are in it to earn a wage. Although a lot of artists will say they do it for 'The Love', essentially money is the motivation. If people are downloading your music for nothing, then you won't earn money, and then you lose your motivation to make your music.
I agree that record labels and execs make too much money from record sales, but the artist makes a hell of a lot less than them. The main earner for a singer or band is to go on tour. Singles don't make you money and you would have to be very lucky to find a record deal to make a significant amount of money from your albums.

A friend of mine was in a group called The Kennedy Soundtrack. They were signed to Karma. They made sweet F.A. from their record deal. They had a solid fanbase, and sold a significant amount of albums and singles. In most deals, as in theirs, the artist has to pay for their own studio time. No money was made. The lead singer had a baby, and realised he'd actually make more in a normal job than in the music business, so they disbanded. If people legally buy a record and the artist makes a pittance, what's gonna happen when people aren't paying?

I'll admit to downloading music illegally with file sharing programmes. The main motivation for me was that there was a wider selection and it was free. But, if what I was doing contributes to a band I like stopping making records because of lack of sales, then I'll feel like an a'rsehole.

I think the answer should be to make CD's cheaper and to give the artist a bigger cut of the profits. I think that the price of CD's is ridiculous considering the cost of producing them. A lot more records would be bought if they were sold cheaply, and then everyone would be happy.

Another issue arising from this is a moral one. Let me ask you this, is there a difference between stealing a CD from a shop and downloading songs illegally?

arecil

“	Originally Posted By: Halo illegal ways of getting music will always be more popular than legal more costly ways for two reasons. 1.The convenience 2.The cost	”

I agreed. They are killing the music industry, they are killing the artists and everything involve in that project's livelihood.

I'm not using internet by means of downloading the musics...
I buy them!!!! Everytime I download just like the wallpapers of candy crib girls let say Vanessa Nimmo's wallpaper..

So stop Piracy!!

GeologyRocks

“	Originally Posted By: mrfichie Has everyone seen that itunes will no longer be doing drm	”

No its not that just that Steve Jobs has said he would rather do without it. But DRM is staying for now.

gurkic1

I buy music in unlimitedmp3! very qouality MP3! If you want see Click here

greenie

i think i read the other day that iTunes had to sign agreements with the big labels to ensure that the music couldn't be copied and thats why you can only use ipods with itunes - steve jobs is blaming the lables but all the while their profits are coming from the sales of their ipods which must be the biggest selling mp3 player on the market. theres no reason for him to renegotiate with any of the majors really.

Jack1988

“	Originally Posted By: Melkor If bands are good enough people are going to buy their stuff anyway. The internet gives bands a chance to really get their stuff out there, so they have to take the downside of it. What makes me laugh is it is the guys with all the money that are moaning about this.	”

Damn straight.

talk to any artist and ask them if they wanna be rich or have loads of people listening to their tunes.

personally id rather be liked for my music and have a little money than make alot of money and make $$$$ music

Bart

Its betta to go out and support a musican u like ratha than just downloading their music.Howvever a lot of peopel are lazy and would ratha just download the music. Go on www.myspace.com/akaglitz and u CAN DOWNLOAD 1 OF MY SONGZ 4 FREE .

Bandman

Good topic. I run a free download/band management site (www.bandman.co.uk) and I have been talking to lots of people in the industry (EMI, i-tunes, NME) about this very topic.

The problem is that the music industry still sees itself as a production industry, making money from selling Cd's etc. When it realised that music is actually an experience and should be run like an entertainment business, the industry will change dramatically. For example should listeners have to pay for the entertainment or could it be given to them free in exchange for other benefits, like listneing to an ad for example?

It is going to take a while as it is a massive industry run by people who make a LOT of money, they have no reason to change. Artist do really need to get paid better, most labels scr*w them, so it is not the artist that is complaining but the label seeing its profit margins shrink.

Now for the pitch bit. I set up my site for exactly these reasons. Putting bands back in control of their music. You can download 1000s of free tracks if you are a listener, or if your a band you can use our band management tools. www.bandman.co.uk.

Cheers,

Bandman.

Sohnee

This isn't a new issue though is it?!!

I'm sure a lot of people in the 60s were ripping their vinyl LP's to reel-to-reel tape machines. Then we were to tape-to-taping our albums and making compilations to give to our mates - then we were copying CDs and now it's on a computer and so it's more geographically diverse and most-likely a stranger-to-stranger interaction rather than something you swapped with your mates.

Essentially, it isn't really damaging real-life record sales is it? If it is, then how come we've had several "Fasting selling album of all time" winners in the past 12 months? (Arctic Monkeys et al.)

Music has always been shared - and I'm not condoning the illegal sharing of music. What I am asking is why it's now been seen as such an industry-killing behomoth just because it's MP3's rather than Tapes... and where is the evidence to say it's worse now than at any other point in the history of recorded music?

Halo

Sohnee is incorrect although even if Artists such as Artic Monkeys don't break previous sales records it's very understandable , There is way more competition in the music industry than there ever has been so if individuel artists aren't breaking sales records anymore it's not because no ones buying records it's just that other stuff is on offer.

To be honest I don't know anyone under the age of 18 who has ever bought a music CD copies, BlueTooth phones,Limewire and other sources are easily accesible .

dtbois

“	Originally Posted By: Halo illegal ways of getting music will always be more popular than legal more costly ways for two reasons. 1.The convenience 2.The cost	”

I was using an IP blocker and I found that the FBI and a Scandanavian Antipiracy group had tryed to access my PC!! Put it one way the few audio tracks I had downloaded were wiped instantly off my PC. Its a dodgy gamble and some people are gonna lose. NOT ME! Forget illegal downloads and just buy them!

~~~*DAVE*~~~