Re: [microsound] industry loses big

[Jonathan Hughes <jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Obtaining a copy of a recording, however, is not, at least in my book,
> piracy. In copying a recording, I am not depriving the artist or the
> label of anything other than, perhaps, a potential sale. And no one,
> myself included, will ever know if I would have bought that recording
> had the option of a copy not been there. All the record industry's
> boo-hooing about their lost business because of file-sharing is
> bullshit. Oh, they may well be losing sales because people can download
> music, but THEY CAN NEVER EVER KNOW WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE SOLD OTHERWISE.
> It's kinda like some sort of philosophical conundrum or time-space
> continuum thingy.

If you want to justify getting something without paying for it as a
philosophical conundrum, go ahead -- it doesn't make it any more right. The
argument that no harm is done because no one really knows the sales that
their missing out on is pretty shaky, too. That line of thinking also
implies that every file that people download is one that they don't _really_
want (because it implies that the stuff they really want, they will buy, and
evidently the stuff they don't really want they'll download -- if that were
true, why is everyone defending the right to download free stuff that they
don't _really_ want?).

I personally don't care if the vast majority of performers who are regularly
in the top 10 lose some sales from various forms of piracy. I'd prefer that
it not happen, but indeed, in the grand scheme of things it won't effect
them much. I certainly do care about independent artists (including people
on this list) who are losing out on CD sales because their music is
available for free, without their consent. True, it might only cost them 10
CD sales, but when you've printed up 500 CDs and are trying to recoup your
costs, 10 CD sales is a lot.

Ultimately, the free-for-all downloading of music ultimately cheapens the
music (and not just on monetary level). Instead of being something that's
actively sought out, enjoyed, and valued, it just becomes an item to
collect.

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