Record Industry says, "Limewire may owe $75 Trillion!" the Judge says, "Absurd!"

I'm all for piracy. Like 100%. Somebody else already mentioned that musicians make pennies on the dollar for every record sold... If you really want to support musicians, share their music with everyone you know and go to a show. A much higher percentage of that money goes right into the artists' pockets, instead of the pockets of the corporate whores in charge of the record labels, who only have souls because the artists under their employ had to sell theirs to get by.

By pirating your music, you're ensuring that the artists get FREE exposure, independent of the label. And it does threaten the recording industry's business model. They're to the point that they're willing to prosecute people for downloading and sharing things that unsigned artists have approved for p2p and torrent distribution. In the case of Nine Inch Nail's promotion of Year Zero, the RIAA also attempted to sue "pirates" even after Interscope approved distribution of songs and materials from the album as a promotional strategy with the Year Zero alternative reality game. As far as I know, that was a major issue with Trent Reznor's eventual split with Interscope.

If you are a musician, don't lust after record deals. Turn your back on the system. There are more than enough tools to independently record and distribute your music with whatever profits you make going directly to YOU. Some of the big guys are already doing it, and the aforementioned Mr. Reznor has gone on at some length about ways to circumvent the music industry. He's worth listening to.

They're a crooked bunch of inhuman beasts. Absurd indeed.

reply to post by nithaiah


In some cases musicians were making just 50p on every album sold for £12 The rest goes back into the publishers pockets.


The whole thing annoys me, because of the sheer profits involved, the dominance of a publisher in the terms of forcing a band to adopt an image and even taking creative control from the bands and the whole rotten thing is about the money, and very rarely the concerns of the musicians.

Most bands make more money selling t-shirts and mugs than they do from their own albums.

So, in a nutshell, the piracy issue is simply a reaction by the people, sure it's damaging, but newer business models need to be adopted. It's easier for Trent Reznor or Radiohead to make brilliant decisions, but it's a lot tougher for new bands. And unless they are willing to suckle on the rotten teat of the industry, then they have no chance.

Gone are the days when a band can get famous from playing in pubs.

This whol debacle with limewire reeks of greed.

reply to post by j4k312


There are other ways to market.

Those companies want you to only like what they put out, only the people they promote, and only the way they do it.

You'll like who I tell you to you like, and you like that I tell you to do it too. Oh, and you can only access what I tell you to like by doing it EXACTLY how I tell you to do so.

Maybe if these dummies stopped trying to control ever aspect of everything, and learned to embrace innovation as something that isn't scary unless they own it, they'd figure out how to make money on it.

Most of the real artists are being crushed by these guys. If they get crushed by their own failing attempts at controlling EVERYTHING, well I don't feel bad for them.

oh yes - and may I yet again point out that these companies drill down so hard on under 23, and boys particularly because.....they are LAZY. That is NOT the only market available, it is just the simplest market to MEASURE.

Ease of measurement isn't actually an indication that there are no other good income sources. This is logically fallacious, and yet a common unrelenting refrain.

Lazy, lazy, lazy.

music is music and is meant to be shared...any of you who are saying we've stolen from the musicians by downloading their music off limewire is full of it...I know plenty of bands out there who are more than willing to give their music out for FREE and they aren't #ty second rate bands, most of them are pretty darn good and talented, they just aren't in the spotlight and backed by a huge record company...the ones that make a big deal about it are already rich and are just money hungry for more because their record company demands more money from them...

And that's exactly why I quit the Big Four. I don't listen to anything from anyone who's so much as rubbed elbows with the RIAA. I can't in good conscience spend a penny to support a company that does this.

I already hated Metallica for the whole Napster thing. I like obscure music, and P2P filesharing made it possible to find. It's not like they have the soundtrack to "Spyro The Dragon" for the Playstation on Amazon, otherwise I'd buy it!

Besides, there are just too many indie artists out there to support - I'm discovering new ones every day! Sucks for the RIAA, cos I buy a LOT of music.