Downloading cds?

[Hangman]

That website you linked to claims that the following CD's "Prevent you from copying it for personal use or from playing it on computerized devices (computers, DVD players, game consoles like PlayStation, MP3 players, consumer CD duplicators, high-end stereo equipment and car CD players)."

Anastacia: Freak of Nature
Dream Theater: Six Degrees of Turbulence
Faithless: Outrospective/Reperspective
David Gray: White Ladder
Him: Razorblade Romance
Linkin Park: Reanimation

This seems strange as either myself, my brother, or my best friend Edd has uploaded these CD's onto a computer, played it in the car or on my bros high-end stereo. They're obviously not checking very well. They also say the Universal Music label has been doing since 2001. If they have been, they're doing a shit job.

While that site just goes on about how the RIAA is ripping people off - which I do agree with - it doesn't seem to give a rats ass if artists are losing money. And I did approach this with an open mind hoping to find something about how artists are affected, and not just a site bashing the RIAA for being against file-sharing. I want to see percentages of how much of and average CD price goes to the people involved - artist/label/printers/manurfacturers etc. If I can see where my money is actually going when I purchase a CD, I may feel diffrently about being ripped off.

Someone on the site even said about the stealing of 'The Scream' painting recently in Norway that "Yeah, and you just know the RIAA will blame this armed robbery on file-sharing." Ahem.

EDIT: Where did you get the 4% is what artists get from a CD sale figure from? Not that I doubt it's authenticity, I just want to know if your source also says where the other 96% goes.

[Cosmic]

There are two factors that determine if I buy or download an album.
1) I can't find the album to buy.
2) The album is horribly overpriced.
In either of these cases, I'll probably download the album beforehand. If I later find the album in a shop or online and it's worth the money, I'll buy it.

I'm perfectly happy to to pay good money for albums as long as I know I'll enjoy them. I recently bought the two-disc version of Arch Enemy's 'Wages of Sin' for �15.99. That's one of the most expensive albums I've ever bought, yet it was worth every penny. Now, if a downloaded album is short, not that special, and is selling for �15 or more, I won't buy it until I can get it for under �10. I have no objection to paying for albums, but most of the albums I buy are fairly old. I don't agree with being charged maximum price for something which has been around for over 10 years. If I really want it and know it's worth the money then I'll make an exception, but I honestly can't afford to spend upwards of �15 per album on a regular basis...

EDIT: Just thought I should add that I agree with Slim, Jimmy and Hangman. Nothing beats having a large collection of bought albums, knowing that you've earned them.

[Soeru]

That website you linked to claims that the following CD's "Prevent you from copying it for personal use or from playing it on computerized devices (computers, DVD players, game consoles like PlayStation, MP3 players, consumer CD duplicators, high-end stereo equipment and car CD players)."

Anastacia: Freak of Nature
Dream Theater: Six Degrees of Turbulence
Faithless: Outrospective/Reperspective
David Gray: White Ladder
Him: Razorblade Romance
Linkin Park: Reanimation

This seems strange as either myself, my brother, or my best friend Edd has uploaded these CD's onto a computer, played it in the car or on my bros high-end stereo. They're obviously not checking very well. They also say the Universal Music label has been doing since 2001. If they have been, they're doing a shit job.

While that site just goes on about how the RIAA is ripping people off - which I do agree with - it doesn't seem to give a rats ass if artists are losing money. And I did approach this with an open mind hoping to find something about how artists are affected, and not just a site bashing the RIAA for being against file-sharing. I want to see percentages of how much of and average CD price goes to the people involved - artist/label/printers/manurfacturers etc. If I can see where my money is actually going when I purchase a CD, I may feel diffrently about being ripped off.

Someone on the site even said about the stealing of 'The Scream' painting recently in Norway that "Yeah, and you just know the RIAA will blame this armed robbery on file-sharing." Ahem.

EDIT: Where did you get the 4% is what artists get from a CD sale figure from? Not that I doubt it's authenticity, I just want to know if your source also says where the other 96% goes.

I believe that an article about bands receiving only 4% of sales that I mentioned is somewhere around on that site. If not, it must've been some other site, probably listed in that page's links. The rest of the cash, as far as I know, goes straight to the RIAA which owns these record labels(take a look in the "who to boycott" section, which shows a hefty list of well-known record companies.

An official chart showing where all the sales go obviously doesn't exist. I don't think that's something the RIAA wants to let all their customers know. Read a few more of the sections at the site. Interesting stuff, I say.

[Cosmic]

EDIT: Where did you get the 4% is what artists get from a CD sale figure from? Not that I doubt it's authenticity, I just want to know if your source also says where the other 96% goes.

See here. It's an article written by Steve Albini, and gives a lot of information on how the earnings are split. Doesn't seem to mention the RIAA, but it's sickening to see where most of the money ends up...

[Solidus Joe]

had I any money I would buy them but f I don't have money or won't have any anytime soon then yea I'll download them, especially if it means owning them before most people.

[Soeru]

The RIAA= Almost every record company based in the US. It's a whole association, m8y. Which is why I go the way of the pirate. Y'arr. *looks at Cosmic's avatar*

[Hangman]

Well I have to say that is very little money for the artist (referring to Cosmics article.) and quite disgusting really. Having said that, that is what happens to the smaller bands - those who at the end of the day, need the money most. I read through the list of those to boycott from Soerus site and noticed Sony Records wasn't on there (as it's a Japanese company) yet they sell their records at the same price as the members of RIAA. So they don't mind Sony getting huge royalties from sales, but mind if the RIAA do? There's no middle ground here - either boycott all companies (like you Soeru) or none.

I'm already converted into preferring to buy the real thing, although this was different a while ago. Two or three years ago the average price of a newly released CD here in the UK was �15, which is why I downloaded so much back then. Now it's about �10, with free DVD's wanged in to. To me that's worth a tenner. Internet shops are bringing cheaper CD's to the public too - I'm genuinely amazed at some of the prices Amazon do.

[Drageuth]

Do as you please, I was merely informing you of why I(and millions of others) think paying so much for a CD is ridiculous. If bands ever get paid what the deserve or record labels actually sell CD's at reasonable prices, I will probably buy CDs more often. In the meantime, I refuse to be ripped off any longer.

If by "millions of others" you mean the few people who actually refuse to buy CDs, then sure. If you think that millions of people don't buy CDs because they can download them instead, then you're seriously messed up, my friend. If as many people as you seem to think only downloaded CDs, then the record companies would seriously be out of business. Just think about it... think of how much money they would lose because millions of people are only downloading CDs. It's unfathomable, and pretty soon your favorite bands can't get a record deal 'caues they're not popular enough to stay on. Then all we're going to have are a bunch of Britney Spears and <b>Maroon5</b> bands, 'cause they're the only ones who will still remotely sell any CDs in a large enough quantity for them to remain with a failing record company.

And, since Cosmic just reminded me, you can buy really cheap stuff off Internet sites if you want to. I picked up one of the <b>Cyclefly</b> albums for $0.05CAD the other day, and the first <b>Eve6</b> album for, get this... $0.01CAD

[Hangman]

And, since Cosmic just reminded me, you can buy really cheap stuff off Internet sites if you want to. I picked up one of the <b>Cyclefly</b> albums for $0.05CAD the other day, and the first <b>Eve6</b> album for, get this... $0.01CAD

Ahem. I'm not Cosmic

[Seraphis Cain]

All 150 or so of my bought albums are 1,000 miles away along with the rest of my personal belongings (save for clothes and computer) so I'm trying to download as much as I can to replace what I'll probably never see again. But seeing as I have already bought it, I think it's ok. Also I freely download stuff like anime/game OST's and J-Pop/J-Rock, considering that importers jack up the prices on CD's like those to an almost ridiculous state. Oh and I also download videos. What's the difference between downloading them and taping/TIVO'ing them from MTV2/VIVA/That Canadian channel I can't remember at the moment?

[Toto]

If I find CD's I want cheap, then I buy. I don't have 32 AUD to pay for an album from Utopia...

[NEV3RMORE]

I have no intention of filling the wallets of all those corparate desk jockies over at the RIAA. In case you don't know, the RIAA owns hundreds of record labels(just about any you can think of), so all the sales go directly through to the RIAA. The bands receive only 4% of the sales, and that's not even deducting the tax. All in all, bands get paid squat compared to all the cash the recording companies rake in. I'd rather send the band the cash directly.

I've only bought 4 or 5 albums in my lifetime, and I don't plan to increase my 'legal' collection anytime soon. Even if all the money went to the band, don't you think 15-25 bucks is too much for less than 70 minutes of music? As much as I'd love to support my favorite bands/artists, that is simply too expensive(however, reasonable bands would never charge so much for an album if it was up to them).

All this is true, if you don't believe me, go take a look here. Sign up, join the activists, do something. Just don't feed the greedy bastards working for recording companies.

Yes, it is true that the band eearns near to nothing on cd sales, they make their cash on merchandise,tours, etc. What theydo get from people buying their cds is the record labels see that the band is getting cds bought, so they give the band more money for their album, which gives them more of a privaledge to make a better cd, with better quality (better equipment, better recording studio, the works). Plus, although the band only gets 4%, if their sales are extremely high, hence Metallica, they will rake in some cash. I saw on the 100 most shocking moments in rock and roll (on VH1),that the Backstreet Boys (I know, wtf are they consider Rock and Roll for? Anyway...) made 300 million off some cd , where the band only got 7 million of that, if you look at it, that is over 1 million for each person in the band, that is a still a shit load of money.

[Josh]

I prefer to have the real CD instead of the burned one, and I try to go buy my music. I will usually download it if I can't find it.

CD's do not cost 15-25 bucks US either. 15-25 Australian dollars maybe...

Most of my CDs I buy are around 12-15 or even 20 US dollars.

[Xaenn]

If it's a band I know is good, I'll happily buy it. But if I have doubts about them, I can't waste my money on a band that might be decent. I have to download....

Also I've downloaded lots of albums from my fav bands. But in the case of say Bad Religion. Ok, i have bought about 7 of their albums, and downloaded about 5. I don't see much of a problem with that.

[Domingo]

I've found a website where you can pay small, almost negligible amounts of money, and gain access to almost any song/CD you could want. I'd rather do this than download freely, since at least this way the artists make some money...