Reply #4: I look at these services as a replacement for what FM radio used to be [View All]

[AntiCoup2K4]

Since the corporatization of radio (i.e. Fear Channel) the choice of music you can actually hear on the air has shrunk considerably. So then, how is downloading a song or two any different than it used to be when you could hear them on the radio?

Then there's the issue of pre-released albums. Let's face it, if an entire album is available for download online weeks or even months ahead of it's official release date, it's because the record company leaked it. They did this before the internet existed as well, and thousands of people would tape these albums from their pre-corporatized FM rock stations. And 95% of them would go to the record store the day the thing was released and buy the album, cassette, 8-track or whatever. It's free advertizing for the label to circulate the album and get the "buzz" about it moving. They all do it, and for them to complain about the tracks being on the net is bullshit.

Once an album IS available in your local record store, then you should buy it, by all means. MP3's are a lossy format that are far inferior anyway, so why the Hell would you want that instead of the real thing anyway? And that is exactly why I would never PAY for an MP3 download.

As for bootlegs - live shows and other material which cannot be purchased in any record store (at least not officially) - I am 100% in favor of online trading of these recordings in lossless formats such as SHN or FLAC files, and I don't believe the corporatist fascists at the RIAA should have one goddamned thing to say on this subject. Since the labels don't put the material out for sale, how can they claim to lose money from it? Furthermore, if the profit of bootleggers is the issue, then the industry Nazis should actually encourage open trading of boots online.

And then if the labels want to release the material, chances are the sound quality alone will be reason enough for most fans to buy the "official version" of the material. The Beatles Anthology series, the multi volumes of "bootleg" releases from Dylan & Zappa, and Bruce Springsteen's "Tracks" box set are just a few examples of what happens when record companies finally get a clue. And of course you have bands like Pearl Jam, Phish, and the Dead who have have released dozens of shows on CD.

The thing that's causing the music industry slump is simple: LACK OF QUALITY material. Geezus, this decade has been the most pathetic for music that I can remember. I can honestly say that I can count the number of new CD's I've bought since 2000 on 2 hands. An industry that depends on Twitney Spears, Jessica Simpson (and her even less talented sister) and Creed to keep it going is an industry in deep shit.