Comments on: Muso TNT

By: Rupert Brown

Rupert Brown — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:07:28 +0000

I dont fight it as
A) Its a waste of energy, you cant beat thousands of people with time on their hands.
B) A fan is more valuable then a sale (although 1 download doesnt = 1 fan)
C) I am already VERY concerned by the laws trying to be passed by likes of the RIAA to control the internet. loosing net neutrality scares me FAR more then piracy. They might be useing it as the reason but the effects of this subject goes far beyond music.
D) I think (Have to beileve) real fans will support you even when free alternatives are availble.

By: Nik

Nik — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 10:52:05 +0000

I’m not a musician, but I love music. I think that the beast “piracy” CAN also be seen the other way around. People who love music and/or have an interest in it, that goes beyond listening to the radio, will always buy music.
Fortunately, many artists understood that piracy can accelerate their sales if there is a digital copy of their release(s) to buy.
Music became a short-lasting medium: people hear a song, want to buy it immediately & digitally and forget about it tomorrow because there’s another “hit of the day” to them. So, you have to enable them to buy your music fast, easy to find and at a good price.
What I get upset about on a regular basis is when I search google for a song I want to BUY and the first 3 pages are links to dubious sites where I can download it for free from filehosters.
That’s the thing you musicians have to work on: Get the shops where your tunes can be bought on the first page of google (there are a lot of ways to achieve) and you will sell much more copies! It’s all about marketing.

Use piracy (or even don’t fight it) to spread your music, but enable those who are willing to BUY it by FINDING it easily!

By: Joey B

Joey B — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 03:18:22 +0000

Yah – I don’t really know what to feel about it! I think ultimately it’s a good thing- because exposure is exposure, right? Although I wouldn’t go so far as to say that honoring copyrights is revoking freedoms. But THEN AGAIN – so I really want that to keep someone from checking out my stuff? Absolutely not!

I think my initial objection comes from a tiny desire to at least see SOME sort of return on the money we spent making it (not that it was much). Not to make a big profit, just to be able to keep doing it without going into debt so that we can’t do it anymore. But if I look at the forest for the trees, in the end I want the music heard – and that has nothing to do with $. I will always make music, it just might take me longer!

The hope, I think, is to create new fans that will a develop a sense of loyalty. Think about the bands you got a free copy of, (a friend shot you a track or two or you got a copy, we all have) that you fell in love with – those are the bands that I make a point to support. So the reverse of what I just mentioned can be said that I wouldn’t have even listened to those bands if I hadn’t gotten something from them for free… and now they have what I think is more valuable – my loyalty.

joey b

By: MTT

MTT — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:50:07 +0000

@ Joey B “So I guess what I’m saying is it would be nice if the free pirated fileshare sites were tamed a bit”

… I shudder the thought of what the implications on internet freedoms (which are already being constrained) would if what you wish for happened !

I pay for music (new releases or current artists/labels) and I download for free (rare vinyl/tape only vintage stuff, i.e: not re-released minimal synth / house stuff). got turned off limewire and like because of low quality. I’d rather buy one good copy of a current release than have to weed through 10 downloads. Also for the older and rare stuff specialist blogs (Systems of Romance or Mutant Sounds for example) and google are your best friends.

By: Distorted Memory

Distorted Memory — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:51:09 +0000

although it bothers me a bit that my albums are so heavily stolen, especially around new release time, i intentionally do nothing to stop it. it works as promotion. the main reason i dont stop it though is that there have been NUMEROUS studies that all prove that music pirates also buy the most music.

while having all illegal downloads blocked may add a few sales, in the long run i think it will actually hurt sales and it will definitely hurt recognition and bookings.

the only big problem i have with illegal downloads of my work is the fact that i loose quality control. it bothers me more that people are listening to low quality rips of my music without artwork and possibly incorrect track info than it bothers me that they didn’t pay for it.

By: Joey B

Joey B — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:22:58 +0000

While I don’t feel the pirating beast can (or needs to) be killed, I think, for indies – it should be tamed a bit.

My record (The Echoing Green “In Scarlet and Vile”) released a month ago and it popped up on every fileshare site within a week. I MOST DEFINITELY don’t want to keep people from the music – BUT I think it’s a bummer when people who would normally be willing to pay for your music (i.e. just googling about you) gets the first two pages of results filled with free download sites.

Somebody who didn’t know any better, just clicks it and gets it. So I guess what I’m saying is it would be nice if the free pirated fileshare sites were tamed a bit to where it was mainly people who are intentionally wanting to acquire it like that.

Not my aunt’s friend, who just googled it, clicked the first link and simply thought “that’s how you get it”. Is it so bad to want the fileshare sites to show up on the SECOND google result page?

I, personally, enjoy supporting independent music and willingly pay for the music I listen to. I guess it’s just a bit backwards when nowadays I have to investigate and dig around to find out how to buy a record legitimately to make sure my cash goes to the band instead of vice versa.

By: Oliver Chesler

Oliver Chesler — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:44:00 +0000

Thanks… I am curious… at least for the first month of release it may make sense.

By: Oliver Chesler

Oliver Chesler — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:43:18 +0000

Agreed.

By: Tom D

Tom D — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:49:42 +0000

I remember hearing about http://www.ripblock.com/index.php, think some fairly big labels use it. Looks like £50 for 2 weeks protection.

By: Sebastian Dittmann

Sebastian Dittmann — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:56:56 +0000

It always boils down to this with anti-piracy tools: You’re paying for something that tries to make sure less people are listening to your music.

Not sure if this is in the best interest of any artist.