mp3s

[guerrillaradio]

What does everyone reckon of mp3s?? I know it probably belongs on the Music forum, but I was interested to see if the capitalists apply their capitalistic rhetoric to mp3s as well. In many ways, it can be seen as a clash of socalism/communism vs capitalism, as there is the group that believes that art should not be exchanged for money, and there's the group that believes that it should.

I find it hard to reach a decision on this one, I think Lars Ulrich was way outta line suing Napster as money is not a problem for him, but many musicians need the money to continue living on a daily basis.

C'mon then, opinions people...

[reagan lives]

It's not about how much money one person has. Property rights apply equally to the rich and poor. A millionaire like Ulrich has just as much right to have his property rights protected as a struggling artist. Intellectual property is property, and it comes with a similar set of rights. If they are violated, the government as the central enforcement authority has to step in.

[BananaKing]

So who here thinks that Lars would be willing to work for no money? If Lars knew he wont get paid, he would not have recorded anything in the first place. Agreed?

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[Moskitto]

These symbols represent Evilness, May cause mild Brainwashing

hmmm, I never realised that Red Nazi-Capitalism was so good.

[Fabi]

the real thieves are the record companies. they are the ones who have the power over the artists and their work. people like moby for example say that they are flattered to know people download their music... and there are several artists who themselves download music...

i buy cds if they arent too expensive and if i want to support the artist cause he isnt that big...
if the cds are ridiculously expensive and if i first want to listen to it to know if it sucks or not, then i download it.....

the problem for me is that i hardly find the music i usually look for...

also in germany you are allowed to make about 3-7 copies and give them away to friends... (they have to be 'close' friends....) it only counts for music, and they are about to change those laws...

to me it's not about the artists as much, but about the record companies... why do THEY own the copyright, for example? the artist's work is NEVER protected anyway, only the record companies'....

i dont know if you agree or not...

[Fabi]

oh yeah, and just cause it's the sociVScapi forum... american brought us the phone, music, condomes, breast implants, unhealthy food, computers... i dunno what, i really dont care....

mp3 is from germany.... ;) although it doesnt really matter to me...

[BOZG]

Actually in all countries you're allowed make copies of CD's but they're only supposed to be used by the buyer of the original CD as backups.

[Moskitto]

Yeah, I'd buy albums of stuff because £14 for 12-17 tracks is actually pretty good.

But £3.50 for 1 track played in a couple of different ways and a extra track is actually a rip off. So If I want 1 track I get an MP3 and if I like the artist I'd buy their album.

[SU37]

Mp3's should be left on the net.An artist could live of a million fine by puting it in the bank.Those music artist are all ready rich why do they got to be more rich.Artist that were suing napster and mp3 sharing programs are a much of stuck up snoty rich assholes that want more and more money and they think 50million is not a nuff to live off for the rest of there lifes.Much of greedy son of a *****s if ya ask me.


(Edited by SU37 at 10:57 am on May 19, 2002)

[Fabi]

i wasnt talking about backups...
i know about those....
you can only have one backup copy... and you cant give it away..

but that german law i was reffering to is exactly the way i said: you can give away copies of your cds to close friends.... as long as you give them away and dont take money for it...

[Zippy]

I dont beleive Napster should of been closed down for one simple reason; not all people downloading music stopped buying music. I had hundreds of mp3's on my old computer, but it didnt mean i stopped buying cd's. I have started downloading again now, but not at the scale of what i used to, and i'm still spending £20+ a week on cd's. Napster used to allow me to work out what new forms of music i wanted to buy, and not which albums i wanted to copy.

But i do agree that the record company and the artists themselves deserve the money that cd sales give them. The profit margins relative to how much they pay artists, staff, employees etc is a different matter, but that doesnt mean stealing the music is excusable. Motown was one of the worst record companies in the history of modern music, and how they treat their artists was terrrible (note; they treat their superstars differently to the failing acts) but that couldn't excuse theft in my opinion.
Plus, not all the profits go back to the record companies. The stores that sell them get money, obviously, and while i dont agree with the HMV group making vast profits, there are numerous independant stores where the owner is just a man trying to make a living.

I'm not a socialist/communust, i have said this before, i just have left-wing ideals. I dont agree with Nestlé but if you shoplift a chocolate bar you still deserve the punishment.

Peace,
Zippy.