I do download, what some people would call ‘illegally’ BUT I also spend a huge chunk of money every month on vinyl, cd’s and live events. I download albums to get a sense if it’s worth my money, which I think is fair enough, you don’t buy a car without a test drive do you? This is one of the arguments downloader’s use, but I think people like me (maybe us) in this instance are exceptions. I have a lot of friends who are heavily into music, you could call them muso’s, they know all the bands, they know what they like and they go to live gigs. But they don’t buy recorded music… something I’m critical of with them. But I think people who download illegally spend more is an invalid argument and is something that doesn’t really stand up. It’s not just me and it’s not just my friends.

We’re entering the age of ‘on-demand’ where Bill Thompson doesn’t have to download the missed episode, Virgin as far as I know have a lot of stuff on demand as it is, not forgetting the BBC’s iPlayer, channel 4’s on demand service. Music now can be downloaded for free on some services such as Spiralfrog (US only @ mo), We7 and a myriad of other ad supported sites. Difference there being, if you do it through one of those companies, the artist get’s paid. It’s a good thing, if people don’t think they should pay for recorded music anymore then at least they could download in a way making sure the artist get’s paid no?

Illegal downloads have severely affected the recorded music industry, labels have closed, jobs have been lost, session musicians and artists haven’t received royalties but worst of all, new music is getting invested into a lot less. There’s the argument that it has empowered artists to do it DIY style, and there have been a few, but again they’re exceptions, you can’t seriously think an artist can do as well or even better without the investment and know how a label can provide?

I’m against file sharers being individually sued, this was and is a wrong thing to do I believe, I think people being disconnected from one ISP is a lot less harsh than being sued for thousands.

I hope you see I’m trying to get across a balanced point of view of a downloader (which I am) and a BPI member (again, which I also am).

Incidentally, this was the first time I have heard of ‘Digital File Check’. I just popped over to http://www.ifpi.org/dfc/ to check it out. There are Flash Demos of it in action, and I think it’s now the second funniest thing I have seen today.

Talk about naive – can really see ‘the kiddies’ getting down behind this one.

If you haven’t seen it – go and have a chuckle :).

1. Fighting your own customers is the worst business policy and it’s a fight that can NEVER be won.

2. I can’t really blame them though, they – the music business – (oops, sorry that just sorta popped out, muwahahaha) are desperatly trying to shovel out water of a boat with eating-plate-sized leaks using toothpicks.

I wonder if I will see the day when companies stop fighting the future because they understand it’s not the enemy…. But chances are this will remain a dream.

I see it so often, I hardly notice it when they do that.

Let me be clear: No, you’re not “the music business”. You’re the BPI. That makes you the industry body that represents that small portion of the recording industry that happens to make the most money – but is vastly outnumbered by record companies that do NOT belong to the BPI – or choose to be represented by it.

The recording industry is just one part of the larger music business. You’re a subset of a subset of the music business and you do not speak on behalf of whole thing.

You may have most of the cash and pretty much all of the political clout, but as far as numbers of human beings involved in the music business are concerned, you are in the minority.

Pull your head in.

Those record companies should take care. People sometimes sue other people on the flimsiest of pretexts.

Haha.

I was entertained by the BPI’s reply and the way they flail around, and think your summary is spot on – it made me laugh, anyway. It’s a shame that they have blown it though, because I listen to a lot of music and would like new bands to be around. Although I should point out that I don’t actually download ANY unlicensed music – I listen to last.fm for new stuff and will buy and rip CDs every time because I want to know I own an unencumbered version. Battlestar Galatica, though…