Forums > Social Discussion > Rare music downloads - opinions?

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nearly_all_goneSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,626 posts
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom


Posted:
I know this was touched upon in [Old link], but I was wondering about your opinions of this specific aspect of music downloading.



Recently I've had access to broadband, and have been able to download music for free from some of my favourite bands, of whom I have every album and every single released since I got into them (and a few I've managed to back-order). What I managed to download varies so here's a breif summary:

*2 Deleted albums only ever released in Denmark

*First ever gig my favourite band played in London

*Various b-sides not included on a recent official compilation of b-sides by the band (which I bought)

*Alternate demos of songs

*Live videos of songs (including album tracks and singles)

*Rare live tracks



These things will probably never be released again. The two deleted albums will not be, the band have stated categorically, and the b-sides compilation was supposedly comprehensive (I got 40 tracks it missed however, all of which are from now-deleted singles). They are not available to download on pay-to-download services, and to buy these things can cost anything up to £1000 for a single.



So regardless of your standpoint on the downloading of album tracks and singles, what do you think about downloading in this situation? Is it right? Is it wrong? Does it genuinely harm the band, or is it irrelevant as only very keen fans of the bands in questions will download these tracks?



I'd just like to see what people think. I believe that if bands let people put these files up on their fansites, people wouldn't need to use services like Kazaa and SoulSeek to get them. But I know a lot of websites have been ordered to remove files like this in the past by the band's labels.



So - views?

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau


flidBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,136 posts
Location: Warwickshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
it's no more legal, it's up to the copyright holders to decide who can have copies of it. If there's enough of a demand for music they'll release more. Just because they arn't at the moment, for whatever reason, they may in the future - that's their choice. Releasing only a few units of a popular product is a marketting stategory - it makes them into highly saught after items - free advertising! Then they can release more in the future, especially if the artist dies.

Some labels/bands who make less mainstream music do like MP3, because they know that for everyone who will download it and not buy it, they'll have their music heard by many more potential customers than they would otherwise (ie they can't afford advertising). https://www.tinrib.com
is a good example, a while ago it had it's entire back catalogue online in 192kbit mp3 for download!

nearly_all_goneSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,626 posts
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom


Posted:
I think it's an inherent flaw personally, I think that live recordings and stuff should either be made more widely available or available to download. Bootlegging has been going on for decades and will continue to - much better the band takes a Pearl Jam type approach and releases live albums (altough perhaps their method was a bit extreme!) or uploads their own recordings of gigs for free downloads (I forget who, but some big band is doing this for every gig on their tour). Otherwise people WILL break the law and even if the filesharing is stopped, the bootleggers are still going to be raking in silly amounts of money per unit on an iferior product. At least if it's free you've not lost anything.

To be honest I understand a little bit about copyright law and I know that a song belongs to the person the song belongs to, whether it's a cover, live or original recording. I think the BPI need to be a little less strict and it will pay off in the long run. All this talk of illegal downloading just advertises it to people. FGor example, I got my download client from a link to a website from a news article about the evils of filesharing.

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau


dromepixieveteran
1,463 posts
Location: Florida


Posted:
Download! Emule also rocks... Beware of the spyware and kazaa tends to slow your comp down too much so try using kazaalite...

I think we should all have the right to music... Music is good! Music is important and has allowed me to wake up to several truths...

La dee dee la du da la da da ah na na na life goes on... Or something like that smile

k juggle

JUGGLEwithyourmind!


PrometheusDiamond In The Rough
459 posts
Location: Richmond, Virginia


Posted:
I don't think withholding the orignal score of Rambo II is any kind of marketing strategy, it's just irritating...

Dance like it hurts; Love like you need money; Work like someone is watching.

Never criticize someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes. That way, when you DO criticize them, you are a mile away, and you have their shoes.


borismcnorrisprofessional pedant
137 posts
Location: Bristol


Posted:
Written by: Prometheus


I don't think withholding the orignal score of Rambo II is any kind of marketing strategy, it's just irritating...




or some kind of blessing in disgise wink

A warrior always returns to the fray. He never does so out of stubbornness, but because he has noticed a change in the weather - Paulo Coelho


flidBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,136 posts
Location: Warwickshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
Are we disgussing here whether it is illegal or whether we think it shouldn't be? I know that if i download copyrighted material without the copyright holders permission then i know thats illegal, irrelevant of whether i think i should be able to or not. That's the law. Not just a pesky annoying one thought up in the 1800s by crazed god fearing bigots, it's international law.

If i were a large record company i wouldn't give away rights to music that doesn't sell well, because music tastes change. If a band makes a track which is just about good enough for a B side at the moment, it doesn't mean that it won't be a number one in 5 years time when it's faishonable to sing like you're dying of asphixiation.

The whole point of copyright is that it is upto the person who made it (or bought the rights) to have their say on what happens to it. If they decide no one can have it then tough. If you want to illegally trade it then you're still a crook tongue

SocksBRONZE Member
Arf! Can I have a biscut?
288 posts
Location: North America, Mid West, USA


Posted:
Look, you can ban Napster, or Gator, or Bearshare, but in the end all it takes is me taking a burned CD to a friend's house, and leaving it there. you can't stop it all.

Now if music companies would EMBRACE this technology, and understand that most of the users aren't tyring to rip off the musician, they could use it as a tool.

I mean, I know of a place where they give the music away to MILLIONS of listeners all day, every day. And all you need to do is tune your FM radio to their station! GASP! They're JUST GIVEING IT AWAY!!! eek TEH HORROR!!!oneoneone!11eleven!! rolleyes ubbloco

-Socks the geek fuzzball ubbloco

I'm weird. Just work through that and we'll all be fine.

"If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater suggest that he wear a tail." - Fran Lebowitz


flidBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,136 posts
Location: Warwickshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
*bump*

On friday I wrote to the record company who own the copyright of a fairly well known song I want to use on a noncommercial video to be hosted online.

Got a reply already saying yes smile

Mr MajestikSILVER Member
coming to a country near you
4,696 posts
Location: home of the tiney toothy bear, Australia


Posted:
either rare or fake, usually you can tell thought

"but have you considered there is more to life than your eyelids?"

jointly owned by Fire_Spinning_Angel and Blu_Valley



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