The effect of piracy on music culture and the music industry

[Zacchaeus]

I doubt this thread will last very long

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How old are you? 17

Have you ever illegally downloaded a music file? Yes

If so then when did you start downloading music illegally? And how? (napster, limewire, various other ways)? 2 years ago, downloading off of Youtube

If you don’t pirate music what are your reasons? N/A

Question pertaining to a time before you ever pirated a music file:
(
How many albums were you buying, on average, per month? (Whether from paid download services such as Itunes, or buying cds from stores) 2

Roughly how many different artists were featured in your collection, how many different genres? Artists - 30, genres - 12

How often did you go to concerts? Rarely
)

Questions pertaining to AFTER you started to downloading music illegally
(
How many albums or songs have you been downloading illegally, on average, per month? Songs - approximately 25

How many albums or songs are you buying, and if so why do you choose to buy them when you can simply download them for free? Same as before, it helps support the artist, gives you the case with things like lyrics and pictures

Roughly how many different artists are featured in your collection, how many different genres? Artists - 50, genres - 25

How often do you go to concerts? Rarely

Would you say you listen to music more now than you did before illegal downloads? No
)

How acceptable is piracy to you? Sometimes it's required, sometimes it's overused. It varies between users

Why do you believe piracy is not seen as stealing by many people? It's simple, it's almost approved by society, and the government won't do anything about it

Do you think piracy has, in anyway, changed the music industry for the better? It has allowed artists who don't have produced CDs or MP3 sales to be found off of the internet. So in a way yes, but in obvious other ways no

 

[His Eminence Lord Poppington II]

I appreciate everyone who is answering the questions, but if you are going to take the time could to do it, can you answer all the questions? You may notice some questions are there twice, like for example "How many concerts did you go to (past tense)" which is under the before pirating. Then the question is repeated under the if you have pirated music section so I can see if the pirating of music has in anyway changed people's concert attendance. I guess I should have clarified that the "Questions pertaining to if you answered yes to downloading music illegally" is looking for answers on the information AFTER you started pirating. Your posts are almost worthless if you do not answer all the questions.

Anything I didn't answer to was n/a

 

[Lucchini]

How old are you? 23

Have you ever illegally downloaded a music file? Yes.

If so then when did you start downloading music illegally? And how? (napster, limewire, various other ways)? As soon as I found out how it's done, at about the age of 15 or so. DC++

Question pertaining to a time before you ever pirated a music file:

How many albums were you buying, on average, per month? (Whether from paid download services such as Itunes, or buying cds from stores) Maybe a couple a month on average. Since money was an issue and listening to music was such a pleasure, I had no better alternative than watch popular music videos on TV channels and for a while, that was quite enjoyable. Having easy, immediate access to all kinds quickly changed my tastes as, naturally, I was interested in hearing all the best stuff out there, like any adventurous teenager would. It was a whole different world, you could say.

Roughly how many different artists were featured in your collection, how many different genres? Less than 10, can't remember anymore.

How often did you go to concerts? Never. I started going to events when my taste broadened a lot and I started caring about music enough to be willing to see my favourite artists live.

Questions pertaining to AFTER you started to downloading music illegally

How many albums or songs have you been downloading illegally, on average, per month?

When I was younger, a good dozen a day and certainly more than I could digest. So, I had way more music than I would be able to actually listen to, but there were of course many personal favourites nevertheless. Nowadays, I don't follow the new releases anymore and only pay attention to the stuff I'm already accustomed to. Moreover, I gradually stop liking more and more of the those old favourites due to having a different temper as a result of growing up and just growing tired of listening to certain genres and albums.

How many albums or songs are you buying, and if so why do you choose to buy them when you can simply download them for free?

I don't buy music anymore.

Roughly how many different artists are featured in your collection, how many different genres?

Money has always been and still is an issue, so approximately 30-40 artists if taking only owned copies of original albums into consideration. Genres are a difficult a question as it is a questionable subject where the line is drawn.

How often do you go to concerts?

During the 5 or so years when music was a primary hobby of mine, I went to 20 or so concerts, and would've gone to more if my town was more popular with the artists I like. I celebrated every occasion though and didn't miss anything I would have been interested in.

Would you say you listen to music more now than you did before illegal downloads?

When I downloaded a lot, I definitely cared the most about music. These days, I don't download so much anymore and I don't care about focusing on the music playing either.

How acceptable is piracy to you? I don't view piracy in the context that a person acquires something in electronic form and not for gain to be a crime, and see little sense in arguments claiming the opposite.

Why do you believe piracy is not seen as stealing by many people? Because in the act of theft, some goods are lost. If an internet pirate doesn't pirate some product, he seems isn't exposed to it. A priori, there is a lack of interest in investing finances into certain products. Were the pirate in question deprived of the possibility to download something, he wouldn't buy it either.

Do you think piracy has, in anyway, changed the music industry for the better? Illegal downloading has always been a tool to promote the artist, though it is common sense that the artist wouldn't endorse or encourage it so as to benefit from his releases to some extent. However, the benefits from releasing music are minimal at best (in most cases, the artist loses from releasing own music), meaning the profit generally comes from tours and merchandise. Knowing this, the more attention you manage to gain, the better, and it hardly matters if every fan buys your work or one out of ten. Everybody knows the actual band barely gets a few cents for each record of theirs that you buy.

There is a bit of hypocrisy revolving around illegal downloading and artists' attitude to it. The same artists repudiating downloading publicly in interviews will tell you clearly, in person, that it is one of the crucial means of promotion they put a great deal of hope into. With underground projects, music is miraculously leaked weeks before the actual release and it happens so consistently that there's little doubt about it being a deliberate act on behalf of the artists.

 

[whistle]

How old are you? 19

Have you ever illegally downloaded a music file? yes

If so then when did you start downloading music illegally? And how? (napster, limewire, various other ways)? sometime during junior high, started with limewire/kazaa or whatever it was called lol

If you don’t pirate music what are your reasons? n/a

Question pertaining to a time before you ever pirated a music file:
How many albums were you buying, on average, per month? (Whether from paid download services such as Itunes, or buying cds from stores) i was too young to have any disposable income so zero

Roughly how many different artists were featured in your collection, how many different genres? n/a

How often did you go to concerts? maybe once or twice in my life at that point (junior high)

Questions pertaining to AFTER you started to downloading music illegally
How many albums or songs have you been downloading illegally, on average, per month? one or two albums a month

How many albums or songs are you buying, and if so why do you choose to buy them when you can simply download them for free? none

Roughly how many different artists are featured in your collection, how many different genres? ~50 artists, ~5 genres

How often do you go to concerts? once or twice a year

Would you say you listen to music more now than you did before illegal downloads? yes definitely - in fact i would say it was the primary trigger for me to start enjoying listening to music

How acceptable is piracy to you? depends what we are pirating but i assume music - i don't mind it at all

Why do you believe piracy is not seen as stealing by many people? consumption is non-rivalrous (i pirate a cd, you can still listen to it) which makes people feel like it doesn't actually "hurt" anyone directly when you pirate music. also the digital nature of piracy means it's just like downloading any other file onto your computer; it's not like robbing a record store where you're physically handling an object

Do you think piracy has, in anyway, changed the music industry for the better? don't know enough about it to say, but my gut instinct is that it has made music more widespread - if you want a large library, you don't have to shell out $$$ to get it