File Sharing - Music

[dontask]

im sure youve all seen lily allens opinions on file sharing. if not:
this is the page to get the gist of it
www.nme.com/news/lily-allen/47307

she is basically saying (quite rightly i think) that its easy for radiohead and muse and others in a similar state to be laid back about file sharing because they dont really get hurt by it. but smaller artists need protecting.

this is matthew bellamys (muse) response

Lily
My current opinion is that file sharing is now the norm. This cannot be changed without an attack on perceived civil liberties which will never go down well. The problem is that the ISPs making the extreme profits (due to millions of broadband subscriptions) are not being taxed by the copyright owners correctly and this is a legislation issue. Radio stations and TV stations etc have to pay the copyright owners (both recording and publishing) a fee for using material they do not own. ISPs should have to pay in the same way with a collection agency like PRS doing the monitoring and calculations based on encoded (but freely downloaded) data. Broadband makes the internet essentially the new broadcaster. This is the point which is being missed.

Also, usage should have a value. Someone who just checks email uses minimal bandwidth, but someone who downloads 1 gig per day uses way more, but at the moment they pay the same. It is clear which user is hitting the creative industries and it is clear which user is not, so for this reason, usage should also be priced accordingly. The end result will be a taxed, monitored ISP based on usage which will ensure both the freedom of the consumer and the rights of the artists - the loser will be the ISP who will probably have to increase subscription costs to compensate, but the user will have the freedom to choose between checking a few emails (which will cost far less than a current monthly subscription) and downloading tons of music and film (which will cost probably a bit more than current subscription, but not that much more).

We should set up a meeting with Lord Mandelson as he is on this issue at the moment, I'm sure he would meet us for breakfast!



which is quite confusing, if i understand it right, i think it would be unfair to handle it in the way he suggests because you can use massive bandwidth without downloading illegally. However I also dont really see any other way for the issue to be resolved and I do think it is a big issue, especially as osmeone who pays for every album he gets.

quite a long post but; thoughts?

[Sean]

Yeah that wouldn't be fair for people who use a massive bandwith for things like their job because they would be hit unfairly. I think to be honest there's not a lot they can do. I will only download films and the odd album by a mainstream artist (Dizzee Rascal recently) and that type of person just to give it a listen and mostly I delete it straight away because it's crap. 90% of the time I'll buy the CD and that's why I've got over 150 CD's. The problem is though pretty much every single person in my year at school are illegally downloading, to the point where I actually get ridiculed because I buy a CD.

[dontask]

yeah, its a good idea but its got gaping flaws...like communism. but it would get people off the internet and stop them spending so much time there, whether thats a good thing or not...i pay 40 quid a year for my xbox live and with that id have to pay alot more.

i do agree though, that people who get caught downloading illegal musical need to be monitored and then eventually banned. if you think thats abit harsh and taking away freedom, just dont do it? in the end its a law that is there for a reason.

[Sean]

yeah xbox and stuff like that would be a fortune. they should nail the one's who are downloading the most illegal stuff first because they are the one's costing the most money to everything. apart from music though i do on occasion download films because i think they're massively overpriced. i don't get why i should pay 15 quid that doesn't evoke the same emotions a cd can which is a fiver less. and nobody will watch it more than ten times unless theyre in love with it, where's music you can listen to for life.

[dontask]

i agree but thats the way it is, and its no different, if you dont wanna pay it dont watch it.

[Sean]

true but if you were 15 and you had to work your arse off every morning at 6am would you really want to spend 60% of the money you earned on a dvd?

[dontask]

i jsut wouldnt get the dvd.

[Sean]

what if it was a amazing film? i never download much anyway because they take up my whole hard drive.

[dontask]

if its amazing id buy it!

[dontask]

just read it again and i think hes right, if the increase in costs for the "premium" users goes up, but not massively, it would make it affordable and allow the ISP to be taxed while staying financially stable. this taxing money could then be given to artists. its a good idea but whether it could be implemented i dont know if its realistic. if its for your job you need the larger bandwidth then the workplace would no doubt fund this anyway.

[Sean]

well maybe but there would still be a hell of a lot of issues to sort out though

[dontask]

as with any change, i think im just saying something needs to happen. this isnt necessarily it.

[sirmavers]

Sean was right, I used to get abused at collage for buying CD's have about 110 and been collecting for 2 years now. I know a lad who downloads all his music and never buys CD's, but he pays for it on itunes, so not arsed about CD's dying off or anything, just a mone matter isn't it. Reason I buy the CD's are because they sound better, and it's just nice to have a phisical copy to blast out at stupid volumes

[Sean]

Yeah, love having that copy in my hands and reading the lyrics booklet. Think its all part of the experience. I think I've bought about 3 albums out of about 50 this year of itunes and only because they were criminally cheap.

[dontask]

i like a physical copy, plus if i spend money on it i tend to appreciate it more. i love to enjoy music and i dont like disliking it as much as it might not seem that way, i think if you pay nothing its alot easier to criticise.