Absolution for a pirate
I have a lot of music on my computer. A lot. Only ~1/4th of that is ripped from my own sources. And only a few dozen MB of those 60+GB were purchased digitally.
I am a music pirate. And I have never felt guilty about it. Not enough guilt that would prompt me to stop, anyway, though I suppose I wouldn't be starting this little experiment if I wasn't experiencing some type of guilt.
The first step in my experiment will be to send a check for $15 to Paul Westerberg. (I decided to start with not-big-but-not-tiny artists.)
I own three of his albums, but I have pirated the last two. So instead of buying CDs, waiting for him to come to Austin or buying a t-shirt I'll never wear, I have decided to see if there is a way to compensate him directly.
The following is an e-mail I sent to his manager:
Short and to-the-point. No need to tell him why I want to send it.
Wish me luck!
I am a music pirate. And I have never felt guilty about it. Not enough guilt that would prompt me to stop, anyway, though I suppose I wouldn't be starting this little experiment if I wasn't experiencing some type of guilt.
The first step in my experiment will be to send a check for $15 to Paul Westerberg. (I decided to start with not-big-but-not-tiny artists.)
I own three of his albums, but I have pirated the last two. So instead of buying CDs, waiting for him to come to Austin or buying a t-shirt I'll never wear, I have decided to see if there is a way to compensate him directly.
The following is an e-mail I sent to his manager:
Quote:
Hello Darren,
My name is Adam and I am interested in sending a personal check to Paul Westerberg.
If you could tell me where to mail the check I would greatly appreciate your assistance.
Sincerely,
groverat
Hello Darren,
My name is Adam and I am interested in sending a personal check to Paul Westerberg.
If you could tell me where to mail the check I would greatly appreciate your assistance.
Sincerely,
groverat
Short and to-the-point. No need to tell him why I want to send it.
Wish me luck!
Comments
I thought you were a fan of David Beckham
good luck,
Actually, looking at the CD I wasted good money on (Cake's newest album Pressure Chief) I am wondering if I could make this work both ways and write in demanding a refund.
I'm not saying, go steal music, but your $15 wouldn't be going to the artist if you had bought the album.
I usually download live concerts using BitTorrent in FLAC format. I'm not interested in 128 kb/s or whatever it is they have in P2P networks.
But that's not the point. You called their work shit. That's why I said some of us like them, not because we like them so much that we spend 3048 days looking for their music.
Originally posted by Wrong Robot
The thing about downloading music is that, unless you're downloading shit from smaller indie labels illegally. The people that really get screwed from the downloading are not the artists but the labels. They're the ones that lose the money.
Exactly.
This is why I said "I decided to start with not-big-but-not-tiny artists."
The two Westerberg albums I swiped were off Warner Brothers Records. I have no interest in giving them money. His last two albums were on Vagrant Records, I bought one of those (and I haven't heard the other).
I'm a big fan of Saddle Creek artists. I've swiped a couple Bright Eyes albums, but I've bought 4 (including that stinker Digital Ash in a Digital Urn) and been to 2 Rilo Kiley shows (they aren't on Saddle Creek anymore
Giving the indie artist money directly is good, but probably better to support that small, homegrown label while you're at it.
To me it's about finding your own moral ground in this shifting paradigm. If I can get this kind of thing going I think I'll be 100% square with the whole thing even if it's not what I am legally obliged to do.
1. The guy would not have made so much music.
2. You would never have heard of it.
But whatever, you never hear many musicians claim they were treated unfairly by the record companies, apparently you're the only party in this equation that gives a damn.
Originally posted by slughead
...you never hear many musicians claim they were treated unfairly by the record companies...
Are you being sarcastic?
That said, I don't feel any guilt whatsoever about pirating music. If something is good I'll end up buying it anyway. Being able to BitTorrent a quality CD rip just saves me having to spend an hour or so recording and encoding from vinyl.
I remember the producers of Soul Plane blaming the failure of their horrific movie on piracy.
Artists don't get any money from allofmp3.com. It's a nice service, but it's really no different from regular piracy.
The law doesn't bother me. I know I break the law when I pirate music, that's not my concern. My only concern is whether or not the artist is compensated.
ijerry:
Music piracy deprives no one of property as would shoe theft. Do not start this argument, you will lose.
Music pirates violate copyrights, they do not steal items. It is a night and day difference.
Originally posted by groverat
rws:
Artists don't get any money from allofmp3.com. It's a nice service, but it's really no different from regular piracy.
The law doesn't bother me. I know I break the law when I pirate music, that's not my concern. My only concern is whether or not the artist is compensated.
ijerry:
Music piracy deprives no one of property as would shoe theft. Do not start this argument, you will lose.
Music pirates violate copyrights, they do not steal items. It is a night and day difference.
i see your point. if you like something do you ever buy the cd? i do. i spent more money on music when napster was in it's hay day.
Originally posted by running with scissors
i see your point. if you like something do you ever buy the cd? i do. i spent more money on music when napster was in it's hay day.
I still buy CDs, but not as many as I used to. I don't like them. They take up space and all I do with them is rip them and put the CD on a shelf. I won't buy DRM digital music anymore. I've spent a decent amount at iTMS but not anymore.
I go to more shows and buy merchandise there now than I did, though. It isn't really a conscious decision to make up for buying less CDs it's just the way it has worked out. I definitely spend more money on music than I did, but that's more a function of me having more disposable income now than I did before as a full-time student.