4 ms·

Music is superbly convenient to legally purchase online, with instant gratification. That is a very recent invention with spotify and the ilk - and even they s

by moe 14y ago

Music is superbly convenient to legally purchase online, with instant gratification. That is a very recent invention with spotify and the ilk - and even they still have ways to go. iTunes may seem superficially convenient, but in reality it is only convenient when you already know what you want. Discovery is non-existent, and that's what many people want. And: It is way too expensive. (There, I said it!) You may be kicking and screaming after reading this paragraph, but: Reality is that people value movies higher than music. $10 for a film is reasonable to most people. $10 for (most) albums is not. $10/month flat for all music is then again in their comfort zone, as demonstrated by spotify et al. You can now either take the stance of the music industry; i.e. cry, complain and spend all your money on trying to turn back time to the golden 80s - where consumers had little choice other than pay whatever you asked. Or you can accept that the era of the middlemen (the "distributors") has ended because consumers don't want to pay for their Yacht's anymore. That the market has decided on two prices (for movies and music respectively), and that you either make do with that, or continue on your path to irrelevancy.

huggyface 14y ago
It is way too expensive It's hard to compete with $0, which is the price that thieves are willing to pay. You may be kicking and screaming after reading this paragraph I'm not in the music industry. I'm not in the movie industry. I would benefit, financially, from piracy by simply engaging in it myself. But, you know, I don't because I can't justify it. I find the arguments that do completely transparent and selfish. I honestly find these piracy excusing arguments sad for society as a whole: It is the tragedy of the commons, everyone taking a dump in the well simply because they can, making laughable arguments why what they're doing is justified ("If only there was a toilet every 10 feet and someone wiped my arse for me..."). It's hearing a teenager justify why they litter (it's the city's fault and McDonald's fault and their parent's fault and...). Or you can accept that the era of the middlemen (the "distributors") has ended because consumers don't want to pay for their Yacht's anymore. That the market has decided on two prices (for movies and music respectively), and that you either make do with that, or continue on your path to irrelevancy. Yachts....another adorable excuse for theft.
- guard-of-terra 14y ago
  Well, Russia watches Game of Thrones and we couldn't if not for pirates. This makes me un-sad for society as whole. We become richer from piracy than we could be without. Martin sells much more books in Russia right now than he would without the TV series, and HBO aren't losing money because they don't want our money anyway.
  - huggyface 14y ago
    The essentials of life -- life, liberty, the Game of Thrones without delay. Even if I accepted that argument, it has perilously little validity for the majority of participants in English language piracy discussions.
    - guard-of-terra 14y ago
      It's not a question of essentials. It is a question of are we becoming a better society by pirating Game of Thrones? Yes we do. So you are going to disregard me just like HBO already did. Why should not I?
    - moe 14y ago
      You say that as if there's a godgiven right for distributors to make money from art that others create, and for said distributors to decide when a given market is allowed to have access to it. You also seem to assume nobody wants to pay for anything that they can get for free. Neither is true. People want to support their artists, they just want different infrastructure than what is available today. Personally I have bought multiple physical books on amazon after reading the pirated ebook. I didn't even bother to unbox them after they arrived. It would have been easier for me if the books had been available on amazon as ebooks in first place. Likewise, when I hear a song that I like (e.g. on youtube or soundcloud) then often I'd spontaneously tip the artist $1, or $5, or just $0.10 - if only I could. This all may sound foreign to you, but I promise you this is where we are heading. The new platforms emerge as we speak, and slowly replace the old cruft. Evolution at work; your choice is to either adapt or die, it really is as simple as that.

by moe 14y ago

huggyface 14y ago

It is way too expensive It's hard to compete with $0, which is the price that thieves are willing to pay. You may be kicking and screaming after reading this paragraph I'm not in the music industry. I'm not in the movie industry. I would benefit, financially, from piracy by simply engaging in it myself. But, you know, I don't because I can't justify it. I find the arguments that do completely transparent and selfish. I honestly find these piracy excusing arguments sad for society as a whole: It is the tragedy of the commons, everyone taking a dump in the well simply because they can, making laughable arguments why what they're doing is justified ("If only there was a toilet every 10 feet and someone wiped my arse for me..."). It's hearing a teenager justify why they litter (it's the city's fault and McDonald's fault and their parent's fault and...). Or you can accept that the era of the middlemen (the "distributors") has ended because consumers don't want to pay for their Yacht's anymore. That the market has decided on two prices (for movies and music respectively), and that you either make do with that, or continue on your path to irrelevancy. Yachts....another adorable excuse for theft.

guard-of-terra 14y ago
Well, Russia watches Game of Thrones and we couldn't if not for pirates. This makes me un-sad for society as whole. We become richer from piracy than we could be without. Martin sells much more books in Russia right now than he would without the TV series, and HBO aren't losing money because they don't want our money anyway.
- huggyface 14y ago
  The essentials of life -- life, liberty, the Game of Thrones without delay. Even if I accepted that argument, it has perilously little validity for the majority of participants in English language piracy discussions.
  - guard-of-terra 14y ago
    It's not a question of essentials. It is a question of are we becoming a better society by pirating Game of Thrones? Yes we do. So you are going to disregard me just like HBO already did. Why should not I?
  - moe 14y ago
    You say that as if there's a godgiven right for distributors to make money from art that others create, and for said distributors to decide when a given market is allowed to have access to it. You also seem to assume nobody wants to pay for anything that they can get for free. Neither is true. People want to support their artists, they just want different infrastructure than what is available today. Personally I have bought multiple physical books on amazon after reading the pirated ebook. I didn't even bother to unbox them after they arrived. It would have been easier for me if the books had been available on amazon as ebooks in first place. Likewise, when I hear a song that I like (e.g. on youtube or soundcloud) then often I'd spontaneously tip the artist $1, or $5, or just $0.10 - if only I could. This all may sound foreign to you, but I promise you this is where we are heading. The new platforms emerge as we speak, and slowly replace the old cruft. Evolution at work; your choice is to either adapt or die, it really is as simple as that.