Illegal downloading, and stopping

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

This is something I have vowed to do, starting now.

The only illegal thing I do is illegally download. Books and music seem to be the key.

However, this is troublesome for me, for several reasons:

1. I don't want to end up in jail
2. I am all for supporting the musicians and creators of the works, since I am a working musician myself, and I know what it's like to get paid for your work
3. I have the rest of my life ahead of me, and I don't need to be looking over my shoulder at the "cyber police", trying to track my torrents, my mediafire downloads, etc.

I also download concert bootlegs, but those are usually officially endorsed by the bands...so I don't see a problem with that. In fact, Genesis (my favorite band) has a bootleg database linked to from their official site. So does Muse and Coldplay. Neither care at all about downloading some taped concert.

I have made a late New Years Resolution to...stop downloading, and start buying! There are three new cds coming out in a week. I will buy them on iTunes, just like the rest of the people that are fans of the artists. No more going on The Pirate Bay and searching for leaks!

Anyway, I know it's ridiculous that I have to talk about this. When was sharing criminalized? But I have decided to make a fresh start on this unhealthy practice.

 

[Antihero]

Might I recommend Spotify. They have a very wide selection available for streaming for free. Perfectly legal. Outside of their client, you don't have to download anything.

Grooveshark is also good. They have a larger selection, though their sound quality is hit or miss.

Personally I see nothing wrong with torrenting so long as you do it sparingly, and actually later buy the content if you find that you like it.

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

I have started using Pandora. And I also have iTunes radio. I will consider Spotify, although I am already a Hulu and Netflix subscriber, and that tends to drain my account.

It's ridiculous, the amount of music that I already have. I could go the rest of my life without buying a single album, or downloading a single album...and I would be set.

489 artists, 2443 albums. I don't even have to list all of the songs. 300 GBs worth of music, and not all of it is illegal (I have a great deal of cds and legal purchases on iTunes!)

I just tend to think, "just one more album"...then it turns into 10, then 20...then I am worried that the FBI are tracking my downloads, then my OCD kicks in and I can't sleep at night, so I take melatonin and feel like crap the next day...etc.

I just need to walk the straight and narrow, in terms of this. Like I said, it's not only because I am afraid of being caught, although that would be miserable. It's because it feels...wrong...because of how much work I put into my own music, and I feel dirty for stealing other's work.

It just needs to stop.

 

[Pezza]

You're a Cyber criminal!! Hiding on the Lonely life Forum!! What makes you think nobody here is going to alert the Cyber Police to your presence?

Seriously though, if it's stopping you from sleeping then you're definitely doing the right thing.

 

[Antihero]

I have started using Pandora. And I also have iTunes radio. I will consider Spotify, although I am already a Hulu and Netflix subscriber, and that tends to drain my account.

While Spotify does have a paid subscriber option (with a few okay perks), you can still listen to whatever you want for free if you don't mind an advert every now and then.

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

Haha, yeah I guess it was stupid of me to admit it here. LMAO.

But I do have the money for the three new albums I want to get (Van Halen, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr.) I did download the leak of Paul's new cd, but it's crappy quality...and I always support him. I've thrown so much money at The Beatles, it ain't even funny!

I don't feel like my "crime" is as bad as, say, me breaking into someone's house. I do know someone in real life that did that as a teen, and he's reformed, and not a bad dude.

I guess I just need to stop beating myself up over this. I just read horror stories from the RIAA and start obsessing. \

Thanks for the spotify tip. I'll check that out.

 

[paulo]

When was sharing criminalized?

its not sharing, its duplicating.
when you download youre making copies without the owners permission.
thats always been illegal as far as i know.

putting something up for download (sharing) is giving away someone elses stuff.
that cant be right either

 

[Poguesy]

You're just robbing and you're stabbing and you're looting and you're shooting

Now you're too bad.

 

[lifewasterdaydreamer]

lol this thread is funny, I've never even heared of "cyber police". I did'nt think that they would bother arresting people for it, since theres probably so many people on the world that get away with downloading ileagaly. It feels harmless when is just downloading a copy of a file over the internet but I agree its wrong when your download from a sharing host without the owners permission. Is it still wrong if you copy some tracks from a friends ipod or cd collection?

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

Whatever lol. I think I overreacted.

But they do arrest people for downloading. Megaupload got shut down, because people were uploading illegal stuff.

That being said, at least 90% of my collection is from legitimate sources, so I don't need to worry about the other 10%.

 

[Ak5]

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

For the record, I downloaded the leak of the last Michael Jackson studio album, "Michael."

Then I went out and bought four copies.

Is the record company losing money? Not mine!

 

[Peter Lorre]

This whole illegal downloading scare is quite silly. Sure, I can understand that people who upload (and profit from!) the work of certain famous artists, get punished. It's normal, they deserve it and I'm quite sure the authorities will keep hunting those people down.

The downloading part is different though. Imagine you're someone with a lot of friends, chances are you'll get by without ever having to buy something. How? Well, just borrow everything from your friends and copy it. Will the police hunt you down and arrest you for this? Ofcourse not!

Also, what about taping things straight from tv? Getting your music off the radio or youtube? Heck, even in the library you can just get a copy card (or bring your own camera!) and copy as many books as you want. If you play your cards right, you won't ever have to pay

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

Well, for instance, my friend has a band that has three cds out. He gave me copies of those albums for free.

I, in turn, have 35 studio albums and a live album, of my own music. I freely share these with friends and family, and have my own site where I profit from the sale of each album.

I understand the frustration of having to rely on music sales, that aren't there, to feed your family. The difference between me, and someone like Peter Gabriel, is that Peter Gabriel makes money from each album, and that money goes to making new albums. I, on the other hand, use cheap equipment and feed it into my computer, where I mix all the instruments, transfer them to mp3/wav formats, and then put them up on my site. It is different.

Plus, I have college and part time jobs. I don't go on stage every night performing my songs. If I were a professional musician, other than someone who records out of the fun of it, I might feel differently.

And that different feeling is why I feel guilty for taking money from my favorite artists. I throw money their way, whenever possible, and usually buy directly from their stores instead of third parties...but I still feel guilty, if I want to hear something in advance and I give in to the temptation.

 

[DreamerDeceiver]

Well, you could start with buying the Rush catalogue. At least from their eponymous album up to Roll the Bones, skipping the live ones if you want (except Exit Stage Left, that one is extraordinary). I promise, you won't regret it.
Funny how I started with listening to 70's Rush and underestimated their later works as boring. Now I listen to 80's Rush more than the former.

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

Actually, I have bought the Rush catalog several times over. I have the original cd masters, and then went out and bought all the remasters, live albums, dvds, etc.

I also have seen them live in concert twice, so it's not like I'm taking money from Rush.

However, there are a lot of Gong albums out of print, some that are going for $60 a pop on ebay! That, compiled with my easy access to the internet, makes me tempted to just download them and not buy them (legally.)

 

[flaneur]

If you're into bigger bands like Coldplay and Muse, buying their album won't really "support" them. Those artists receive very little from that, and they make most of their living from concerts and merchandise.

Also, I don't recommend iTunes for purchasing music. Last time I checked, their downloads come in 256 kbps. That means you're getting audio in *less* than CD quality. The trade-off is that it takes up less space, so you can fit more songs on your iPod. Personally, I prefer having higher audio quality. (I also like album artworks. )

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

Well, I do like Coldplay and Muse, but have seen both live before, and bought a bunch of stuff from their online store. So yeah, I know what you mean by live acts get most from the merchandise.

256 is cd quality, man, almost. I prefer digital downloads to vinyl, cds, and tapes, but use all four formats.

 

[flaneur]

256 is cd quality, man, almost. I prefer digital downloads to vinyl, cds, and tapes, but use all four formats.

Ehhh, I beg to differ . 320 and v0 are closer to CD quality and the best choices if you don't have hifi headphones/stereo.

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

Well, I have iTunes Match, so I kind of am stuck with it.

I am an Apple and Steve Jobs fan, what can I say?