In our society, artists are not alotted the due respect for their work. At no time is this truth more apparent than in the case of illegal downloading and bootleging. What if I came to your job and found a way to bootleg your work? What if I came to the office where you answer phones for a living and managed to benefit from your reception duties without paying you? What if I came to the autoshop where you work, had you service my car, then drove away without paying you? Would you like it? Would you be waiting for me outside of my home with a baseball bat? To say it flatly, people who rip off other people's work are crooks. We destroy the very art we seek to enjoy when we don't support it with our dollars. Similarly, we indirectly raise the worth of other works of art that people are paying for, simply because SOMEBODY is buying it, thereby increasing the availability of a work of art that the vast majority doesn't even support. What I don't understand is how a person could be at peace with directly contributing to the downfall of a musician, actor, or visual artist whom they enjoy. No matter what the excuse is for pilfering creative works, it's imperative that the culprits responsible for killing our culture understand the the cliched adage 'money talks' still rings true to this day; when people stop buying a product, that product goes away.
The entertainment industry is a multi-billion dollar field, that fact can not be denied. However, the profits made from the sales of creative works indicate how much an artist will be paid, and in some cases it indicates wether or not an artist will be paid at all! The major corporations that control much of the media to which we have access are also the people who are paid first, the "trickle down" system of payment has been the norm in the entertainment industry for many years. There are already many ways to cut an artist out of a deal and cheat them out of their due payment. Now, modern technology has given people access to more entertainment media than ever before, but that doesn't mean that we should abuse our priviledges. Simply stated, there is nothing thrifty or intelligent about stealing. Its fundamentally wrong. If the current patterns of behavior continue, then ultimately your favorite artist, who's cd you bootleg and spread around, who you rush to see live when he's in town, who's video you save to your iPOD, will soon be nothing more than a distant memory. At the risk of sounding harsh, I must post the question: if you are too broke to afford to pay full price for a cd, then should you REALLY be sitting on your butt listening to music? Get your money right.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
Totally off topic... but there are the other type of pirates around too, apparently. You know the... Yarr! Walk the Plank, Matey type of pirates. Anyway... couldn't resist tossing that generally useless blurb out there.
-----
~Fallon~
"I stood
Among them, but not of them; in a shroud of thoughts which were not their thoughts" -Lord Byron
-----
Ahoy matey... there are I'm stealing from the government, health/car/life insurance fraud, ect. kind of pirates too.
Or maybe ahoy matey I'm stealing your time by being annoying and talking to you in the hallway between classes and making you late even though you don't care and don't want to flirt with me kind of pirates.
Or perhaps the internet pirates that just plain steal your brain by trying to sell you useless stuff or feed you useless/non-factual information.
And then there's the super annoying time-stealing rum pirates that try and convince you to drink with them, socialize, and interrupt your good-book reading time. What the hell. Those bastards are the worst.
Don't buy into the ruse, homeboy. Most artists don't make diddly off of album sales. It all goes to record execs. Artists make their money from touring and endorsements (selling out?). If anything, pirates are helping to jumpstart music by forcing artists to make music that people will respond to (either by going to a concert, buying a T-shirt, getting a Nissan X-Terra, etc.) rather than just sitting back thinking that they can dupe the populous into buying a CD because they have one decent song.
--Mike
Check out the ProgU News Feed:
http://www.progressiveu.org/news
Keep an eye out for the new FAQ and Topic of the Week, coming this fall!
Well, there has always been pirates!
The ones that are really wrong in my regard are the ones that download-copy and sell audio or movies in order to make profit out of it.
Personally I believe that individuals downloading movies are to be considered bad pirates, while I have or carry no negative opinion in regard to individuals that download music files.
Reasons why people do so are of various reasons and not always related or with the intent of steeling.
Of course everyone is fully aware that downloading music is illegal and considered a theft!
I will not go in detail but I can tell you this, I’m absolutely fed up with all those mayor music labels that use any means possible to push music down my troth in witch I carry no interest.
I’m sick of all that commercial crap that is pushed upon our societies ears trough media like television and radio stations that blindly follow what ever is been pushed forward by those sharks that carry no other motives than to make monster profits.
They use any means possible to make easy money, even moulding 17 year old teenagers into superstars that end up with a superstar hangover just because they are not even been guided to handle a lifestyle that is filled with paparazzi, drugs, fake friends and crazy fans.
The only thing that matters to the sharks of the music industry is “cash” that allows them to create new hype’s every once in a while, milking this “goat” (example Britney Spears) to the last drop while letting her drown in that fake world they have created around her image that eventually looses it’s beauty in despair and misery.
It is clear the music industry will undergo some radical changes in time to come, since it is the real quality of yet unknown musicians that will refer of signing contracts with these sharks, just because of common sense and passion that they reflect in their work as an artist.
They wont suffer a hangover whenever success fades away, nor will they loose their genuine fans that will attend their concerts wherever they venture around the globe while therefore insuring them of an income that is well balanced in accordance to their talent.
Those artists best clients and fans are pirates,
But please know, most pirates buy cd’s too, whenever they are deeply charmed by quality and talent that reflect emotion true music that will never part of one’s memory.
But still you are right, although it is not about respect…
Its all about passion,
If one is passionate by music, Maria Callas can be regarded a human wonder…
Her voice and the way she used it was a gift to all people that have had the privilege to witness her voice.
Anyway, sadly enough Maria Callas is not around anymore!
So now we have another wonder! Her name is Rene Fleming.
To have the full effect of what I’m saying here on needs to see the movie:
“William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream”
“Casta Diva”
sung by “Rene Fleming”
A track taking one on a trip for about 7’05”….
Released in 1999
A fine example of cheer quality in it’s full effect!
There are approximately 12 different versions of that very same song sung by different artist or brought in different styles by classical composers, even DJ’s that experiment.
The version of Rene Fleming beats them all, not only is the music score of such finesse that it could even awaken the imagination of a donkey…lol, but it is of such well balanced structure and beauty, I have already promised myself to attend one of her future concerts… regardless of location….
Some amongst us are driven by passion, that’s why we found out what’s cooking on the other side, most kept fishing in the same pool eating the same fish,
while thinking we fell of the earth…
Still, It is a risk some are willing to take,
It’s all about passion,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080521/ap_en_mu/polar_music_prize
http://www.loveearth.com/uk/film/