And yet in the digital downloading controversy—its coming from everywhere right now. On the tips of everyone’s tongues evidently. Anyway, this is from some wacky creative designer out in San Fran. The guy makes a few points, most of them rather surface and not too well thought out. But it helps to understand the mindset of these people. The article and my response are below:
Dear Music Industry.
Wednesday, September 17
Hi there. I just wanted to say, fuck you. You have stolen so much money from me and everyone I know that it's hard for me to feel sorry for you. Sue some 12 year old girl for downloading music? That takes some balls. Fight this all you want and I will hate you even more. Do you know how many people bought an album, then bought the same thing on tape, then bought the same thing on CD? Do you know much money you made off of each person as they re-bought music they had once paid a fortune for? I don't think you do.
Hey bro, no one stole any money from you. you bought music because you wanted it. Period. No one forced you too. and another thing you big cry baby. No one forced you to buy your favorite CDs on three different formats like records, tapes, and cds. You did it because you wanted to. are you going to complain next time you buy a new car because you want all the newest technology in that new car versus your old one? Cds were technologically better so you decided to buy them. O.k. cool. What's your point?
So you sue a 12 year old girl. She obviously was eating into your profits. You could see how she had masterminded a way to screw you out of everything you so rightfully deserve. She got what she deserved, right? Steal from the music industry and you get slapped. That's the lesson you taught us, right?
Uuuuhhhh yea. What is it about “thou shall not steal” that you do not understand?
We all pay your inflated prices so you can produce crappy music and force good bands to put out "now" sounding music so they can sell more records. Everyone needs to sell more records. I mean, if your record doesn't sell a million copies your a failure right? Bullshit. Your business model is all fucked up.
Listen, if you think the business model is fucked up, then start a business model of your own that's not. This is America. Its not only allowed but encouraged. Please do. but don't use your opinion that “their business model is all fucked up” as a way of justifying you or anyone else stealing. Why is this so hard for some people to understand?
Most of the artists don't get much more than a dime. You give them pennies as you sue 12 year old girls, making their parents cough up $2,000 of their hard earned money. You seem to think you have a hold on everything. I am here to tell you don't. Your grip is slipping so fast. It's right in front of your face and you are just too stupid to know it.
This is where the guy kind of slips off the deep end. sounding more like a serial killer. It is true that us artists don't get a lot per CD sold—but its more like a dollar not a dime... Still doesn’t give any one a reason to start stealing from us. and that 12 year old girl who is stealing songs everyday? If her parents only had to cough up $2000 then consider them lucky. They are lucky that the girl is not in juvenile somewhere, as she would be if she went into a store and stole the music, which is exactly what she is doing: stealing.
Cool. That's his prerogative. If he wants to be one of those guys that has all his music in his little machines and computers. No prob. That's the power of all this great technology. Other people like collecting CDs. Just like people like to collect books still. I personally love collecting CDs.
You do know that almost every single song ever recorded is available as an MP3 right? I can do a search and get any song from the latest David Bowie to Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" to offbeat Jazz that you never even bothered reissuing. All you need to know is where to look. Try to sue the millions and millions of people who download music for free and you will continually look like the biggest fool. How many 12 year old girls can you sue before people get sick of this and fight back? I am sure you scared her. But you can't scare everyone.
O.k. again, maybe the guy just had too much coffee, what does he think this is a scene from the Sopranos? I don't think anyone is trying to scare anyone here. its just businesses trying to stop people from ripping them off. Granted, his ideas are right in line with the general misconception that a lot of people seem to have. But he is getting angry at the music companies getting upset and suing people who steal from them. And the people are supposedly going to fight back? fight back what? That these companies don't want to be stolen from and are trying to defend themselves against it? This guy is just off his rocker. Someone help him back up. Maybe he just has never owned anything of value and doesn’t understand the concept of trying to protect it from people stealing it. I don't know. But the attitude in general is something that everyone should be alarmed by. What if people start doing this to other businesses? Just deciding that because technology makes it possible that they are going to start stealing from other businesses too. IT could have catastrophic implications.
Just to make myself clear. I will no longer buy your plastic. I urge everyone I know to no longer buy your plastic. Wouldn't that be something? If everyone just stopped buying CDs? What would you do? And what if all the music ever created was available digitally and you did nothing to make money from it?
Hey asshole, what if you your job was available for free and YOU didn't make any money from it?
You see, people have had a taste of being able to get something for nothing. And most people don't feel guilty about it. Why? Because there really hasn't been a distribution model built around digital music ownership. Yeah ownership. I want to own that album, in the purest sense of the word. License it to me, whatever you call it, but I want it. If I purchase an album, I shouldn't have to buy it again and again every time you change formats. I shouldn't have to feel guilty about wanting to take it with me wherever I go on multiple media.
No you shouldn’t and you're welcome to it. the problem is when you don't pay for it to obtain it or when you allow others to do the same thing by burning cds for them, or let them copy your MP3s. just pay for the music you listen to. It’s really that simple.
Now, I wouldn't write you without making a suggestion. Anyone can bitch, but not anyone can make a suggestion. So I offer this up to you. Let's paint a picture of a guy, who is much like myself. He loves music. All types of music. He wants to buy the new David Bowie album. He forks over $9.99 to buy the digital copy of David Bowie's Reality. He now owns the digital rights for this album. Period. If he bought it in MP3 format with the AAC codec and a new format comes out that is better, he can always redownload his music. He owns the digital rights to that album. If he wants to burn it to a CD so he can play it in his car, he can. He owns it. Do you see how easy this is? Apple has started this in motion. Good thing you had someone innovative thinking for you, eh? You have reluctantly grabbed onto this as a viable business model. Your mind needs to evolve to think about the ownership of digital possessions. And licensing models. Not selling plastic.
First off, what is up with this guy and plastic?! I have a feeling that maybe something really weird and traumatic happened to him involving plastic when he was a kid. He is really against plastic. I know a lot of people who like collecting CDs. O.k. let them collect cds. About his suggestion, good idea. And uh DUH! We’re doing it as fast as possible. He acts like no one understands the new business model, as if the entire industry isn't completely wrapped up in it, absorbed in it, and thinking about it 24 hours a day. news flash: we’re working on it. ITunes is a great start. And I'm sure it’ll work itself out. In the meantime, stop stealing our music. O.k.? how many times do we have to ask?
Oh yeah. I purchased music for the first time in quite a while from the iTunes Music Store. It was easier for me to purchase the music than trying to download it. The ease was well worth the money. Ponder that. I know only a handful of people own Macs, but look at all the music they are buying. BUYING. This is not to say that this new format is perfect. What if I want to sell my rights to someone else and no longer have this album? There still are some bugs to work out, but all in all a very good first step. I bet if that 12 year old girl had another option besides stealing your music, she might have used it.
Its called go to a store or online and buy it like everything else until we work out the kinks in the new system. and stop trying to justify stealing. Its called being a good person, morals, ethics, why do people have to teach other people about this? isn't everyone raised learning these basics? Stealing is wrong, lying is wrong, killing is wrong... what's up guy?
People want things now, now, now these days. Especially those teens. Meanwhile Microsoft and Apple try to throw around concepts to try and solve your problems. The problems you have created by resisting change.
To wrap this whole brain dump of a letter up, I have made this wonderful little flyer to people to download and give to their friends and print out and paste up. Download your next album, have a friend burn it for you, but don't purchase anymore plastic. Just think.... if everyone in America decided not to buy your plastic anymore, what would you do? Yeah. Scary isn't it?
It almost sounds like this guy has a personal vendetta against the industry itself. He really seems to hate them, and sadly seems to find satisfaction in dreaming of their complete demise and failure. Which is sad because in our current economy in America, we should all just really be wishing each other the best, not the worst. Why is he so mad and want such hateful things to happen to all these people? I don't know. Maybe he's a communist and doesn’t like the free enterprise system. Starbucks and three dollar cups of coffee? Hello? That's America. And isn't it beautiful. You don't have to drink Starbucks do you? But its good sometimes, you know. I love that. And it’s the same with music. The industry should be allowed to charge whatever it wants to. if you don't want to buy music, then don't. but please, don't be a loser and start stealing. [I'll tell you a secret. Few people know this, but it is worth gold. It’s a basic Avatar concept. Whenever you find someone who is really angry like this, just vehement, not all the time, but often times you will find that they have in the past or are currently still committing some kind of transgression against others---usually the same people they ripped off or deceived or whatever it was they did to wrong that person. Their guilt turns into anger.
Its rather common in humans. Want to know who the guilty party is? Look for the person who is asserting their innocence the most and who is the most angry. In this case, you have the music industry on one side angry but just working their butts off trying to find a way to save their businesses---they’re not screaming insults at people and accusing them of being evil and all that---just scrambling to find solutions. And on the other side you have all these people out there stealing music and a lot of them are just super angry and mad and spitting fire and talking about how evil the music industry is. So they use this anger and all these expletives to help them justify their stealing all the time.] Anyway the guy who wrote this states on his website that he is a musician himself, but just doesn’t make any money from it. Maybe if he made money from it instead he would have a different opinion entirely.
Quote of the Month
"What I know is, is that...if you do work that you love, and work that fulfills you, the rest will come. You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it. And I would do this job, and take on a second job to make ends meet if nobody paid me. Just for the opportunity to do it. That's how you know you are doing the right thing."
-- Oprah Winfrey
-- Oprah Winfrey
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