oops had to type this twice...
captainkey said:
if you have a massive CD collection of downloaded MP3's, how is what you are doing any different??
I'm all for limiting the greedy record companies from getting their mitts on profits resulting from an artists efforts....
if your music (and I don't mean to single anyone out) was up for retail sale and no one was buying it cause they could just download it for free, you'd be pissed
Well the reason I have a wack of cd's made from downloaded mp3's is twofold. One, I didn't feel like forking out more dough to replace all the tapes I had already bought (actually it was more of a case of not having the dough as opposed to forking it out). And two, to replace some of the cds that are just plain wore out. I guess another reason is quite simply most bands out there nowadays seem to be one hit wonders, and their stuff is geared towards that more or less. So why should I shell out 20$ for a cd with one good song and 9 bad songs which fill my earholes full of loathing.
I honestly think the whole file sharing is a damn good thing, for one it actually
promotes music, whereas before you had to always go to the record store to get a sample. This way people actually end up buying stuff they like, and stuff that is worth shelling out the bucks for. I'll never forget buying that L7 album, because of one song about 15 yrs ago, what a POS. I stopped buying stuff for awhile afterthat.
As far as people not buying cd's period and hurting the music industry, I don't see Metallica hurting, and arguably they are probably the hardest hit out there as far as file sharing is concerned, for obvious reasons.
I really think the vast majority of people who hear something they like (or for that matter find desirable proggies), will in the end buy it anyways, to avoid legal hassles down the road, and just because its the right thing to do. I do end up spending the money.
Another thing to consider is, (and I know how there are demos out there, but rarely does the demo come fully stocked, ie, you never get to put whatever it is thru all the paces) well maybe not another thing to consider, as I am reiterating myself here

, hacked versions are basically free advertisement

.