Who actually pays for music downloads?

jamespir

Torry_Quine wrote: »

I would hope that the only free downloads people are getting are the legal ones.

why would you hope ???

Torry_Quine

jamespir wrote: »

why would you hope ???

As I wouldn't want people to illegally download something for free which should be paid for. Isn't that obvious!

jamespir

Torry_Quine wrote: »

As I wouldn't want people to illegally download something for free which should be paid for. Isn't that obvious!

if they do is that any of your business theyl get into trouble if caught not you

DCFC79

If ive heard the song on the radio or watched a youtube video and i liked it then yes i will buy it as i think the artist deserves to be paid for the album or single(whichever ive downloaded)

Torry_Quine

jamespir wrote: »

if they do is that any of your business they'll get into trouble if caught not you

I'm not stupid, I know they are the ones who will be punished. :mad:

almillar

I know that YouTube has got some good high quality stuff, but converting the sound out of a YouTube video will generally get you some pretty crap sound quality, and you're welcome to it. Downloading from music stores online will get you far higher quality (and DRM free these days) tracks. A tiny amount makes its way to the artist.
I still prefer to buy the CD as I agree it's good sound quality. I also use Spotify and Last.fm, which sometimes sound a bit dodgy.
I've downloaded plenty of torrents of music that I should be charged for. If I like it, I'll buy it. If not, it goes. If you're just in it for a free ride, you're simply helping rights holders like record companies and film companies persuade governments to start censoring (or trying to) the internet. Which just makes it harder to use these services legitimately.
Thing that gets me is people that want free music, but are happy to pay for a ringtone?!!

laurenweird

I buy CDs when I can afford and if I really like an artist because I want to see that they are getting their money. It's their job....I can't expect music from them if they are too poor to continue making it because no one is buying their CDs! Haha

I listen to a lot of music on youtube though, if it's the odd track I like and not the whole band/artist. I don't want to buy a whole album when it's only one song I like. I have occasionally bought songs on itunes to download, but I don't really like doing that, I like something physical which is why I like CDs.

I discover new music using last.fm mostly.

But yes, mainly I pay for music I want.

naki

Yes, I pay for everything. Why should I take an artist's hard work for free? An mp3 is under a pound these days, and amazon for e.g quite often do cheap deals.

jayme1

no way would I pay for music downloads, for one you are paying for a lossy mp3 or aac format, whereas if you buy a CD you get lossless, which I then rip to lossless, meaning I can convert it to any format I like without any loss in quality (say if a device can't play the lossless file)

in 5-10 years time when nothing uses (ie) mp3 format any more the people who have bought mp3 music will have to pay again to 'upgrade' to the right format or convert it at great sound quality loss.

I buy all my music in CD format, I would only pay for music downloads if they were in a DRM free lossless format (ie ALAC/FLAC)

Hotspur

esuhl wrote: »

Of course not - theft is when you illegally steal something with the intention of permanently depriving the original owner of that property.

Downloading music without the copyright-holders permission is not illegal (so long as you're not doing it for profit or on an industrial scale), although you can be sued for copyright infringement.

Organisations such as the Federation Against Copyright Theft exist (and are so named) to deliberately confuse and mislead consumers in the hope that this will drive down such infringement.

I believe this to be incorrect. The definition in the old Theft Act was that property included money therefore you would be depriving the owner of the download a sale and consequently their money (property).

Today this is considered to be a fraud (in the Fraud Act?) and would be a criminal offence and a private individual could be prosecuted although probably unlikely unless downloading on a large scale.

Public performance, reproduction or sharing copyrighted material without permission would be covered in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act and would be a civil matter.

Failing to buy music, in whatever format, deprives artists and distributors profit, that will be used to make more music, and could result in less music being available.