To Download or Not To Download
Music is one of my favorite things in life. There’s nothing like cranking up some good music on a road trip, or plugging in the earphones to help me through a day of work, or filling the house with music to wash away my worries. I’ve got a fair number of CDs. I’ve got a lot more on my computer, though. At last count, I think I had 5436 songs stored on my hard drive. Wowzers! I have to admit that a good chunk of these have been download via Napster, Kazaa, and other P2P (peer to peer) networks or ripped from a CD that a friend owns. I used to download anything and everything I could think of. I’m sure I have hundreds of songs that I haven’t even listened to! If there is one song by an artist that I wanted, I wouldn’t get just that one song, but every song of that artist that I could find. You never know when you’ll find a great new artist.
In the past year or so, my downloading activities have been scaled back quite a bit. Part of this comes from the RIAA filling the P2P networks with bad and watermarked copies of songs, so it’s a lot harder to find good quality recordings. The other part is that I began to fill a little guilty. *a little* guilty… To me, music is a great gift from God and should be shared with everyone. It’s a great stepping stone to those who aren’t saved. Hand them a copy of a good “Christian” rock album, and they’ll be jamming to it before they realize the message and purpose behind it. Good way to plant seeds and open a door for discussion. However, we’re told to obey authorities, and the authorities say to buy the music and not copy it or download it.
At this point in time, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s okay to download some songs here and there, as long as I buy an album if I like it. I downloaded Kutless’ entire new album, loved it, and eventually went out and bought it. It’s like a “try before you buy type” thing. What’s really been great lately are sites like walmart.com, or the new Napster and iTunes, where you listen to samples, and can pay to download only the songs you want or the whole album. No monthly subscriptions, and it’s cheaper than going out and buying the album at a store like Family Christian Stores.
What’s your opinion of downloading music off the internet is? Have you done it? Do you think it’s okay or not? I’m interested in knowing what you think…
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Aug 4th, 2004 at 08:35:28
Let me say, I’ve done my share in the past. Back in the Napster days I did a lot.
I’ve sense gotten guility too, and have stopped. Couple things. Taking that music without buying is stealing, “Thou Shall Not Steal.” Kinda hard to avoid that, it’s pretty clear. It would be no different than taking a book without buying and copying it. Renting a DVD and making a copy of it.
Second, you’re not supporting the artist. I know I know, they make a LOT of money etc etc. But they don’t get much on each CD. Especially Christian artists, we should be trying to support them.
The fact you are feeling “guilty” even if a little, is a sign of conviction.
Aug 4th, 2004 at 10:16:27
I haven’t purchased a CD since 1998. Do I feel guilty? no. I generally listen to the radio more than CDs and now that I have Sirius Satellite radio in my car, on my computer, in my house…I don’t buy music.
The record labels make most of the money off an album purchase. The Bands make most of their money from touring (thats what I heard on an MTV ‘news’ thing a few years ago).
I don’t listen to Christian music, but I was tempted to pick upt he Super77 album at goodstock, but ended up not for some reason. In that sense, I can see purchasing albums, because those artists perform and provide music for a purpose. Many hip-hop and alternative mainstream type musicians probably have a purpose too…and that is to make money. When I was into the rave scene in St. Louis, I would buy a DJ’s mix tape before I dubbed a friends, so I could support that artist. To be honest, there just aren’t that many bands out now-a-days that tickle my fancy enough to spend $15-20 on a CD.
Some of my favorite bands from High school (Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Janes Addiction, The Prodigy, and others), I woudl still buy theirs…if they would bring another one out
Paul
Aug 5th, 2004 at 11:34:29
I too downloaded a lot in college and since then my download quotient has dropped to a near zero. The reason for the decline in my downloading is not a mere conviction, but like you said it’s a lot harder to find good quality copies of songs now. However there are some sites where you can download legal good copies of songs, and I’ve used some of those.
My personal “take” on the downloading thing is if it’s a song I like enough that I want the CD, then I should buy it. The last time I downloaded some songs it was while I was at my dad’s for a long weekend and we don’t have a Christian radio station there so I downloaded a few songs to listen to while I was there. Some of my music collection is stuff that I definitely don’t want enough to pay for it so I’d rather not have it than buy it. If I want it enough, I feel like I should buy the CD and support the artist (especially like you all have said, when it’s Christian Artists).
I would say that it’s “wrong” for me personally to download an entire CD that I know I like without the intentions of buying it in the future. I do like the ability to download and sample other songs by an artist I like so that i can decide if I want to invest in the whole album or not; but I don’t think it’d be right to download it in place of buying the album.
Aug 5th, 2004 at 12:46:04
Not a good idea period. Rationalizing doesn’t make it right.
GHT
Aug 7th, 2004 at 14:32:50
Well, how are we supposed to buy music that is never released? Take this for example….i used to download LOTS of DCI Drumlines doing warm ups, playing their show without the band, cadences…stuff like that. I find it hard to feel guilty about something i am so passionate about…music. Personally, i think P2P is one of the greatest promotion methods a band can have….people can download songs…and if they like the stuff, then mayble they’ll check out a website….buy concert tickets…other merch the band might have. I think people (the govt. more specifically) are WAY too uptight. But hey, it’s just me.
Aug 8th, 2004 at 08:30:29
Well, I basically believe that if you download instead of buying music you want- you may be “stealing.” If you download things that you would have never bought (like Matt’s example of things you can’t buy and other live recordings), then you’re not keeping money that the artist and recording company would have received.