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Music piracy is down but still very much in play

latimes.com

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Re: Music piracy is down but still very much in play

#21

Post by Mimu »

I don't know if this is still true or not, but they make (made) damn sure their offer was so ridiculous people would actively try to go around it.

The devices limitation? Who the fuck came up with this idea thinking it will be good? Greedy I won't cry if they disappear, which probably won't happen anytime soon.

It's simple, people will go for the easiest solution. I barely know anyone illegally downloading videogames since Steam became the go to, and steam is like a big DRM but so easy to use, always download at max speed etc, people just use it, including myself.

Re: Music piracy is down but still very much in play

#22

Post by fredley »

collyw wrote: post #14
andresmanz wrote: post #7

I legally download all the music I want for free without any effort. Because here we "pay for that music by buying a device". Too bad the wrong people receive that money. So I can't say that I like it, but on the other hand I barely download any music. It's maybe one track per month.

What country are you in?

It's called a "Private Copying Levy", and it's done a few different ways in a number of countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_copying_levy

Re: Music piracy is down but still very much in play

#23

Post by yuhong »

iamben wrote: post #8
anigbrowl wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bet you'd see a correlation between bandwidth availability as a function of the average media file size and lobbying activity - which is another way to say the RIAA fought when it happened, mostly lost, and took the best of the available bad options that eventually emerged. Film was safer for a while due to the relatively huge file sizes for video, plus film has some slightly different industry dynamics. FTA: But t…

Sure, you can say 'ouch, 60% of your industry' - but you could say the same about the guys breeding horses when cars came along (or whatever) - times change. Of course it hurts when the golden goose stops laying eggs, but if you don't adapt to the world, how do you expect to survive? The labels (majors especially) spent so long and so much trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle when they could have been adaptin…

Do you know why the majors reacted badly where the indies didn't? I wonder if it is due to the culture.

Re: Music piracy is down but still very much in play

#24

Post by yc1010 »

netcan wrote: post #10
yc1010 wrote: post #6

I am in Ireland, I wanted 1 single track (apparently there is no such thing as music shops or singles anymore, i feel old) So I went to Amazon.com found the track for $0.99 and went to pay, guess what "your credit card has to be issued by US bank" error, despite me having positive amazon.com gift balance with no need to use credit card. Fine so I went to amazon.co.uk, same track GBP 1.00 (notice the markup) and simil…

In fairness, I would say that this is an issue with money/banking/credit cards and the various regulatory frameworks in this area. It is remarkably difficult to just trade money in exchange for goods and services online. Between fraud, transaction costs, anti-"money laundering" requirements and general complexity the systems that actually exist are just not very good. If you fall outside the realm of a simple money-i…

Actually in this case I had a positive USD credit/balance on amazon.com account due to giftcards I bought with bitcoin via gyft.com, same with amazon.co.uk with giftcard bought via giftoff.com using Bitcoin again.

3-4 year old amazon account with long history of purchases going into 6 digits, no chargebacks (not possible obviously) and my Irish debit card also on file with them.

The risk of fraud/charback to Amazon (either US or UK branch) was exactly zero with me.

Re: Music piracy is down but still very much in play

#25

Post by exodust »

qq66 wrote: post #4

Piracy is the reason that labels license their content to streaming services like Spotify. Without the threat of piracy, they would happily maintain the CD-era pricing.

How about the idea that technology is the reason, not piracy?

As the article mentions, there's a broadly accepted argument that fans have been ripped off for years before the internet came along. It's not about "Napster" coming along, it's about the internet arriving and giving us new ways to get media. CD-era comes to an end regardless of legal status of any particular online resource.

As more artists chose to upload their own music, the big-wig artists looked on, dwindling sales infringed upon by... what's this, indie bands previously only seen at local pubs? The horror!

Access > Granted is defined as "piracy" too often, but I'm not saying piracy isn't a thing, it's just not the whole picture.

I can't believe I'm paying for Netflix, but then again, no ads, HD quality. As for music.... hmmm. TO be honest I'd appreciate Netflix getting into music and offering me a good deal on their add-on music service. I'd prefer not to pay another whole $10-ish per month for music. I want package deals because my wallet wants that.

Re: Music piracy is down but still very much in play

#26

Post by J_Darnley »

yc1010 wrote: post #6

I am in Ireland, I wanted 1 single track (apparently there is no such thing as music shops or singles anymore, i feel old) So I went to Amazon.com found the track for $0.99 and went to pay, guess what "your credit card has to be issued by US bank" error, despite me having positive amazon.com gift balance with no need to use credit card. Fine so I went to amazon.co.uk, same track GBP 1.00 (notice the markup) and simil…

Belgium has similar problems. Frankly, the is the one place I want to see the EU actually take action and remove national sovereignty. This is supposed to be one marketplace so the EU needs to actually enforce some sort common market for digital goods. "You may not sell a product or service in one member state without the product or service being available to all member states."

Re: Music piracy is down but still very much in play

#28

Post by EnderMB »

I wonder how many people will pirate Taylor Swift's music since she's exclusively linked to Apple Music? I'm willing to bet a lot of Spotify users will dust off uTorrent (or whatever people are using for torrents nowadays) and just download the album she has restricted her fans from listening to legally.

It's all about ease of access, surely? The introduction of Apple Music is good for music, but if it means that Spotify and Apple Music are going to further fragment accessible libraries of music then piracy will probably rise.

Re: Music piracy is down but still very much in play

#29

Post by k-mcgrady »

circlefavshape wrote: post #15
yc1010 wrote: post #6

I am in Ireland, I wanted 1 single track (apparently there is no such thing as music shops or singles anymore, i feel old) So I went to Amazon.com found the track for $0.99 and went to pay, guess what "your credit card has to be issued by US bank" error, despite me having positive amazon.com gift balance with no need to use credit card. Fine so I went to amazon.co.uk, same track GBP 1.00 (notice the markup) and simil…

It's like Game of bloody Thrones (I'm in Ireland too). I don't have a TV, so there is no way for me to pay to watch an episode

>> "I don't have a TV"

You can't watch a TV show because you don't own a TV? /s sorry couldn't resist.

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