Quote:
Originally Posted by stonetools
It is now as legal and convenient to purchase music as anyone could possibly want. Has that decreased the level of music piracy.? Not one iota.
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Where can I buy:
Paul Parrish's album, "Walking in the Forest of My Mind"
Jim Croce's "Not Just Another Pretty Foot"
The Fugs' "Ramses II Is Dead, My Love"
Firebird's multi-artist album "Fever Season"
There's a big difference between "the vast majority of commercially-produced music from the last two decades is currently available for sale digitally for $.99/song" and "as much music
as anyone could possibly want is legitimately and conveniently available."
A lot of the music I want is not. A lot of the music people not in the US want, is not.
The idea that "if your tastes run to obscure music, you should just go without until/unless the copyright owners decide you should have a way to listen to it digitally" is not a useful response to "I can just get it from a torrent." (Two of the things I listed above are readily available; the other two aren't.) The common response is--and is going to remain--"if they don't want my money for it, how am I hurting anyone by getting a copy for free?"
Arguments against torrents (etc.) that directly impact sales need to be separated from arguments that also encompass filesharing of copylocked or neglected works, where the owners don't care about the market or can't figure out how to exploit it. Those may also be illegal--but the argument "you're taking money from the artist!" isn't going to fly. "You're infringing on the recording company's right to delay release until they've decided the market is ready" is just not as compelling.
If that were a tiny niche of digital music being exchanged, it could be brushed aside, but "songs with no legit digital version available" is not a small category. It's an even
bigger category for ebooks.