[Hidden-tech] Music downloads vs cassette

[Robert Heller]

At Sat, 30 Dec 2006 13:41:44 -0500 Mitch Anthony <mitch at element22.com> wrote:

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> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great point about the difference between downloads and cassette copying.
> 
> I am a serious collector of music. (3000 vinyl albums, as many cds  
> and 500 gigs of mp3s.  Back in the day I was a serious maker of mix  
> tapes. Today I'm a serious maker of compilations.
> 
> But here's the difference: back when we copied from vinyl (great  
> fidelity) to tape (lousy fidelity and a lot of background noise) we  
> were stepping down in fidelity.  The result?  Study after study  
> showed that tapers and tape sharers bought more records and CDs than  
> anyone else.  During that time sales of records (then CDs) grew year  
> after year.  Because if I heard a song on tape I liked I wanted it  
> for my collection.  But I wanted it in the best quality format  
> available,  and that wasn't tape. So I'd here it on tape then go buy  
> the record.

In the case of vinyl to tape there is the fact that vinyl does not work
on a moving platform, so copying from vinyl to tape allowed for
listening in the car or while jogging.

Also, everytime you play a vinyl record there is some (small) loss --
draging the neddle down that groove scrapes some material off. 
Transfering to tape helps preserve the vinyl.

> 
> But with mp3s there is NO loss of quality as you "share" (save the  
> loss suffered when converted to mp3 the first time, but most stereo  
> systems aren't good enough to detect the difference). The result is  
> obvious.  If you share an mp3 with me and I want it, I've got it.  I  
> have no incentive to buy it. Hence the decline of Cd sales year after  
> year.

What *I* do is convert from CDs to MP3s and save the MP3s on my laptop
(it has a sound card but no CD-ROM drive, my desk top has a CD-ROM, but
no sound card -- both machines have EtherNet).  I can have a large
collection of MP3s on my laptop and have it play them all in random
order and not have to deal with changing CDs every 10-12 cuts.  But I
still buy the CDs.  And if the hard drive in my laptop fails, I can
re-create the MP3s from my CD collection.  In this case, the audio CDs
are the backup media.

> 
> No easy answers here, but I agree with Mr. Mallet.mac.  The artist  
> must be considered when trading digital files.
> 
> P.S.  The record industry is another story.  They are getting their  
> own after decades of unfair and exploitive business practices.
> 

Right.  Most of the retail price of CDs never gets anywhere near the
artist's pockets -- it is going to corporate suits many of whom have
the musical ability of a stone.

> 
> 
> 
> On Dec 30, 2006, at 12:46 PM, Kelley Slater wrote:
> 
> > gee I am beginning to feel a bit guilty here for recommending  
> > limewire. Way back when, before file sharing upset the powers that  
> > be,(and cold hard cash was such a motivator) kids would make  
> > cassettes, does any one remember ever seeing a dual cassette player  
> > in the 70's or 80's?? Now that I see all the forwards from hidden  
> > tech users stating that file sharing sends a 'bad message' I am  
> > wondering, as I sat as a youth recording songs from the radio, were  
> > my parents considered sending a bad message?And what about the  
> > stereo companies, pushing the cassette industry, or for that matter  
> > blank VCRs to 'never miss a program again'? Nobody seems to  
> > remember those things lately.
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mitch Anthony"  
> > <mitch at element22.com>
> > To: "Hidden Tech" <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>
> > Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2006 9:46 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] Music downloads
> >
> >
> >>   ** The author of this post was a Good Dobee.
> >>   ** You too can help the group
> >>   ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
> >>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
> >>
> >>
> >> I agree that it sends a bad message to a kid that "music is  
> >> free".   In our house my daughter set up an ITunes account using  
> >> my credit  card which we reconcile against her allowance.  It's  
> >> been fascinating  watching the growth of her very judiciously  
> >> selected collection.
> >>
> >> Another great option is emusic.com.  This subscription service   
> >> charges $10 a month for up to 40 song downloads.  Not only is it   
> >> much cheaper than ITunes, it also has many more independent and   
> >> international artists. And you can sleep at night knowing that   
> >> appropriate royalties have been paid to the artists...
> >>
> >>
> >> On Dec 29, 2006, at 8:17 PM, mallets at mac.com wrote:
> >>
> >>>   ** The author of this post was a Good Dobee.
> >>>   ** You too can help the group
> >>>   ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
> >>>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Just Pay the 99 cents and let the people who wrote the music   
> >>> collect their meager royalty
> >>>     stealing intellectual property is not moral
> >>> On Dec 29, 2006, at 3:35 PM, DAVID F. FARKAS wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>   ** The author of this post was a Good Dobee.
> >>>>   ** You too can help the group
> >>>>   ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
> >>>>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> My daughter wants to download MP3 songs free (of course) for  
> >>>> her  iPod and is Googling like crazy. We found file sharing  
> >>>> which feels  like the old Napster debacle and some download  
> >>>> sites from old  names like Kaaza.
> >>>>
> >>>> I'm hoping someone on the list knows which of the many options  
> >>>> are  safe and easy.
> >>>>
> >>>> Thanx.
> >>>> Merry Everything and Happy Always
> >>>> David
> >>>>
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Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933
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