[Hidden-tech] Music downloads

[Ron Miller]

I want to make several points:

* There are many free downloads available on the Internet. This is not 
stealing. The artists provide these songs for free for exposure. Whether 
your kids who are looking for the latest and greatest would embrace this 
depends on the child and what kinds of music they like.

* Casual copying is not the issue record companies make it to be. Out 
and out pirating and reselling *is* an issue, but going after casual 
copiers and mix makers just doesn't make sense.

Remember, that sheet music publishers screamed when records were 
invented because the sheet music business would be suppressed, then the 
record companies screamed when radio developed because after all who 
would pay for a song, they could hear it for free. Last I heard the 
record companies and radio stations were still making money.

The movie people screamed that when vhs tape and later DVDs developed, 
nobody would go to the movies. Last time I checked the movie producers 
were doing very well.

Every time there is a technology shift, the powers that be scream and 
shout that they will be put out of business. Media companies have always 
suffered from a failure of imagination and today is no different. By 
embracing technology instead of fighting it, they have always found a 
way to make (even more) money. Movie producers often make more money 
from DVD sales, then they did from the original movie in the theaters.

* Cassette mixes are no different than CD mixes, quality aside, the 
concept is *exactly* the same. Copying is copying is copying. In the 70s 
when I was making copies of my friends albums on cassettes or making 
favorites cassettes, I was doing the same thing people do with today's 
technology. The Internet and computer make everything easier, but the 
concept is no different. But when you look at the numbers that were 
thrown around post-Frampton Comes Alive in the 70s, you know that the 
records companies thrived. Technology did not kill the record companies 
then and it has not hurt them today as much as they want you to believe.

* Finally, there are plenty of reasonably-priced legal outlets for 
downloading popular music, especially a song at a time. Record companies 
are finding once again that by embracing technology like iTunes and 
Rhapsody, they will find new revenue streams. The more things change...

Ron



Mary Malmros wrote:
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> 
> Fred Levine wrote:
>> I've also wrestled with the morality of letting my kids download for 
>> free. 
> 
> I wouldn't allow it.  Period, end of discussion.  There is more to right 
> and wrong than whether you get caught.
>