Feelings on Napster?

Hmmm. I never thought of myself as a thief before. But maybe I'm wrong there. You obviously take the hardline capitalist viewpoint that all art is also a commodity and therefore should be regulated. I agree to maintaining an artists right to make money on his art should he wish. There is also a point to which the urge to control and make money begins to affect the quantity and diversity of non commercial art. No doubt that something created to reflect a person's/group's perspective and a product meant to appeal to masses of people will probably look very different. Just look at Hollywood, every film with the same proven formula. Not by chance for sure. Thus there is a need for a forum to give wider access to music and art, beyond the control of labels, corporations, etc. The internet is this media. To control Napster would set a precedent to control all the Internet, turning it into one giant business forum. The answer is somewhere in between. But surely you must see that there is more to the question than just "property rights." If not, oh well...By the way, it's not illegal to use Napster...so I'm not a thief yet.

I think that we all knew the court order (today) would happen, and it seems to me that Napster will eventually have to pay some kind of royalties, whether the music is coming "from them", or whether it comes from their "users". Either way, the so-called "free sharing of music" will not be allowed to go on by the RIAA, someone will have to pay something for what gets exchanged there, because it is all too easy for the music industry's primary "youth market" to get a bunch of music that they deem "as good as CD" for free, and how can that not affect profit margins? If they really like it as good (and usually they like it BETTER than CD), and they get it for free, WHY WOULD THEY PAY FULL RETAIL FOR A CD? THEY WOULDN'T, AND THEY DON'T. Interview a bunch of 14 or 15 year olds, and ask them how much of their music is bought on CD, and then ask how much did they get for free off the net. This is a no-brainer.........Yes, I've heard Napster's claims that more adults use them, than teenagers, but THERE'S NO WAY THIS HOLDS WATER EITHER....think about it. The bul (like 90%) of the music industry's income is youth driven, this cannot be denied or refuted.

This issue is not all that far beyond my youth, when eager young people would wait for their favorite song to be played by the "hottest" radio station, and they would record it to tape. I realize that with Napster this goes to a new art, being able to pick and choose the song and when you get to copy it. I am not sure the concept is any different though. Just for the record, I am neither for or against any of you availing yourself of the content of this new media. I, for one have never downloaded a single item from Napster. But then again, I never recorded a single song from the radio either, I simply went out and bought what I liked, after I heard it. Difficult to know what is right, for the consumer and the industry.

All interesting comments.I remember when Beatles White came out.Several fm stations played it in its intirety,as they did with new Eagles and the like.And there was Joe Benson's 7th day:7 albums uninterrupted.Those artists aren't out recycling cans or cardboard. I made copys on casette,and eventually bought everything I liked. MP3 is the 00's casette from the 70's

I'm of two minds as well, the artists are due their fair share, but there has always been ways to copy music and hasn't crippled the industry. The arguement can be made that there has never been "CD quality" copies available, but being an audiophile, MP3 and it's lossy compression techniques don't interest me much. Trying before you buy strikes me a fair. A recent case in point, the new Tragically Hip album was inadvertently released on the 'net and downloaded by many people before it was available through the traditional record stores (Music @ Work, good album). I listened to it for a few weeks, and then was one of the first to buy the production CD and attend their concert to enjoy their music. Here's where the whole music industry is at fault: the artist receives anywhere between $1 to $2.50 (max) for each CD sold, the rest is kept by the record company. I'd be happy to pay Steve Winwood $5 for a complete download of his next album, available through his secure site. He writes, performs, and produces his own work in his own studio, why should I pay $15 for the CD? The music industry argues they make significant investment in developing new bands that never make them money, but in my opinion they are pushing "cookie cutter" bands moulded to their own success formulas. As an example, I'd prefer to see Winwood double his income than pay record companies to keep their A&R guys well stocked in coke and Porsches. In order to take advantage of the music on the 'net requires a certain level of financial investment, either a DSL, Cable modem, or satellite link to download these huge files, and a CD burner to make the copies. In any event, targeting Napster does not address the fundamental issue of value-delivery of quality musci. The record companies have profited far too much for far too long...