Audio CD-R's versus regular CD-R's?

Dbamac,

"Wrong side of the grass"? I love it! Reminds me of when I worked on a golf course in my college days..we had to lay a bunch of sod and I worked alongside a guy who mumbled "green side up, green side up" all day.

Of course you're right in pointing out that once the artist is dead they really don't need much money. In general any royalty payments go to the estate (family), and maybe those monthly checks make a huge difference in their lives? That's not that important to me but thought I'd mention it all the same.

In any event there is a perception that the music companies use their marketing muscle to reap obscene profits, and to some extent that's true. On the other hand they also use some of their profit to take risks and invest in new bands. Like many businesses the overwhelming majority of new acts are a commercial failure, but fortunately for us many are artistic successes. As much as I love Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin I do crave new music and by buying CD's I help fund the launch of new bands. I could list dozens of new bands that have come on the scene in the last ten years, many on indy labels, so not everything that gets pressed is a "formula band". Steal the music and the funds will dry up and we'll be left listening to "Dark Side of the Moon" over and over and over again (many feel there are worse things to do but we'll leave that for another thread).

Thanks guys for your advice. And Jeff, I see your point about buying cd's to support the artists. I do want to say (in my defense) that just in the past few years alone, I've bought hundreds of cd's and spent thousands of dollars in various record stores. So, if I copy a few from a friend every now and then I'm not going to feel guilty about it.

It's not illegal to make analog copies, only digital. And making digital copies is a felony? Wow, sort of like hurting someone's dog is a felony while attacking the owner is a misdemeanor. Or so I've heard.

Cdc, I could of course be wrong, but I have a very hard time believing (in fact, I don't believe) that it could even be a misdemeanor, let alone a felony, to make a digital copy. However, maybe you meant to say *selling* one, which could be.

Lets assume you buy the CD-R for US$0.50 and and the original is $15, the difference is like 30 to 1. Do you think you have a right to ask for a quality comparable to the original when you are actually paying 1/30th of the cost? Even if it is half as good it is still a bargain!

Those who just depend on copies usually do not have a high end system to be able to tell a difference, so that should answer you question.

Quadophile