OK, I know this is a big topic on the boards and I also heard a discussion about this over the radio this morning. There was a study done about how downloading mp3s and filesharing is not affecting record sales as much as it is helping it. They said that radio killed record sales and the record companies went into panic back then, the same way they are now about mp3s. CD sales have dropped significantly from the 80's and early 90's compared to the late 90's and early 2000's. The study showed that the main reasons for the drop was due to people already replacing tapes, and vinyls for CDs when CDs first hit the market and every album was reproduced onto CDs. Another reason is USED music being recycled. (Which I think hurt the industry the hardest). Many stores buy used albums and resell those albums.

With all that said, I ask you guys now. Does mp3s actually help promote an album for you to go out and buy the album? Or do you think because of mp3s, you don't need to spend money anymore cause you can just download and burn to a cd? Before you go ahead with the answer, please check if you are one of the following types below:

1) Someone who will not buy a music CD no matter how much you like the song or the group.

2) Someone who will buy a music CD because you like the song and there were no other means of getting it. (mp3s, copying from original cd, copying from radio, etc)

3) Someone who will buy a music CD because you like the song.


I am more of the #1 type and my girlfriend is the #3 type. I have yet to find too many #2 types, (besides the occassional, you hear a song that blows your mind and you would do anything to get it). So in a sense I think mp3s actually help the record business more than it hurts. I find this true with trance especially since most radio stations in my area, Los Angeles, CA do not play trance. Unless you go to a party and hear a DJ spin something sick, it will usually go without notice. And also most of the songs you can download are usually cut from a set.

So first of all I will post a poll to see if most people are type #1, #2, #3, or other and I also ask you guys, (and I know some of you guys are in the industry), do you think filesharing is beneficial for record industries or not?

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can't add a poll for some reason >.<

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i think im a #2 really ... my sorta music i listen to is not very accessable from the UK my record collection etc consists of nearly all imports.. and further still.. not only do i listen to imports./. but more underground music.. hardcore/gabba/ and other hard forms of music.. hard acid trance/ and underground hard trance ... if i see sumthing in my local record shop that takes me by suprise... it dos happen occaisionally, like twhen HMV will just get CD in completel;y randomly, sumthing most ppl clearly dont know what it i, and i cant beleive they hacve this import instore.. ill buy it. if yo know what i mean.

also, the majority of artist complaining about theyre record sales are the ones making the fortune already i guess. i think youd have to be stupid to think that filesharing wont help your career. i mean yeah ok, downloading the mp3 of a track will mean an artist wont recieve as much profits... but what is a profit margin if people from anything further afield than 20 miles from your homebase havnt got a clue who you are?

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Bring it on down son, so you can get done, I got more styles than the miles to the sun,
Ninety three million five thousand flows, and heres one more for the HOoOoOoOOO'S!!!

#3, though i only buy the ones i can afford/really like

first thing you should have in mind on these kinds of filesharing threads is that what happens with the mainstream scene isn't exactly what happens with the underground scenes

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sempre contra a corrente do jogo

i studied this on my music business course, and yes we found that mp3's are not the main factor for a drop in CD sales. with that said, it is a factor none the less.

i am not really any of those types above... i just don't buy cd's. all my music is on vinyl, which i have to buy in order for me to play. i never bother downloading mp3's now, as it gets tiresome on a 56k modem. but i will say this: i used to download shit loads of mp3's, and when i started to dj, if i saw a tune on vinyl that i had on mp3, i bought it. and the same still goes.. every now and again, my mate gives me a cd full of mp3's. if i like tracks on there i will go and buy them on vinyl if possible.

unfortunatly, its not only the big labels that get hit hard. even though more people are getting into djing than ever before, most of the money in EDM is in the licensing for compilations, not vinyl sales. as more and more compilation making people make more commercialised bollocks compilations (i.e. without the good, more underground stuff) it makes it hard for the smaller compilations to compete in the market. take for example MoS. 4 years ago, they would have licensed tracks catered more towards the clubbing population, and thus these are tracks which you just wouldn't find in the cd singles section of most mainstream music shops. nowadays, MoS release the most gash utter bollocks, with many of the singles being found in the mainstream cd singles section, and in turn not getting the money distributed to the more underground/non commercial/small independant labels.

because of distribution companies acting twats, the prices of CD's are sky high. this is THE DISTRIBUTOR'S FAULT NOT THE LABEL. labels lose out because they have to sell their tracks to distributors for shit money. they then in turn hike up the price to the shops, which in turn have to hike up the price of the cd's in the shop. this has a knock-on effect of people not wanting to buy cd's because they are too pricey, but the reason the EDM scene is slowly getting smaller and smaller (apart from the uber-gash commercial shit mentioned previously) is because of this.

so basically, hunt out those non-bollocks good compilations AND BUY THEM NOT DOWNLOAD THEM (unless you are buying the download, thats ok )!!!

/end rant

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MUGGETS

#3. I buy what I find here in Belgium

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listening to music with your heart... pure energy... you can feel . in the air . on your skin . in your soul

quote:

Originally posted by tu_face i am not really any of those types above... i just don't buy cd's. all my music is on vinyl, which i have to buy in order for me to play. i never bother downloading mp3's now, as it gets tiresome on a 56k modem. but i will say this: i used to download shit loads of mp3's, and when i started to dj, if i saw a tune on vinyl that i had on mp3, i bought it. and the same still goes.. every now and again, my mate gives me a cd full of mp3's. if i like tracks on there i will go and buy them on vinyl if possible.

same here, even though i do still download quite a bit, i still spend as much money as i can afford on new music (quite often more than i can afford! ) once i graduate, get a job and can afford to buy all my music ill stop downloading altogether

#1 I think, I wouldn't/couldn't buy as much as I download, so it's not really taking away from the artists. I buy what I can, which unfortunately isn't much.

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listen to everyone, then disregard it.

Excellent topic. I don't have the time to discuss now though.

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UnauthorizedTranceAddict Youtube Channel where I post older mixes from the TA DJ Promotion Forum

My mixes:

Still up:1:2

Down:3:4:5

Filesharing HAS to have an impact on record sales. Maybe the impact isn't that great right now, but I think we can all admit filesharing is only gaining popularity... maybe expenentially.


I mean come on ... I hardly buy CDs anymore. I have close to 35 electronic albums and 27 of them are completely downloaded. I usually only buy albums when I can't get all the songs in MP3.


Good or bad there is nothing that can be done about this. It will continue and only get worse. Eventually organizations like the RIAA will collapse and the world will see a new era of music. Completely free, readily available, and the distribution lines go ARTIST -> AUDIANCE.


The number of multi-million billion gazillion dollar artists will decrease because musicians will have to make most of their money from live performances. Music will revert back to pure art form because people only in it for money and fame will be weeded out.

It'll make the world a better place.


SO GO DOWNLOAD MORE SONGS AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE REVOLUTION!

I used to buy a heap of stuff but am unemployed for over a year now and therefore hardly buy anything. The stuff I buy on vinyl nowadays is the material I really like and I must admit that nowadays that's not much anyways.

I download loads of stuff, including very rare older material which would be hard to find anywhere nowadays. I do feel it is (more) justified in that case.

I'm not into buying compilations how much I may like them. As per reasons stated by tu_face.

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Blah, too lazy to keep updating this... How about a real signature? Meh, too lazy for that as well...

think the whole mp3 thing is quite cool
I listen to what I want now, and don't have things I don't want to listen to forced into my ears.
I still buy a lot of records and albums, especially if a track is just too damn good