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Free music.
Feb. 20th, 2009 09:16 amRecently, I've gotten in conversations with a few friends (including ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alaskanmermaid and vayleen) about trading/downloading music for free. Ethical, non-ethical? There are all sorts of opinions out there ranging from 'why the hell not' to people who've gotten rid of anything they didn't pay for out of guilt. That said, free channels of acquiring music have lead to me buying more music in the last year than I ever would have otherwise. A lot of it is from Pandora (free customizable internet radio - if you're not familiar, get that way: http://www.pandora.com) which faced some heat last year because various factions have been pushing for the taxes and royalty costs on that sort of thing to be a lot higher. But being able to hear new artists in a way that's related to what I like listening to, and get a feel for different albums, makes me very willing to pop open Amazon.com and purchase some music (I buy their MP3 albums; I prefer this to iTunes because they're unlocked but the price is comparable). Right now, I'm downloading a Kings of Leon album based on one guy I kindof know mentioning it, which caused me to snag a tune off of alaskanmermaid's computer which I think she downloaded from a fan mix somewhere. I posted this to a comment in her journal at some point, but, really the way I feel about distributing music for free? If an artist reaches more ears and receives more playtime, they're much more likely to be able to continue making a living from their art in this day and age, where access to information of all varieties is as fast and as cheap as it is. So if you're feeling weird about your free music, support the artists you love monetarily where possible (be it buying albums, t-shirts, concert tickets, or whatever), and share, because chances are all those other people you're sharing with are going to eventually do the same. Yes, I know, there are always people out there who won't. But they won't regardless.
Lastly, anyone have any recommendations for me? I like all sorts of things. We should trade.
alaskanmermaid and vayleen) about trading/downloading music for free. Ethical, non-ethical? There are all sorts of opinions out there ranging from 'why the hell not' to people who've gotten rid of anything they didn't pay for out of guilt. That said, free channels of acquiring music have lead to me buying more music in the last year than I ever would have otherwise. A lot of it is from Pandora (free customizable internet radio - if you're not familiar, get that way: http://www.pandora.com) which faced some heat last year because various factions have been pushing for the taxes and royalty costs on that sort of thing to be a lot higher. But being able to hear new artists in a way that's related to what I like listening to, and get a feel for different albums, makes me very willing to pop open Amazon.com and purchase some music (I buy their MP3 albums; I prefer this to iTunes because they're unlocked but the price is comparable). Right now, I'm downloading a Kings of Leon album based on one guy I kindof know mentioning it, which caused me to snag a tune off of alaskanmermaid's computer which I think she downloaded from a fan mix somewhere. I posted this to a comment in her journal at some point, but, really the way I feel about distributing music for free? If an artist reaches more ears and receives more playtime, they're much more likely to be able to continue making a living from their art in this day and age, where access to information of all varieties is as fast and as cheap as it is. So if you're feeling weird about your free music, support the artists you love monetarily where possible (be it buying albums, t-shirts, concert tickets, or whatever), and share, because chances are all those other people you're sharing with are going to eventually do the same. Yes, I know, there are always people out there who won't. But they won't regardless. Lastly, anyone have any recommendations for me? I like all sorts of things. We should trade.
