does anyone think that file sharing is ripping the bands off? i would agree that it is a good way to hear new bands, and if you like them, you can go see them at gigs and buy merchandise, support them that way. alot of ppl download stuff and then buy it anyway. extreme metal is huge now, so some would agree that labels arent affected by file sharing, but it will have some sort of knock on effect..any thoughts???

have you tried shareaza? thats meant to be really good for obscure stuff

Originally posted by: inpropagation

cds are too god damned expensive,

you're an ass hole

how much are cd's in the US? over here, in the uk, you pay upto £13 ebay rules! thats where i get all my shit from now

I download music a decent amount. I try to buy as many cds as I can, but I am a college student with no real income, so I can't buy as much as I'd like. If something really stands out to me, I'll buy it, but I unfortunately can't buy everything.

thats the problem...the scene is so big now its impossible to keep up and buy everything

File Sharing is good if the band is small, it gives them the exposure that radio denies. But if the band is big, then it's robbing them of sales, because they've already saturated the market.

Personally, I think it's a matter of personal ethics. If I like a band enough to download their entire CD, then I'm gonna go out and buy it instead.

File sharing is at it's best when you can get all of the b-sides and rare tracks that are impossible to find and really expensive to get. There is lots of content out there that I could never find if it wasn't for Soulseek.

Records on vinyl used to cost $8 or $9 per album. When cds came out, the labels doubled that price to $15 - $20 per album (sometimes as much as $25). If you over-charge you drive down demand... if people can find a way around spending that much, they will.

Finally, labels only have themselves to blame. They abused their talent and took advantage of their consumers. And now it is their technology that is destroying them. The irony certainly isn't lost on me.

well dont most of bands money come from other merchandise? if you get signed you have to sell a certain amount thats in the contract before you start to make any money off of record sales. and to get rich off of a single or two is extremely hard because you have to have staying power. if i had a band i wouldnt care if people dl my stuff because there are always people that are gonna want to buy instead of dl. plus i wouldnt be in it totally for the money. sure, hell yeah i want money, but being in a successful band youre most likely gonna have more money than the average joe anyway...i just gotta make sure how to budget my money and not go fucking crazy like some of these stars do.

if I go to HMV the cd are between 20-35$ CAN but if I go to Profusion (a metal store) they are 12-20$ CAN.

click here for link

^ yeah, it completely depends on where you go. HMV is a fucking ripoff. Poor selection and way over-priced. I can't believe they're still around.

A&B Sound in Vancouver is great, as is Zulu Records (the indie music shop) downtown.

but even $5 is more than free, and that's the challenge the music industry is facing.

Originally posted by: ♥§HEEP on DRUG§♥

I normally download shit to hear it, and then I'll go out and buy it. And anyway, the only death metal I can find on p2p sharing programs is more popular shit like relapse and century media... so i normally don't feel too guilty about it.

it's so hard to find obscure music on the internet.

yea Soulseek does not provide a wide variety of obscure bands.

there was a survey in Canada not too long ago and most people think music is too expensive. I know everyone want to pay less on everything but still, if most cd were 12$ or under I'd be really happy.

you guys should try shareaza for file sharing..youll get the stuff you're after on there

you guys should try shareaza for file sharing..youll get the stuff you're after on there

Originally posted by: grief_of_emerald666

you guys should try shareaza for file sharing..youll get the stuff you're after on there

You do realize Shareaza is a P2P *client*, not a protocol, a network or a server? It can connect to a bunch of networks/protocols (EDonkey, Gnutella(2) & Torrents), but so can other clients.