"Every little college kid, every freshly-scrubbed little kid's face should have been sued off the face of the earth. They should have taken their houses and cars and nipped it right there in the beginning." (multi-millionaire & lousy musician Gene Simmons of KISS)
Personally, I never liked KISS, and I really don't like Gene Simmons. I saw him on several talk shows, and he is one of the most egotistical assholes I've ever seen. I really think KISS was a terrible band, if you strictly go by their music. Of course, the make-up, dolls, etc...was unique, but the music stunk! In fact, I think if they didn't have that make-up schtick, no one would have bought their albums. An absolutely horrible band, musically.
Here's what some other artists think about downloading from this NYTimes article File-Sharing Battle Leaves Musicians Caught in Middle :
"Moby suggested that the music companies treat users of file-sharing services like fans instead of criminals. "How can a 14-year-old who has an allowance of $5 a week feel bad about downloading music produced by multimillionaire musicians and greedy record companies""
"Serj Tankian of the hard-rock band System of a Down, for example, said he thought that the free exchange of songs by his band and others online was healthy for music fans, but objected when that free exchange included unfinished studio recordings. "
My personal opinion, is that CD's are too expensive and they often skip, and the jewel cases they come in break. I always loved vinyl record albums. The artwork was larger, you got full-size posters, lyrics you could read, gatefold covers, etc... In fact, I still buy vinyl record albums at record shows and I play record albums much more than CD's, even today.
A solution I thought of, would be to charge $5 for a CD with a lifetime guarantee that you could even-exchange it on the spot if it skipped, cracked, etc... I know that I always think twice about buying a $20 CD, but if they were $5, I'd buy 4 CD's everytime I walked past a record store! And I know for a fact, that it costs pennies to make a CD, because I have a friend who worked as a plant manager at Specialty Records in Scranton for years. $20 is outrageous and, like I said, they're not indestructible...they skip all the time! At least for me.
It's also a fact that musicians make more money touring than from CD sales. Who's getting all the money from those CD sales? Not the artists! Probably the companies making the CD's! I also think the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has alienated fans by suing them for downloading. Let me get this straight: they're suing their fans!!! Way to go, on the "good business" front! On many occassions I've bought a CD because I've downloaded a song from the CD and liked the song. I think in that case downloading caused a CD sale, if I'm correct.
Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno have started MUDDA (Magnificent Union of Digitally Downloading Artist) to give musicians an alternative to the RIAA/CD/record business.
There may be a more sinister angle to the RIAA's tactic of suing individuals thousands of dollars for downloading.
"Suppose these RIAA lawsuites are a red herring, and they are not ultimately trying to discourage the infringing downloads of RIAA members music. What if this is all about stopping consumers from downloading legitimate, freely distributable music? The RIAA member labels are the big losers in a world without Big Media gatekeepers, so perhaps all this nonsense is really cover for them to associate all downloading of digital music with crime, corruption and badness. " (click here)
As of July 2006, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sued over 20,000 music fans for file sharing in just under three years. In 2004, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) joined this misguided, anti-consumer crusade. Filing lawsuits against anonymous "Doe" defendants, the RIAA and MPAA seek to uncover the identities of P2P users and force them to pay thousands of dollars in settlements. Many innocent individuals are being caught in the crossfire. While there is no way to know exactly what the RIAA and MPAA are going to do or who they are going to sue, users of publicly-accessible P2P networks can take the following steps to reduce their chances of being sued: (click here)
