Thursday, August 09, 2007

Six reasons to BUY music that you like but have downloaded for free.

Six reasons to BUY music that you like but have "downloaded for free".

1-Regardless of your initial intention to "try out" a piece of music, you've moved on from trying something to regularly consuming it. (Like going to a market offering free samples of food items on toothpicks and liking the free sample enough to deciding to eat several meals a week based on a trip to the free sample table.)

2-If you like only one song out of the ten on an album you now have a chance to vote for that direction with your wallet in a way you couldn't 5 years ago. Musician are very interested to know which of the songs people like and the surest measure is where they will show that support with 99 cents. (If you really like it when the blues band did a 10 minute prog rock epic you should let them know so that they don't just move on to just writing more standard blues.)

3-With bands that aren't on major labels it is no longer true that the band won't see most of the money from a record. Today when you buy 2 or three songs from any site like Fuzz or iTunes the band is making the same amount as they made when the entire CD was sold on a major for $15. So yes, your 99 cents makes a difference for them. (Just think of it as buying the band a 6 pack of beer when you buy a whole album of ten songs. Who wouldn't want to buy a band they like a few beerz.)

4-Don't pretend you're doing anything but stealing. You're taking something unearned and enjoying the benefits of it without paying the cost. (Just because it's a file on a computer doesn't mean it doesn't have an owner. If a hacker stole your bank card information by making a copy of a file on your computer I don't think you'd argue that he had a right to do so since you've still got that file on your machine and all he did  was made a copy of it when he's emptied your bank account.)

5-It's 99 cents.

Really.

Just 99 cents.

In Miami you'll spend $10 to buy one beer at a bar on South Beach. And that's after you've paid $15 to get in and $15 to park. (I think 99 cents for a song you love is a true bargain in every way.)

6-Don't be a dick. If the music collection you love so much hasn't been paid for you are a dick. Or possibly an asshole. Is that what you want to be? (Make it uncool for your friends to be thieves.)

-Tooker
Marqui Adora