The RIAA Armageddon has begun

"I haven't tried it for many years but when you go on a pirate website, you choose what you like; it downloads to the device of your choice and it will just work – and then when you have to jump through all these hoops [to buy legitimate content], the walls created are disincentives for people to buy," he said.

I'm sure I mentioned this before but I think in 2005 I bought a copy-protected CD that wouldn't play on my car stereo, got a refund, and downloaded and burned a copy that did work - from that moment on, it was like the world changed forever

copy-protected CDs are over, aren't they?

+1 to Whiney's "Steal all you can" / "Buy all you can afford" tweet

Gah, I can think of so many similar work-related stories. I contact a publicist, asking them nicely to send a record I'm assigned to review. They say yes and:

1) The album never arrives
2) The album arrives in unplayable form
3) The album arrives in unportable form
4) The album arrives is horrible streamable form.
5) They say they'll send me a copy after it streets

And all this time the album has already leaked and is proliferating. I've had publicists flat out tell me their hands are tied, and suggest I download!

xxp they are, and even some of the more restrictive mp3 download stuff is going away (Amazon is really good with this). but again it just emphasizes the RIAA's crusade to dick over their own customers the instant they think there's any potential for short-term benefit, not surprising that nobody wants to support them anymore

dude was not talking about copy protected cds, nor was he talking about promo copies from publicists. y'all are missing the point of the quote.

Not missing, ignoring to serve up a tangential anecdote.

Yeah, it's the same concept. I bought a Gordon Lightfoot tune on iTunes and just got frustrated by how tough it was to move the thing around (this was in 2004 I think). But I think if you look somewhere around post #1000 this has been discussed at length already

I am quite certain that the vast majority of people procuring illegal copies of albums are not doing so because of bogarting publicists, so I'm really not sure what the point of the anecdote is beyond presenting a more defensible "well it's okay for ME to do it" argument

"As I glanced at my screen, ten ultra-rare discs I would have killed for way back when were streaming down to my living room for free."

but they aren't discs they are MP3s or whatever and they probably don't sound as good as the discs. who wrote this thing?

so many boomers who come in my store are so proud to tell me how they spotify and itune and earbud and all that. dads always did love new gadgetry.

A few nights ago at home, after putting the kids to bed, I was parked in front of the computer sipping bourbon. My wife asked me what I was doing. I told her I was going record shopping. As I glanced at my screen, ten ultra-rare discs I would have killed for way back when were streaming down to my living room for free.

This dude really needs to be punched in the dick if we're all being honest.

and just got frustrated by how tough it was to move the thing around

uggggggggggggh these mp3 files are so heavy!

hahaha

they aren't discs they are MP3s or whatever and they probably don't sound as good as the discs. who wrote this thing?
--scott seward

I think for most people the differences in fidelity are minor.

kenny g is the guy that runs/puts all the content on ubuweb

Minor Infidelity..

My first vinyl was probably Ghostbusters soundtrack. My parents had a big enough collection and i was, like, 4.
My first tape was probably the Prince "Batman" soundtrack
My first CD was probably Weird Al's "Alapalooza"
First MP3 was i think '97, some Beatles Get Back sessions outtake

kenny g is the guy that runs/puts all the content on ubuweb

and plays a killer alto sax

soprano sax

i didn't show you guys my new store FAQ -

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My first:

Seven inch, Been such a long way home - Garnett Mimms (1968?)
LP (12") Doris Day sings with kids (approx title) (1966?)
12" Single Substitute - The Who (1976)
Cassette Siouxsie and the banshees "Kaleidoscope"
CD Single Darklands - Jesus and Mary Chain
CD Album Out of our Idiot - Elvis Costello
Minidisc Boo Radleys - Kingsize
8-track Sgt Pepper (at a boot sale)
and 78 for the going back some Party - Elvis (1972)

My first MP2 was a Tori Amos rarity downloaded from a BBS, her terrible cover of "Ring my bell" iirc
Audio fidelity was baaad

xp that's cute, Scott

FAQ OTM

:) scott

i bought a record i recorded recently because i couldn't be bothered to download it off slsk or find the power supply for the external hdd it lives on

That can happen..

7" - "Wouldn't it be nice" / "God only knows", mom's copy, age 5
Purchased 7" - local hardcore band Blake, 1999
12" - older brother's electronica band, 1996
LP - don't remember, probably around 1999
Cassette - Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams", age 6 or so; didn't buy cassettes otherwise
CD album - Bjork "Debut", Chopin "Nocturnes", Shostakovich 10th, (HMV Gift certificate, 1994)
CD single - Some Tori Amos thing, probably, 1997

Actually, I just bought an album I had owned and sold before recording it, purely to record it.

god, trying to remember my firsts...

7": either "It's A Sin" - PSB or "Head Over Heels" - Tears For Fears
12": either "Rent" - PSB, "Fight Like A Brave" - RHCP or "Seattle" - PiL
LP: The Jets
Cassette: Men Without Hats - Rhythm of Youth
CD Single: no idea, maybe "How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?" - PSB
CD Album: Doolittle - Pixies

The peak of my CD buying was 1999-2000, when Sam the Record Man was selling everything for $10; bought entire Bowie Ryko set, every XTC, tonnes of James Brown, Rolling Stones, and so on. Spent $30 on a Neu! bootleg in 1999. Last CD bought retail was Animal Collective 2CD re-issue in 2003.

I love the idea of DJP's record collection consisting of a single copy of The Jets

I can think of worse things in life than playing "Curiosity" on repeat for days

(which I did; in fact I made a C90 that was nothing but "Curiosity")

Records are fun!

I can think of few worse things than playing "Make It Real" on repeat

7": "Love Will Keep Us Together", "Black Superman", and "Rhinestone Cowboy" all at once
LP: Songs In The Key of Life
Cassette: 9 from Columbia House (Police, Def Leppard, Big Country, others)
CD Album: Alice Cooper, Pretties For You

xp: dude I never got the second Jets album for a reason

I could hear the "Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers" theme song for hours though.

I am quite certain that the vast majority of people procuring illegal copies of albums are not doing so because of bogarting publicists, so I'm really not sure what the point of the anecdote is beyond presenting a more defensible "well it's okay for ME to do it" argument

There was no point. Just a story.

However, here is an illegal downloading story with a point. I buy a CD. I pay full price. Years later, I rip it to my computer, then sell the CD/give it to a friend/throw it away/use it as a coaster. I then transfer the MP3 files to my iPod. Do I own those MP3s? I think I do. Let's assume I do. My computer harddrive crashes, and now the only copy of the music, which I paid for, is on my iPod. So far so good? I get a new harddrive/fix my computer and want my MP3s back on it. But the iPod makes this very difficult, and not possible at all without limitation-circumventing third party technology. So I illegally download a copy of a CD I had already paid for to get a copy of music I already own, just to put in a different place.

How many laws/user agreements have I broken? Probably a lot. How deep an ethical infraction is it? I don't know.

scott, i'm going to buy some ray lamontagne vinyl and send it to you.

if you were running Windows it actually should have been super easy to pull music off of it since the OS looks at it like a USB hard drive that you can navigate to and copy files off of

I get a new harddrive/fix my computer and want my MP3s back on it.

You can get around this by a) saving the CD b) making a back up copy of the Mp3 files.

"I haven't tried it for many years but when you go on a pirate website, you choose what you like; it downloads to the device of your choice and it will just work – and then when you have to jump through all these hoops [to buy legitimate content], the walls created are disincentives for people to buy," he said.

What's this pirate site that downloads straight to your record player?

also lol @ u for never backing up

I realize this is not what you're looking for Josh but there are many programs that can rip straight from an iPod.

If you buy a disc and sell it, I dunno how "ethical" it is to then d/l the disc. It feels like a loophole and again the artist is getting screwed since used discs are bad for sales. But how is it different from accidentally breaking the disc? I dunno. My Dad was always pissed that he had to buy four copies of "Brain Salad Surgery" in his life. I sympathize with that. Just another example of how the economics of intellectual property is just one big grey area.

I think that getting rid of physical media *in general* helps solve a lot of this - pay a fee for some MP3s/Flacs that you can do whatever you want with, you can re-download anytime, and for which you can get remastered/bonus tracked versions cheaper

Non-"Mr. Puppy's Sing-A-Long Jamboree!" firsts:

7" - Amii Stewart - "Knock On Wood"/"When You Are Beautiful"
10" - Luscious Jackson - "Here"
LP - Beach Boys - Love You
Cassette - Cats Original Broadway Cast Recording
Cassingle - Wilson Phillips - "Impulsive"
CD - Massive Attack - Protection
CD single - Ani DiFranco - "Joyful Girl"
MP3 - Tyrannosaurus Rex - "Lofty Skies"

xpost There are lots of could-have-dones, but for lots of reasons I didn't. I could have saved the CD, but the point of making a copy is that I shouldn't have to. Which boils down to the backup quagmire: how many backups? How many backups of backups? Regardless, the point stands: my iPod (or Apple) made it difficult for me to listen to music I purchased where I wanted to listen to it. This is no longer a problem, since they've more recently made streaming from various locations very easy, but a few years ago it was a problem for me. It is an example of how the "convenience" of illegal downloading can be defended, at least in this instance.

And honestly, I've had plenty of backups, and backups of backups, all go bad on me, for reasons beyond my control. I have a lot of (legally paid for) music that lives on one old 160GB iPod.

Used CDs, I can always defend selling. Everyone benefits. The record industry and artist got its sale, which is all it can expect from a single CD. I get money to spend on more music. The store gets total profit over selling my used CD, which it can then use to bolster inventory of new stuff. And some buyer gets a deal on music he or she might have otherwise never bought.

Right, but as far as the artist is concerned, two people bought the CD but he only got paid for one. Hence why I thought the RIAA should be all over downloading.

As far as the backups go - that's why I love having the 160 GB iPod, when you do get a crash it's easy to just restore from there

what you're talking about is really an insurance question/issue

basically, should your digital assets be placed under the same type of protection as your physical assets?

if you had an LP or CD that you copied onto cassette or CD-R for your car stereo and your house burned down, destroying the LP/CD, your home owner's insurance would allow you to replace the original album; none of that is currently there with digital-only music, including stuff that you've bought in digital form, and is the #1 reason why I still purchase CDs whenever possible