How the Music Industry forced a former top customer to become a "pirate"

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

http://consumerist.com/consumer/drm/how-i-became-a-music-pirate-245644.php

I thought I was the music industry's dream consumer.

As a 40 year old male with a long-standing passion for "all things music," I've spent a bundle on my collection. In college most of my waking hours were spent wandering around record stores, swap meets and record conventions, much to the dismay of the women I was ostensibly dating. Then again, the fact that I also worked as a DJ at the radio station and hung out with obsessive record collector types probably didn't help matters in the romance department.

Then while in grad school in the 1990s, I became busy replacing many of my vinyl releases with CD's. At the same time, entrepreneurial music industry types began to exploit the market for out-of-print recordings by reissuing long out-of-print records on CD formats, which of course I instantly snapped up.

So here I sit circa 2007 with a house filled with over 1000 vinyl records and around 800 CD's. If you figure about $12 per recording as an accurate average, that's somewhere around $20,000. Not a bad chunk of change for the music business, I say. (more at link)

By the way, the activities he ends up confessing to aren't even illegal, even now. He isn't commiting copyright violation (aka "piracy"):

Since I've resigned myself not to waste any more time with the music business, I suppose I'll have to resort to purchasing used CD's & records, or having my friends occasionally make me a copy of one of their newer CD's.

Call it piracy. Call it whatever you want. But at least I tried. I gave you several chances and you failed miserably at every level.

[ThomCat]

1. Absolutely right.

The music industry is getting so mercenary in telling us how and where we can listen to our music that they are their own worst enemy. They're offending their customer base. If anything, they're encouraging the escallation of the very behavior they are against.

I only own about 300 CDs, not the thousand that this guy has, but I'm in agreement with him. I won't waste my time or money buying music in multiple formats just because corporate executives don't think they've squeezed enough money out of people.

Wouldn't it be nice if businesses respected their customers?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. There are some products I'd love top buy but they won't sell.

Imagine: a very nice box with a book about Elvis and all of his recordings in MP3 in one DVD-ROM. I'd buy that.

[ThomCat]

4. Of course, if they sold you that then how would they ever

sell you another Elvis CD or download? Their business model forbids it.

[Dr Fate]

5. A book? LOL! You'll take your flimsy 3 page brochure/liner notes & brittle gem case and LIKE IT!!!

They spent a whole 15 cents making that and THIS is the appreciation you give them in return??

;)

[skygazer]

3. What a ridiculous situation

I don't know whether to :rofl: or :banghead: Talk about an industry shooting itself in the foot.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. Kick for the Copyright Sturmtruppen -nt

[bridgit]

7. not in the least, that's not the half of it, it's not vinyl v. CD per se...

it's shitty music i.e. Madonna = 1, maybe 2 tunes worth listening to *on* a recording, vinyl or CD, out of what? 12, 13, 14 cuts for upward of 17 bucks new?

not going to happen/certainly less likely unless you're fabulously wealthy and don't give a shit, enter the ability to burn your own CD's and cherry pick the nonsense out; enter the realm of the pirate :thumbsup:

[Coventina]

11. Hey now! Watch what you say about my girl!!

:spank:

"Erotica" was the only Madonna album bad enough to match your description!

[bridgit]

13. Ray Of Light is the only one that doesn't...

[vi5]

8. That could have been me writing that....

At one point I had 600 vinyl records, 1,000 cassettes, and 1,500 cd's. Now I've sold everything but the CD's which have all been ripped to mp3 format on my computer with the cd's themselves boxed up in my basement.

I love having all of the music I've ever ownedin one spot at my fingertips. And the music industry hates that. I stopped buying new cd's long ago unless they were on independent labels in which case I would buy them new. Otherwise major label cd's were purchased only if I could find them used (which ebay and half.com made much easier for me). The major label music industry hasn't gotten a penny from me in well over a decade and until they change their business model and start becoming more artist friendly will not get a penny more.

[wildhorses]

9. sounds like the perfect date to me--

is my geeky showing:blush:

[slj0101]

10. Sad thing is,

either way, the artist gets screwed. They only make "points" on every album sold, which equates to pennies per dollar. I feel for the up-and-comer or the indie artist trying to make it in the business.

There is so much wrong with the recording industry today, that I could go on for several paragraphs. could it be, though, that record companies care more about units and demographics than the content of the music itself? I know it's been like that for years, but I think it's come to a head now.

[datasuspect]

12. nothing is new under the sun

[alarimer]

14. and they have just put the nail in the coffin of internet radio too

The new fee structure is way too much for internet radio stations to survive and they made it retroactive to 2006!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

15. Are there stations from abroad to listen to? -nt

[alarimer]

17. I would hope so

And Canada, probably. I don't know where Pandora is based. I think KCRW and stations like that will also have a very hard time unless the ruling is changed in Congress.

[PVnRT]

16. As critical as that article is about Windows

I would note that iTunes is just as bad about what it will and won't play.

[asthmaticeog]

18. True, but with important differences.

1) They're totally upfront about their DRM only working on iPod players, it's not buried in fine print.

2) It's SUPER easy to burn a CD from iTunes.

Disclaimer: I don't have an iPod and doubt I ever will, so I'm not posting as an apologist. DRM is bullshit.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

19. Oh, no. You spoke good of Apple.

How long til we start to see posts that have no fixed residence?