I'm not really one for downloading music...musicians need to eat too.
But if I already own it on vinyl then I feel that as I've paid for it once then I can download it without any moral qualms. Just saves me the effort it would take to record from my record player to the pc.
Am I in the right here? Or am I, as my wife tried to tell me earlier, morally bankrupt for doing this. 😈 Or 😇
I've done this with no qualms whatsoever.
Technically not legal to rip it from the vinyl either but morally it's a long way down the naughty list.
I'd say fill yer boots. Was it morally wrong to tape LPs to use in the car?
I've only ever bought vinyl, didn't buy into CDs or iTunes. I copied a few LPs to MP3 back in the dial up days when it took like a day to download an album on Limewire, but soon sacked it off when broadband arrived.
What moral issue? Unless you’re looking for pirated free downloads, in which case then yes, I personally have an issue, but it’s not unusual these days to buy a vinyl album and get a code for a free download; Amazon has been doing this for cd’s and vinyl for a while, and it makes perfect sense. I used to borrow albums and tape them, usually when it was an album I was unsure about, if I really liked it I’d keep the tape to use in the car, and then buy the album, either on vinyl or, after ‘82, on CD, because vinyl quality turned to shit from then on.
Now, I’ll often buy a download of a single track, CD singles are almost impossible to find now, then, if I decide I like the album enough, either buy it as a download, or, more often, as a CD.
I’m not really one for downloading music…musicians need to eat too.
But if I already own it on vinyl then I feel that as I’ve paid for it once then I can download it without any moral qualms. Just saves me the effort it would take to record from my record player to the pc.
Am I in the right here? Or am I, as my wife tried to tell me earlier, morally bankrupt for doing this. 😈 Or 😇
It’s possible what your wife is thinking of is streaming. I have a real problem with tha, because the amounts paid to artists are, quite frankly, ludicrous, an artist gets somewhere around 0.006p/stream, 1.5million streams will earn less than £1000, whereas a million selling single would be a nice little earner. Streaming, in its current format, is morally bankrupt.
Have a read through this:
https://pitchfork.com/features/oped/how-to-be-a-responsible-music-fan-in-the-age-of-streaming/
Morally I'd have a hard time seeing any wrong in it. No doubt someone will be along soon comparing us to Pol Pot.
it’s not unusual these days to buy a vinyl album and get a code for a free download
Well this is obviously fine.
However, a lot of my vinyl was bought many moons ago, or secondhand from eBay/discogs/record fairs/etc. so In these cases I'm finding what you'd class as a 'pirated' source.
Its fine IMO. DRM is bullshit.
an artist gets somewhere around 0.006p/stream, 1.5million streams will earn less than £1000, whereas a million selling single would be a nice little earner.
Emmm... are you sure it’s not $0.006 per stream? Which would earn you $9K for 1.5M streams which isn’t going to make you rich BUT a single selling a million copies is presumably played much more than 1.5 times each?
MTV Cribs, no qualms about downloading/streaming.
Only issue would be if torrenting (if that's still a thing) as you actively share and distribute them even during the download.
if you already own it then downloading it for free is fine legally.
As poah said. It was explained to me before by a record shop owner that if you already own it on one format, then downloading it in another format is fine.
As long as you don't obtain it by torrenting...
Doesn’t have to be, there’s iTunes and other sources. I have a couple of albums I found as free downloads, one of them by a band called Dark Star, the released a bunch of ep’s and one album, called 20:20 Sound, then they peaked it in, sadly. Then I read somewhere they’d recorded an album calle ‘Zuric’, which the record company decided not to release, so someone released it onto the interwebz as a free download. It’s not the final mix, it never got that far, but it’s a damn good album for all that, and I have no problem with having a copy, it’s been given away.
Well these days legally you’re not buying the format but the rights to the music thanks to iTunes. Artists are earning more from streaming these days due to the accessibility of it.... but artists generally get paid a salary as more often than not they don’t write the music or make it, they’re just a pretty face and commercially friendly sounding voice. The days of proper bands where they write and perform their own music are gone in most cases, the artists are just employees of a commercial venture, and salaries are much lower as a result and their capacity to have longevity in their careers and earn good money are virtually non existent. Having said all that I am against illegal streaming. It’s theft pure and simply no matter how you cut it. Digital albums are cheap as are CD’s, so i’d rather just buy another copy of the album or record the one I have.
I like to think that in some small way I support artists by buying their music ,so I buy CDs (yeah ,hello granddad ) and pay for downloads even if I did once have the vinyl /tape somewhere.
Making music is a tough job and it makes me a bit sad that a lot of stuff gets ripped off and new artists rely on merchandise at gigs and tickets sales to fund their next project.
"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything"
🙂
Well these days legally you’re not buying the format but the rights to the music thanks to iTunes. Artists are earning more from streaming these days due to the accessibility of it…. but artists generally get paid a salary as more often than not they don’t write the music or make it, they’re just a pretty face and commercially friendly sounding voice. The days of proper bands where they write and perform their own music are gone in most cases, the artists are just employees of a commercial venture, and salaries are much lower as a result and their capacity to have longevity in their careers and earn good money are virtually non existent.
Are we playing the opposites game now? Are are you generalising for the top fraction of a percentile of "artists" and ignoring everyone else? Because otherwise that's just a load of shite.
The days of proper bands where they write and perform their own music are gone in most cases, the artists are just employees of a commercial venture, and salaries are much lower as a result and their capacity to have longevity in their careers and earn good money are virtually non existent.
Wow! You couldn't be more wrong.
I must be morally wrong.
I'm a paid Spotify user. I also Torrent albums which I own on CD but can't find on Spotify. I've paid £16 for Tool's Ænima from HMV years ago. As far as I'm concerned I'm having the mp3s. Just happens that torrent downloading them is quick than walking down the garden to the garage, moving a load of junk to root through the suitcases of CDs. I also no longer have a laptop with a optical drive.
I sleep guilt free at night.
My god you thief !! Turn yourself in now, before you end up even further down the path of criminality.
I must be morally wrong.I’m a paid Spotify user. I also Torrent albums which I own on CD but can’t find on Spotify. I’ve paid £16 for Tool’s Ænima from HMV years ago. As far as I’m concerned I’m having the mp3s. Just happens that torrent downloading them is quick than walking down the garden to the garage, moving a load of junk to root through the suitcases of CDs. I also no longer have a laptop with a optical drive.
I sleep guilt free at night.
Me too, pretty much the same situation.
However, what we have previously paid for is an out of date version of something that we still want.
It is basically the same as what we now want, but the current version is far more convenient.
What we should probably be doing, is paying for the version we actually want now, rather than “stealing” it just because we previously paid for something similar that is no longer suitable for the way we want to use it.
But I generally don’t. 😔
As lots have said above, I'd have no problems downloading a copy of what I already own. But then I'm one of those people that find streaming the likes of Spotify fine from a moral perspective. That's mainly as I 1: pay a subscription for it and 2: if I find an artist I like with a good album I'll buy that separately in CD as I'm a luddite who still likes to have the physical form on me. Also means if I bin Spotify or they go bust I still have the music I like to play as I please. The artist gets a fee for me auditioning it and then they get an album sale too, can't see is that's not a win for them.
musicians need to eat too.
However, a lot of my vinyl was bought many moons ago, or secondhand from eBay/discogs/record fairs/etc
Ahem, I hate to point out the obvious but by buying second hand you're still not sending any dosh to the creator. How do you sleep at night you monster :-p
Personally it wouldn't bother me, sharing copies with your mates (or the internet) is different to personal use, after all, you could just take a turntable in the car with you, I mean it'd be massively inconvenient but it's the same result, you listening to the music.
I am currently removing all the DRM from the films I bought from iTunes, because I want to play them through a different media player on my TV.
Its a bit of a ball-ache for be able to do be able to watch films I've already bought..... drm IS total horseshit, and I can't believe it's allowed.
I could just go and torrent the nonDRM versions (it would be quicker and easier) - but I got out of that habit a few years ago. If you are going to torrent, just make sure you have a VPN or dns blocker.
if you already own it then downloading it for free is fine legally
Nope. Morally is another matter but legally (in UK) it's definitely not. It's a different audio version, format even. It could also be a different master which makes it a different release.
Else you could say you owned a film on VHS therefore you're entitled to a pirate download of the latest HD remaster from Blu Ray, 4K even. Which you're not.
Ed Shearan made over £8m from Spotify streams of Shape of You.