Dammaging an Industry

WHY?

I used to do just what some of you advocate here. Yes, I downloaded a few tracks from Napster and the others. Yes, I said a few tracks. Well, I went out and bought the CD due to the crappy quality of the download anyway. Due to my stupidity and the rest of you out there, condoning the ripping of CDs and streams are killing the artists, record and broadcast industry. Due to this stupidity, our broadcast costs have almost tripled due to the fees we have to pay and now. For those that of you that don’t have a clue, we now have someone that should have no rights collecting fees, and that someone is the Library of Congress also known as CARP. Again, I repeat due to my stupidity in the beginning and the rest of you stateside or offshore that probably will never figure this out are screwing yourselves, the artists, record labels, and the broadcast industry. Why do you think most of your favorite radio stations disappeared from streaming on the internet?  Well, for those that can’t add 1+1 without stamping their foot four times, it’s due to the skyrocketing fees that are being charged now to broadcasters. My fees now are in excess of 72 to 100 K a year due to this entire BS ripping (stealing) of music.

 I guess the psychological reason behind this could be.
(1) They charge too much for CDs.
(2) I can’t buy my favorite music in the country where I live, so I’ll steal it.
(3) Nah, Nah, I have more music then you do.
(4) Cool, look how much music I can get on this hard drive.
(5) Ah Ha Ha Ha, I’m getting back at the record labels and stores for charging too much for a CD.
(6) Last but not least, kleptomania, (Obsessive impulse to steal regardless of economic need. An unconscious symbolic value associated with a stolen item.)

Now I will address the above.
(1) In case you have not noticed, the prices have come down almost 50 to 60 percent on most CDs. For those still trying to grasp this, the cost in the late 80s and early 90s for a CD was varied from 18 to 27 dollars, the cost is now ranging from 9 dollars to as high as 16 dollars. Ok, some new released CDs are on an average of 18 dollars.
(2) Well I am sincerely sorry to hear that, but not about you stealing. There are groups in some countries that are willing to help get various items into an oppressed country, which include music, and for free. If oppression is not the problem, someone can still probably help you.
(3) Having more then someone else, be happy with what you already have and stop trying to compete, there is really no gain in this type of attitude. Life is more then material things.
(4) Try placing some educational things on the hard drive or how about using the computer to make legal money with some type of legal business.  Do something constructive not destructive with your computer. How about becoming an Internet Broadcaster playing legal content so you can experience the costs that Broadcasters now have to pay due to what some of you are doing to the industry.
(5) Who are you really getting back at? Not the artists, the record labels, or the stores. Your just hurting yourself by possibly causing the record labels and stores to start raising the prices up again to the above prices due to losses in revenue. By the way, in case you forgot a couple of the retailers, were sued for overcharging for there high priced sales of CDs. You see. They were caught and they had a large class action suit payout. Some of us even got a check or coupon in the mail. So there you have it, they are being watched so why have the bother of taking it into your own hands, when someone else is doing the job for us. The actions of a few retailers do not include the artists, the record industry.
(6) Get help. There are doctors and clinics out there to help you with this disease of the mind. There is even help free in some cases.
Now I will add one more thing to this list that does not correspond with anything above. This may be in the category for the lazy folk not for those that are oppressed. Get a job, and for the under aged going on 30 in their minds. Earn an allowance by doing some work for your Mom Or Dad. Overall, earn the money to by the CD.

OK. Do some of you get the idea? I hope so. What you are doing here is destroying the music industry and destroying broadcasters like myself. What did I do to you as a broadcaster? What did the individual artist do to you? Before you answer these two questions, give it some mature thought. Here is some help for your thought process. If it were not for artists, sharing their works with you and not storing them away for their own use and families use, you would not have the music you are taking advantage of now. It takes time to write and compose a song or piece of music. If it were not for the record label’s work, recording the music and distributing your favorite music, you would not have the music you are taking advantage of now. For the record, the artist has to pay for his or her music to be placed on that round plastic disk and distribution of that disc. If it were not for us Broadcasters, you would not even know what artists are out there in the genre of music you listening too and, you would not have the music you are taking advantage of now.

 I have over 300 CDs in my personal collection, which I use for my broadcast station. Every one of these CDs is paid for out of my own pocket. I am still buying music for my listeners and my listening pleasure. In addition, for the days of my stupidity of downloading, I ended up buying the CD anyway. What a waist of time that was downloading one song form an artist’s CD when the whole CD is filled with quality sounding tracks from that artist that are just as good or better then the download track. I belong to a CD resale company that has excellent prices. They are a bit thin on some artists and record labels that I would like to buy, so I go elsewhere to purchase what I need.
By the way 1+1=2    (1, the artist) + (1, the record label) = (2, the sum of only you and I) not the sum of 4, you, me and the people that you are uploading to or downloading your music from.

 
The music industry is a terrible thing to waist. Support an Artist.

Thanks for reading this.
Your local Broadcaster