I thought about waiting to post this til after I read Against Intellectual Monopoly, but from what I’ve read on the subject, and what’s on my mind, I decided to go ahead and post.
I use a program called Soulseek to download music. It’s a peer to peer network file sharing program. I have around 80 GB’s of mainly music acquired using this program. Over half of the music I have cannot be bought in stores.
My taste in music is late 70’s and 80’s punk, specifically from the UK, and at least 75% of the music from that time from that genre has not been repressed or reissued, so it can become extremely hard to come by. Some of my favorite bands are out of print. Generally, the only way to come across this music is to either have the original vinyl or tape, possibly getting it off of Ebay or some other source, or downloading through a program like Soulseek or off a blogspot such as this one. A reference to my musical taste is found here and here.
I’ve come across people in bands and people who own shops who are against downloading music, because they believe that people will stop buying their music, and they will lose business.
I find this false. I’ve come across way more music than before while downloading (more genres, artist), and bands can get their music across a larger audience if there is a free flow of music. If you like the band then you can pay to see them tour and buy their albums. You can come acquainted with more music more easily and quickly.
One argument against downloading music, and I’m aiming this more specifically towards my own preference, is that the bands don’t get the money they should from downloading instead of buying. Well, that doesn’t hold up too well with bands from over 20 years ago who no longer exist, and their music is no longer in circulation. The only way to obtain is to buy the original copy at a higher price or download. Again, they can reach a larger and newer audience through downloading or simply people sharing the music through peer to peer programs. Even with the music I download I still try to buy the original vinyl. Also, even if you buy the original copy, the band is not getting paid, but the actual owner of that copy.
The punk culture itself is still largely obscure, and a lot of the bands from the 80’s remain unknown. I still come across bands from certain genres and countries that I thought I have searched completely. While some people who do have access to records (older people with higher paying jobs than lets say a teenager) or record shop owners are against downloading, they are keeping the lesser known bands hidden to an awaiting audience.
When it comes do ownership of the files I find this is where intellectual property rights applies more. If you own it, and you acquired it through the voluntary sharing of the files through a program, you can’t say it’s stolen. You can make countless copies of one file, and share them all, at no cost. You can spread music (or any file) at an exponential rate.
I find it rather odd today when I come across people who are into rare and hard to find punk and want to keep it locked away. A lot of the bands from the 80’s put “pay no more than…” on the front cover albums to keep shop owners from over charging, and now you can pay from a few dollars to a couple hundred for out of print records due to their rarity.
I want to know people’s thoughts on downloading music or any file for that matter and it’s application to property rights.
