Should music be given away free?

[acidsaturation]

By definition though the charts show how popular a record is with one particular subset of people. i.e. those who by a certain thing in a certain format...

[TechMouse]

Music should be whatever it's creators want it to be.

If people want to give it away free then great.

If people want to try and make a living out of it them great - just remember that the world doesn't owe you a living and if your stuff doesn't sell then that's nobody's fault.

Right now, I'd probably give stuff away for free, though I've sold stuff before.

[robin m]

If people want to try and make a living out of it them great - just remember that the world doesn't owe you a living and if your stuff doesn't sell then that's nobody's fault.

I totally agree with this... I find it a bit pointless when people lash out about failing to sell their records and start harping on about the evil of piracy and blaming the internet for all their troubles. It's the nature of the world at the moment that people expect to get music for free, like it or not - you can either work with it and try and find a way to package what you're selling that makes people actually want to part with their cash - or stop whingeing and go flip burgers to pay your rent. The playing field has changed - unlucky for some but that's evolution for ya.

I think the music industry (the larger picture, not techno so much) has set itself up for a much-deserved fall. It's only relatively recently that music changed from something that people made because they loved it and could occasionally scrape a living from to massive style-over-content marketing hype bollocks. Now that the internet and disposable technology have exploded and popped the bubble, given the insanely hyperinflated prices of mainstream music, it's not surprising that Joe Public has voted with his feet and chosen to pay nothing at all. Of a new £15 CD in Virgin or whatever how much were the production costs? How much did the artist get? Why on earth is a skint teenager going to pay the other £14 if they can download it for nowt? The RIAA and whoever can throw as much of a paddy as they like, they ate for free for a long time but the world's moved on and their niche has closed. If they're creative they'll find new ways to sell us things that we can't get for free, and actually make us want to open our wallets again - try developing with the times instead of doing things like dragging filesharers through the courts, trying to wind back the clock.

Ever since people came down from the trees they've been making music, simply because they want to. Those that enjoy making it will continue to make it, regardless of sales. For my part I will continue to spend every spare quid I can scrape together on vinyl, because I'm a dinosaur and I love the stupid things. Unfortunately though young people will continue to get younger and grow up in a more and more different world, there's no fighting that... it's adapt or die I'm afraid

[RDR]

By definition though the charts show how popular a record is with one particular subset of people. i.e. those who by a certain thing in a certain format...

yeah, of course... was just pointing it out.. its got resonance when coldplay's free giveaway does 2million downloads in a weekend eh????

[acidsaturation]

True...