Should music be given away free?

[Jay Pace]

Nice topic

Should it be given away? Not without the artists permission or knowledge, just not right otherwise.

Does it do any harm? Debatable.
Yes, if talented people decide that they can no longer make music full time and give up as a result of having their meagre revenues diluted away into nothing, then the scene and music in general is worse off. Artists used to get by on the patronage of wealthy bods who had money and respect for art. Nowadays everyone has money but seemingly little respect.

But, facing stark realities... until it gets easier to buy then steal, I can't see it changing.

I don't understand pricing either. A vinyl 4 track EP sells for 6 quid. It typically requires an artist, a label, a distributor, a mastering engineer, a production house, printing, delivery, shipping and storage

A 4 track WAV EP costs more than the vinyl version. Why? How is that justified?
A 4 track 320k mp3 EP costs about the same as a vinyl. Something seems to be wrong here....

allofmp3 was something like the 3rd most popular site in the UK before it shut down and reopened as another identical clone site. People were buying music. People were paying lots of cash to buy music. It was easier than stealing and nobody minded about the price.

I think music should cost money. It costs money to make it, and if it has value a price isn't unreasonable.

But I think the pricing models are all wrong, and need to be in line with what people are prepared to pay.

So long as its quicker, cheaper, easier and relatively risk free the majority of people are going to keep on stealing. Sites like allofmp3 actually brought people stealing music back into the fold. Formed soulseekers were seemingly happy to shell out a $3-5 dollars for an album, fast download, no waiting with all album art etc included. Shame the sites involved trousered all the money and didn't bother sharing the cash with the people who made the product in the first place.

Vinyl should cost money. Its a physical product and has a ton of costs attached. But I can't understand why MP3s cost as much as they do.

Especially stupid things like mp3s costing a pound in the UK that cost a dollar in the US. No excuse for crap like that.