Randomness: Downloading

I was going to write a post about the recent "rock is dead" crap. And then I got sidetracked and thought maybe I'd write about the X Factor and all it's associated bollocks. That brought me onto Biffy Clyro (who's track Many Of Horror got butchered by this year's X Factor winner) and that made me think about music downloading, legal or otherwise.

You see, I've now got a fair amount of Biffy Clyro in my library. Out of that, only 3 tracks were properly paid for. 4 tracks came from a free exclusive acoustic disc given away with Kerrang! last year and the rest I've taken from a friend. I am fiercely opposed to illegal downloading, so I should probably explain why I don't have a problem with sharing music with my friends. I know, if I give music to my friends, that at least I've paid for it. It's not like going on a file-sharing site and making it available for hundreds of people. That said, I was rather pissed off to find that most of the Biffy Clyro tracks my friend gave me are actually illegal downloads. My conscience kicked in and now I'm going to save up and buy them legally because I really don't like illegal downloads.

The reason I don't like illegal downloads is this. Quite simply, it's stealing. A lot of hard work goes into making music and so does a lot of money. What then, gives you the right to simply take it for free? An old advert they used to show in cinemas said "You wouldn't steal a computer, so why steal a movie?" or words to that effect. Surely the same applies to music? Just because it's not a physical entity (in the case of downloads), doesn't mean the same hard work hasn't gone into it.

Several people have said to me that they download illegally because they can't afford to buy it. What a load of shit. If you don't have the money to buy something, you don't steal it. You save up until you can afford it, just like you would with anything else.

I'm afraid I have to agree with all those people who have said that downloading has made music a disposable purchase. People hear a song, like it, download it illegally, listen a couple of times and never listen to it again. People expect to be able to get music free. And then when people like me point out to them that maybe the artist needs that money, they say they shouldn't be in it for the money. Let me say once again: a lot of money goes into making an album. You can't just magic it out of thin air. They have to make that money back somehow. And now, with the rise of illegal downloading, more money is actually made from touring and merch.

Ugh. In short, illegal downloading irritates the shit out of me, even more so when people try to justify it. And I'm going to leave it there, otherwise I'll just keep ranting.

Note to self: never ask a certain friend for music again. Just experienced another major problem with illegal downloads - the files aren't necessarily safe. Not sure what was wrong with it - no viruses found, could've been a corrupted file or something, but it crashed my laptop in exactly the same way said friend's laptop kept crashing last year. Hmm, coincidence much.