[Sean]

Originally Posted by mmm skyscraper

But without technology, your friend would never be able to record/release music anyway. Public performance and merchandise will be the only real way to make money in the future or we can go back to the time before recorded music where comissions were the way to make money.

I haven't got an issue with technology - I have an issue with selfish and thoughtless behaviour, which is exactly what stealing someone's music and making it available for free is. Not to mention the fact that theft is illegal whether you're stealing physical items from a store, or virtual items from the comfort of your own home.

And I completely disagree with your assertion that "public performance and merchandise will be the only real way to make money in the future". In fact, it's less that I disagree, and more that I believe it's literally impossible. How can you afford to tour in support of an album you can't afford to make in the first place? And how do you merchandise it if you've actually lost money just trying to get the music out there? No one's going to buy merchandise for a non-existant album. And why bother trying to make music when it's even harder now to make any kind of living at it than it was before thanks to the assholes of the world who feel it's their right to take your work and distribute it for free? As long as this mindset that "art is free, man" persists, art and artists will suffer.

I can only pursue music because I have a day job. Because despite having a few remixes officially released at this point, I haven't made a single penny off of them. Why? On one of them, I had a contract for a flat fee payment, but the label is going under thanks to people stealing the tracks, and has no money to pay as a direct result. On another, because I had a contract for a portion of profits from sales, but clearly sales don't happen when it's being passed around for free. And on the last, we'll see what happens since it's only just about to be released. But I have had to join the local musician's union, which over the past couple years has cost me a few hundred dollars. So basically, ever since I started getting professional work in the music industry, it's actually cost me money.

So how eager do you think I am to continue pursuing a career in music? And how many other amateur musicians do you think have been forced to abandon an attempt at having a career in music thanks to assholes who steal their work? People need to wake the hell up to the consequences of their actions. Sorry, but I feel very strongly about this after having seen exactly how file sharing has negatively affected truly talented and inspired artists. It stifles their talent and kills their inspiration. Well done, music fans!