DVDizzy Forum

With "File Sharing" under the microscope of debate, thoughts come to my mind that I`d like to share with you. First of all- Before Britney Spears (an example) became successful, she was a "nobody". Then she made a recording, a record company put it out & promoted it, teens liked what they heard on the radio, they then went out & bought her CD (Simplified for space). Let`s now take another young singer & apply some changes. This new singer makes a recording. She then takes her recording & uploads it to a website designed to promote new acts. While visiting this site, I see that I can play a 30 second sample of her song.If I like what I hear, I can select to download the song for $1.00. I am also offered an option to buy her entire "ten song" collection download for only $5.00 or be directed to where I can purchase the actual CD online or at my local music store. The cost would be greatly reduced , the promotion would be instantly worldwide & distribution would be immediate. Next- When I was a child, I had a little portable cassette recorder & I would record the songs I liked when they came on the radio & eventually I`d have a 90 minute collection of my songs.The sound quality of the tape wasn`t the greatest but it was good enough until I was able to go to the store to buy the record. "File Sharers" are doing the same thing. In today`s world though, They are getting their songs from the internet, they are recording them onto their hard drive, the sound quality is not the greatest because they`re compressed to mp3 format but it`s good enough until they can get the CD at their local store. I know there are abusers of this technology & that is where the music industry should focus their efforts. But not at the cost of one of the best promotional tools on the internet that we call "File Sharing". & last (for now)- I can go to a store & buy a spindle of 50 blank CD`s for less than $20.00 (less than .40 per disc). The music industry gets blank CD`s for far less (they use a lot more than 50).Even if they were paying the price I pay, how can they see to charge what they do for their CD releases? What do you think? Thank you.---Bill

Makes sense to me - while there is rampant downloading without purchasing anything that exists...I think for a lot of young people, it simply allows them to hear more music than the would have been able to afford. I still believe that many (if not most) people will still buy a CD if they really like it. There's no real substitute for that. As a preview tool - it's incomparable. When else could people preview the non-big title songs of an album?

If I was smart enough to do it, I would be the one that would start the website for new artists. I (personally) would not want to make any money from the site due to my love of music. Instead, I'd like it to be a completely free service to remove the record companies from their seats of power & give the power back to the creative people who submit their created works. The record companies had their day in the sun when vinyl & tape was the "in" thing & they took advantage of that by controlling how we would get our favorite songs (sometimes having to get various artists compilations containing only one or two good songs). We are now in a time where the average pc user can record their music & mix it digitally & promote it on the world wide web far far quicker than what the record companies could do back then. Yes, the record companies do have a wealth of historic recordings & they can still release that material as they see fit, but today's music has a new connection to the people. It's an internet connection & we must start using it! Thank You.---Bill