The popular opinion among pirates is that downloading music hurts no one. I've heard a variety of justifications for this, but the most popular opinion is that the free publicity (which presumably leads to album sales) counteracts lost sales. I'm no expert, but you're sure as fucking hell less of an expert than I am. What I will say is that, if this is true, it's true only for small bands and independent labels. The big boys can afford to buy as much publicity as they want. So they're right, it is hurting their sales. It's not hurting their sales by the number of copies downloaded times the full sticker price of the album, but it's hurting them nonetheless.
Don't mistake this for a bad thing. The big labels would have you believe that without them, there would be no music. Listen, bud. There was music before you came along, and there will be music long after you are laid to rest. What we will see the death of is McMusicians, singers and bands that everyone has heard of and that the most gullible of us consider to be the epitome of good music. You know who I'm talking about.
What will be left without the big labels? Musicians that aren't in the business of making millions of dollars. Record labels that are employed by the musicians, not the other way around. A world where the music industry is easier to break into because people are more open-minded about music they haven't heard on the radio at least 15 times. A world without the fat, corrupt husk that pretends to serve the needs of musicians and music-lovers alike.
The best bit of all: you can live in that world today. Listen to internet radio and find new bands. Go anywhere with live music, be it a concert, bar, club, coffee shop, or street corner. Buy independent records from independent record stores. Learn to play an instrument yourself! The labels aren't afraid of downloaders. They're afraid we'll realize that we don't need them. Downloading music won't hurt them as much as the realization that you never need to buy anything from them, ever again.
Naturally, all of the sentiments above can be directly applied to the film industry as well. Notice how movies are all shit these days? Try independent cinema. Trust me, there are still movies being made that don't suck.
Okay, that's all for now. I'll see you on Monday, or better yet, OnionRings will. I'll see if I can make him do an article next time.
A brief update: apologies to anyone that was expecting this to be a pun and for me to cover command-line stuff. I think OnionRings is indeed planning to get his series going again for Monday, and I'll try to get a little further ahead on my posting as well.
