I think it’s really smart what they’re doing and all. I’m not the biggest Radiohead fan in the world, but I admit that they put out good stuff. It just crashes me to hear people say things like “It’s about time someone offered good music for free”.
The music industry has done a lot to piss people off, that I understand. It’s just the entitlement part that bugs me. So let me get this straight… If an artist doesn’t have a contract with some major label, and they go through creating music, paying someone to make it sound polished, and setting up distribution and …etc
you STILL don’t think you should buy their stuff to help them KEEP doing it
Buy Radiohead (like I did) Discbox or Download, Music has always been undervalued, and MP3s have only worsened that. A freaky number of people believe that all musicians are fantastically wealthy, and thus everyone should be entitled to music for free. They say things like “since there’s no physical product, there’s no cost to produce it, therefore I shouldn’t have to pay for it“. Or they justify having massive leeched MP3 collections by saying things like “nobody’s losing any money, because I wouldn’t have paid for any of it anyway“. And yet the same people will spend alot of money for designer clothes and other items which are made of materials that cost a fraction of what they sell for (when they can get them cheaper online). Amazing how some people will value something but regard another as worthless.
Only musicians who are successful for the long-term make big money, The bands who are huge for a year and then vanish make nothing. There are countless stories of who sold millions and ended up in debt after paying for their advances, promoters, lawyers, and labels. Not to mention how the entire industry is without integrity, and labels lie about how much they’ve sold or simply don’t care.
Getting back to the value perception: it still amazes me that a lot of people would pay out 50 JDs for DVD box sets of their favourite TV shows from Prime or Virgin megastores, which were originally broadcast for free on TV or will air on MBC4 sooner or later, and which they will watch exactly once or twice and then file them away. Yet paying 15 JDs for an album which they will listen to hundreds of times is a “ripoff”.
Viva La Wast El-Balad, center of piracy! My 5 Groosh, Stuff it!
Update: The Discbox is for 40 pounds, the Download is unlimited, pay as much as you think they worth!
I of course paid more 
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Comments ( 5 )
Music patriotic huh… well you do make sense in every single word in that post bas we are humans – we cannot resist the rush we get when we see or hear FREE- I mean, instead of buying a CD for 10 men Virgin when I can download it for free
good bargain bas yes these musicians suffer a lot but don’t forget buddy, if they are “incognito” o need publicity, nothing better than the internet “rip offs” as you call it to spread their music, if they are good, they’ll get the money later on – from consumer, by consumer & to consumer… ZAIN!
Gosh, every time I “steal” music online I will think of you & those poor musician !
chikapappi added these pithy words on
Oct 06 07 at
4:55 am
hmmmm!
its true, esp in the middle east piracy rate is high
I wont lie,sometimes i download one song or 2 from the net
but in the end i dont like it until i get the original stuff! plus im big fan of booklets and cd artwork (thanks to my brother)
it’s true musicians suffer for their music 2 get popular!
samia-chan added these pithy words on
Oct 06 07 at
5:09 am
as for me,the only way i try the mp3s is when i can’t wait for the release of the new album of the band that i love so i download the album then when it’s available i buy the cd for sure …coz to me the orignal cd is always the right way to consider urself u have that album,nothing like having the original music,and the other way i use the mp3 when i want to try a new band so that i will bring all their cds if i liked them…
and as for TV shows i am not a big fan of TV,so to me all those dvds r worthless …so it’s enough to watch them on tv,but sometimes people like to collect stuff so they can be happy with their collection
hisham saadah added these pithy words on
Oct 06 07 at
5:10 am
as far as this subject goes i would download something and not pay for it at first but then if i like it i’d buy it to support the band and their music mainly because i love it and want them to make more of it (i would also do that if im a big fan boy of it =D).
personally though, owning something physical is something i would prefer because i enjoy looking at the beautiful artwork and somehow i feel that its worth it because of that as well as having a medium with music on it..also sound quality tends to be better on that since its not as compressed — especially when it comes to buying records! (both artwork and sound quality)
captain flamingo added these pithy words on
Oct 06 07 at
7:44 am
I don’t know Moey, it’s a bit tricky. But one thing is for sure: Intellectual property in the Arab World (ditto for some other third-world countries) receives very little respect. I know this because the number of pirated DVD stores in Amman exceeds the number of stores that sell originals. Even books (specifically University textbooks) are copied. I can understand the DVDs part, but I still cannot grasp the books part.
However, having said that, why should people pay more to make somebody else richer? Especially when the price tag is relatively pricey in comparison to their income levels. I remember back when rock concerts were the thing in Amman, people used to find the JD5 tickets a bit pricey. So it’s all very relative.
Personally, if I like the artist’s or the band’s style good, I would definitely invest in buying their album. I’ve been collecting for bands like Radiohead and Massive Attack since ages, and I consider their CDs as very precious possessions. Why exactly should I buy a CD for Green Day when I hardly like them, and when I know that I would be making their greedy record labels more rich?
As for why some people buy boxed DVD sets, well, I am actually one of those people. I hate TV, so if I happen to hear about a good series, I go downtown and buy the season, if I like it, I buy the original. It’s all about perceptions, you may perceive something as a must-own item, while others might perceive things in a different way. Marketing is almost always about perceptions.
As for the Radiohead thing, I did set a fair price (I think). I gave it a little extra than how much a physical CD would cost. But I definitely can’t wait until the boxed edition is out.
Pheras Hilal added these pithy words on
Oct 06 07 at
4:54 pm
