Answering Jason Calacanis
Jason Calacanis posts an ethical question on his blog : He's already pre-ordered Bob Dylan's new CD, so is it alright for him to download it for free. Putting aside why Jason can't just burn the CD to his computer or iPod when he gets it (he can't be that impatient can he?) I think the answer here is pretty clearly: absolutely its alright for him to do so.
In my mind the only compelling argument against free (see:illegal) downloading is that it takes money out of the pockets of the artists. Now in many cases the big name artists, your Rolling Stones, 50 Cent, Blink 182, etc., etc., don't need anymore money; they've got plenty already. But its still, in a real sense, stealing and I can see how that might hurt smaller, less established artists. In Jason's case though this doesn't apply: he's already buying Mr. Dylan's CD. Dylan is still getting the money that's supposed to go to him, I think the saying "No harm, no foul" captures things quite nicely. In this case Dylan's not getting harmed, so who cares?
On a side note I should point out that must CDs these days don't have 12 good songs on them. Yeah, Paris Hilton's new single is kinda catchy (and yes I am ashamed to say that) but does anyone believe her whole CD is good? Thank God you can buy single songs now through iTunes (and other places) but if the recording industry is really worried about CD sales dropping maybe they should focus more of their attention on putting out quality material. Just a thought.
[tags]Jason Calacanis, Music, Ethics, Bob Dylan, Paris Hilton[/tags]
I download music on a try and buy base really, if I like it I will buy it if I dont I wont.
Oh and the whole stealing thing is bull, artists dont really need millions (same with record exs.) and if I download to try and buy, its no different then taking a car for a test drive, if they didnt put out a good product they dont DESERVE to make money, if they did I will buy it, plus I just like to have the whole CD to own for some reason.