Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Shauk
I've never even heard of oink, and fyi, napster sucked, Audiogalaxy was always the best, thats they they got shut down, revamped and comercialized before napster did.
|
Never used Audiogalaxy, though I've heard OiNK compared to it quite a bit as well.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Derwood
you guys act like the RIAA or whoever should happily watch their property be illegally distributed
|
There are a few issues here. First, the punishment that goes along with something like this does not fit the crime. Second, this particular case is being filled with a lot of disinformation, such as claims that users had to pay for subscriptions in order to participate, etc. It'd be like saying that TFP users were required to pay, and then using that to charge Halx with something.
The other issue is a lot more general, and there's a lot more room for debate. The music industry has greatly devalued its commodity, and now it's suffering the consequences. Music is simply not very valuable to the average person anymore: it's everywhere, and most of what's everywhere is crap anyway. That's where sites like OiNK come in: a community with far more selection than can be found in most other places, in high quality files (not the crap that's on the iTMS), and without the high costs associated with experimenting with other artists.
And what about those artists anyway? Obviously they deserve to benefit from their work, but CD sales aren't exactly the most lucrative option. It's better to have exposure through a site like OiNK and have a larger fanbase who will go to your concerts and buy your t-shirts than it is to be a nobody, playing only in local pubs. This is a young business model, and it's only developing slowly because the behemoth that is the current music industry is stifling it as much as possible...because the future of the music business does not include them.
One thing that has been consistent as I've talked with OiNK members lately is that they talk about what a great resource it was and how they discovered new artists and a new appreciation for music through the site. And they all pretty much agree: they'd be willing to pay $25/month for legal use of a site like OiNK, with a good community, a
vast collection, and high quality audio available through the generosity and sharing of its members. Even if the fee were $15/month, that's the equivalent of every user buying 12 CDs a year...which is more than most people I know bought even before downloading became big.
The future of music as a business does not include the big labels that exist right now, and there's no reason it CAN'T include DRM-free, high quality digital music. And such a business model will allow for more cultural diversity and a greater benefit to artists
as a whole than the current one ever did. (Note that it
does mean that there will be less gigantic superstars.) It's starting: Trent Reznor, Radiohead, Madonna...the old model will fight as long as it can, and the new model will only be fully realized once it reaches critical mass. As a musician and music lover, I find this to be a tumultuous but exciting time.