Why Do You Download Files?
 

This is for my paper.. and I almost forgot to put it in. I need a lot of clicks on the poll so I can put it in my paper, No worries though, as I know you guys are willing to help me out so i can post on here on M/W when i used to have the class (its due wednesday.. and its my last day) Thanx a bunch guys!!!!

NOTICE!!!!
First, you can pick as many as you agree with.
Second, If I left out a major one, please let me know so that I can add it in.
Third, This is a forum, feel free to explain why.
(Now to write my paper while this poll takes affect :))

My vote pretty much says it all. 99% of songs created by the music industry is crap. That 1% is normally something like one song on one cd. Hell if I am going to pay 13 bucks for one song. When an album comes out that I like all or most of the album I normally buy it. Most of the time that happens though it is an independent anyway so the 5 get no money from me :)

My ethics have always been good. but when it comes to intellectual property, I really can't see any reason to pay for a piece of software that I might use for up to a month, and then never use again. furthermore, as with music, I generally dont do more than get songs that I can already hear on the radio, or Internet radio. how is me downloading them any different from recording them myself? Some things I might end up buying to play on the internet. In which case, Id already pirated it and just needed the CD key to play. Some people will argue with me till their blue in the face about how its wrong, and in the end, I just nod at them and say "thats a very interesting opinion," and then I walk away. ;)

cuz it's free and there is no way in hell i'll shell out 50 bucks for a game.

too poor for that

I don't have any money, and surely those nice guys at the record company don't want me to miss out on the awesome music purely because I can't afford it? I'm sure they'd understand :p

I like to create eclectic music CD's. I like a single from one band and I don't want to buy the whole CD to hear one song.

Oops... sorry, I hit vote before I realized I could choose more than one... add one vote to:'
I want just one song from a CD.. Where are all the singles
and
I can't remember the name of the Band.. Better to DL it first, so that I don't waste time searching the store's archives.
and
Its free, but I wouldn't mind paying for a DL program like Kazaa to keep me legal.

I know dling music and such is illegal, but on my budget, I need to know if I'm going to like the music before I shell out the cash.

As to the ones I forgot to vote for, I have found myself in those situations multiple times, and the ability to search for and download the songs I was looking for beat any alternatives available.

I know I didn't add this one, and i should have... But seeing responses (keep giving them :)).... I can tell you all would probably agree that

"I Download Songs because they're too expensive! Lower the Prices!!!"

I'm not going to add it, just reply and tell me if you all basically agree as a whole or not (as i'm getting the vibe that you do)

The main thing is I download things which I would never have paid for in the first place. If something is good enough that I would buy it were that the only option, then I buy it. The rest of things - things that if there were no other way to obtain it I would say "oh well" and live without ever having it - I probably download.

Being a musician I can tell you that I have absolutely no problem downloading music for 2 main reasons. The first is that, like I said, if I don't pay for it, it's 99% unlikely that I wouldn't have even if that were the only way to get it. The second is that, with the exception of major acts such as Metallica and Madonna who can make record deals where they actually make a fair share of CD sales, most artists make little to nothing from CD sales. Almost all the money an artist actually sees comes from concerts and merchandise. So, if I really want to support an artists, I'll see them live. Thankfully more and more artists are speaking out against the RIAA and those are the artists that I hope will help pioneer a reasonable compromise.

I already explained this in another thread, so here's the condensed version:
Most songs that I download are what is (sadly) now referred to as "Classic Rock". I already bought the albums once (albeit 20 years ago), but since there's no turntable in my car (or house, for that matter), I put them on CDs. And I'm not paying again.

I'll download almost anything just because it's free. I'll buy something only if I really want it.

i'd be more open to paying for a CD if most of the money actually went to the artist rather than the record company. when i download movies i usually only watch them once or twice, and i'm making an effort to have all of my favorite movies on DVD. i don't download many games, though i do get ripped copies from friends. $50 is a lot to pay for a game, unless it is really really good.

i can't afford any games with today's prices so i just dl the ones that i really want. same with music.. i wouldn't buy it anyway. movies i download only occasionally.. i rather watch them in the theatre.

I've saved a pretty penny on software by downloading it first and then finding out it blows and deleting it. Kinda like modern shareware.

I don't... I prefer quality over quanity.

99 % of the stuff I download I'd never pay for, the other 1% I buy, either to support the people, or for the pretty box.
As far as music is concerned, I pretty much only listen to artists who submit their music online for free. Most of the commercial stuff just doesn't interest me, adn I have absolutely no qualms about ripping off the RIAA.

I don't dl very much, and then only to try out something new. If I like it, I'l' buy it. If not, I delete it.

no more buying $30 cds for me. but then again, no more receiving shitty cds as gifts from friends.
try as i may, i just can't feel any sympathy for the musicians and record companies.

Used to be big on downloadin'....

Gave it up now.. I prefer to Rip the stuff to mp3 and damnit I haven't been able to figger out how to get free Xbox games yet.

Next big dowload will be Mandrake, which is OS anyway. Call me CoMoFo, but I am clean.

Usually I'm downloading older stuff that I can't always find in music stores. There are some old albums where, if I came across the LP in a secondhand shop, I'd buy it right then and there.

I've ripped all of my CDs to mp3 Cd for convenience: (http://www.iriver.com/product/info.asp?p_name=iMP-350)

If I can find a place that sells cheap vinyl, I'll rip and burn that too.

There's only a handful of artists I'd buy new retail price CDs for anyway.

I don't buy music, before mp3 I'd copy other peoples albums
if I like the artist I'll go to the concert, buy the tee shirt, ect.

as far as games a copy is ok as a trial, but I will buy a game if I like it

most of the programs I download and use are freeware.
there is a freeware alternative to almost every application

thanx for all the responses and posts... I'll be taking this information around 11 am Wednesday morning.. Keep it goin' till then!! :) Gosh.. I hope i get a decent grade...

I'm a media pirate sailing the information seas. They'll never take me alive.

In that particular case, you wouldnt need to buy the albums again to be legal, you already own the rights to that music in any format, I think thats the home recording act.. its the same basis as Roms and emulators. its not illegal to play roms on an emulator if you own the game already. Its perfectly legal to download the MP3's of the songs that are already in your paid for albums. Thats why Kazaa could also be considered a Legal enterprise. How many times have you scratched a CD to be unplayable and wasted all that money, or broke a beautiful vinyl album and obviously were unable to play that again? If you download the songs that were on those albums, thats perfectly legal.

theres always the "just coz you can", lots of people download stuff just for the heck of it, i remember the guys with boxes of tapes, floppies, CDs etc and never actually used any of the stuff.

I'm more the 'just because I can' type... I am a packrat, I have 500gb of HD space on my main computer. Go figure.

I like to make sure I'm not wasting money before I go buy an album, although divx would be the exception ;]

Thanx Guys, I got my paper done.... I didn't put an ending to the poll tho, so it'll keep going until it fades off into the sunset :)

I selected the frist 5 options. I actually think I've been buying more CD's since I've been donwloading music. I've discovered so many bands that I never would have been exposed to before. Sometimes, I see one of these threads on the TFP when someone asks for suggestions for new music or a particular type and then I read someone raving about a band I've never heard of, well, of course I have to check them out. And like Halx, I'm a pack rat. I have over 40 cd's of mp3 and mpeg vidz. But on the flipside, I also own over 800 store-bought cd's. Music is one of my passions and I listen to music all day. When I work, I have a radio on at my desk, or winamp playing one of the 500 plus songs I keep on my computer at work. Or when I work out, I have my mp3 player in my pocket, or when I go to bed at nite, I go to sleep to the soothing sounds pumping out of my stereo.