Project: Just wondering you opinion on use of illegal downloads?

Hagakure_irl

Hi I'm doing a project on music and DJs, I can't really fit the proper question into the title heading but basically it is as follows:

1) What is the official stance on DJs using downloads in clubs, are they tracked down? Are the tracks checked to see if they where actually purchased?

2) What is your opinion of the matter? For a DJ thats starting up, surely its difficult to buy all those MP3s starting out.

I suppose this really only relates to Laptop DJs or people who use programmes like Scratch LIVE etc.

Thanks in advance guys!

jonny68

Most people who are digital have at some time "illegaly downloaded" MP3's, millions are doing it and it's never going to stop anytime soon, some of these online shops like Beatport,etc charge way too much for MP3's anyway IMO, i do buy MP3's occasionaly but i source out where's the cheapest place to buy them from,i still download older stuff for free though.

Hagakure_irl

Ok great thanks, thats one thing I wasn't aware of, are websites overpricing Mp3s!

And in relation to the industry, is it common to find DJs using illegally downloaded tracks?

I know I've seen 2 or 3 DJs with Virtual DJ in clubs.

jonny68

Hagakure_irl wrote: »

Ok great thanks, thats one thing I wasn't aware of, are websites overpricing Mp3s!

And in relation to the industry, is it common to find DJs using illegally downloaded tracks?

I know I've seen 2 or 3 DJs with Virtual DJ in clubs.

well it depends on who your talking about, bedroom/up and coming DJ's who might be on the dole or in a low paid job,etc,etc would probably most likely the ones to download MP3's without paying whereas you have people who can afford to buy loads of MP3's and then you have established DJ's would most probably get loads of MP3's for free anyway or buy them as they could afford to.

Tracing illegaly downloaded MP3's for the most part rarely exists, you see the occasional "scare article" in the paper about how people who illegaly download MP3's will be prosecuted but in reality it rarely happens, and as i said it's never gonna stop.

Hagakure_irl

ahh great thanks Jonny! Thats really helped me, especially the different types of DJs, I didn't actually know professional better known DJs would actually be given them, thanks again!

jtsuited

mp3's are not overpriced. They are far far cheaper than physical copies and far more money goes to the artist nowadays (proportionately speaking).

Many of the big name dj's run their own labels, so I doubt they are big fans of illegal downloading.

the idea of somebody playing out a track they did not pay for and then profiting from it (collecting a dj fee) is horrendous.

Many people illegally download stuff, then go buy it as they know that supporting the labels and artists is the best way forward.

If a dj is starting up, and cannot afford to buy loads of mp3's, they'll have to be more selective in what they buy, and that is a good thing. One of the most common things to find with not very good bedroom dj's is hard drives full of illegally downloaded tunes.

The-Fraw

I do both (buy mp3 and download free mp3) but i agree with jtsuited.. if you like a track then support the artist and pay for it especially if you are hetting paid for playing it

~Marky~

This was a few years ago in Italy :eek: I remember reading about it when it happened.

http://digital-lifestyles.info/2005/02/17/italian-dj-gets-huge-fine-for-copied-mp3s/

KevIRL

No discussion of where to download illegally or ways to hide downloading illegally please.

Lets keep the thread within boards.ie rules

Hagakure_irl

jtsuited wrote: »

mp3's are not overpriced. They are far far cheaper than physical copies and far more money goes to the artist nowadays (proportionately speaking).

Many of the big name dj's run their own labels, so I doubt they are big fans of illegal downloading.

the idea of somebody playing out a track they did not pay for and then profiting from it (collecting a dj fee) is horrendous.

Many people illegally download stuff, then go buy it as they know that supporting the labels and artists is the best way forward.

If a dj is starting up, and cannot afford to buy loads of mp3's, they'll have to be more selective in what they buy, and that is a good thing. One of the most common things to find with not very good bedroom dj's is hard drives full of illegally downloaded tunes.

Thanks jtsuited! Thats going to help me loads!

EDIT: Sorry also meant to mention in my main question, which are the best sites for purchasing music? I know you can buy them from Amazon and itunes however when you get them from itunes they are not in mp3 format.

Jev/N

Sites for downloading:

Beatport
Trackitdown
Juno Download
Stompy
DjDownload
Traxsource

Ravelleman

Since there is less opportunity for a dance producer's music to come into the mainstream most of their 'air time' comes from their tracks being played at clubs by other djs or being spread over the internet on music blogs. I think that's just the nature of the business these days. I like to think that the musician will be rewarded when more people buy tickets for their shows, which is where they make most of their money anyway.

Beau x1

Illegal downloads have spread popularity for artists that would be neglected otherwise; because in the digital pirating world everything's free and therefore people are more open to listen to copious amounts of less well-known artists and people buy their merchandise and go to their shows as the fame spreads. Hence, in the long run it is actually in a sense a benefit to some (but not all) artists.

SteveDon

In my personal experience, being a student with very little income to spend on mp3s

I buy everything i like that is Irish, there is no point stealing from your own scene, theres some pretty good new irish labels out there that need support (FVF, Aciitone, etc)

Also if I like a realease from an unestablished artist I will find the money to buy their release, or from labels that I really like and i feel need my support.

Where I dont find too much of a problem in downloading illegally, is when it comes to established artists, like a "M-nus" release for example, its quite obvious that the release will sell regardless of illegal downloading and will shoot right up the beatport charts.

Basically if i think that an artist will be much worse off from me downloading his tunes illegally, then i will buy their release and support them just as I hope other people will do the same to me one day..

acman

~Marky~ wrote: »

This was a few years ago in Italy :eek: I remember reading about it when it happened.

http://digital-lifestyles.info/2005/02/17/italian-dj-gets-huge-fine-for-copied-mp3s/

Well, having lived and worked in Italy for years, I can tell you that the finance police (Guardia di Finanza) have been cracking down on DJ's using illegal MP3's for years! I have seen many DJ's literally pulled from the DJ box and clubs closed for nights on end due to DJ's using illegal MP3's...whats worse, a DJ in Italy has to carry proof of purchase with him!

A bit over the top if you ask me but thats just the way it is there.

On a personal note, I buy music that I like...if I dont like it, it doesnt have the honour of taking up space on my hard disk

tman

I might play at a house party using illegally downloaded tunes, but wouldn't dream of playing in a club using anything other than music that I own.
For me it's mostly out of respect to the HH/NRG scene - at this stage the only people still making music are the ones who do it out of love for the scene rather than fame and money, so I'd feel like crap if I took a sale away from them.

I feel no qualms about downloading a bunch of electrohouse stuff to slap on at a party though!

Executive Steve

tman wrote: »

For me it's mostly out of respect to the HH/NRG scene - at this stage the only people still making music are the ones who do it out of love for the scene rather than fame and money, so I'd feel like crap if I took a sale away from them.

pretty much that tbh.

never bought a file, never would either, but play stuff i get sent over AIM or whatever by the label or the artist, and then i make sure i buy a copy of the vinyl on release if i really like it.

robbing people who are barely making money off tunes is weak

BaZmO*

I don't how an artist can complain about a DJ playing a song of theirs in a club that they haven't paid for. It's promotion of their music.

Fair enough if it was the likes of Sasha or Digweed playing the track as they'd be getting paid big money to Djing, but even with that, the music they'd be playing would be getting to a much bigger audience, so again more promotion.

Getting paid for music is dead, playing live is where artists make their money now. That's why you have artists playing the same country 3 times a year. You'll still get people that will feel that they are morally obliged to pay for the music, but that won't last for long.

I don't feel guilty in the slightest about downloading music because, 1) I have paid for so much music down through the years it's not funny, and 2) If I like an artist enough I'll just go and see them live.

When I used to DJ one of the biggest hurdles to playing new music was the cost of buying new vinyl. Being young, in a low paying job, and getting paid very little (if anything at all!) for DJing just made it very difficult to buy the amount of music that I wanted. As a result I used to miss out on some great music. That's not a problem anymore, and personally I think that's a good thing.

Neurojazz

DJ can get free copies of the music if they can be arsed to goto the label that distributes the music...

But, some artists can't play live... one act has one guy in Ireland, and the other is in Oz - makes it impractical to get those 2 people to a gig without charging for flights etc... so all the music is sold online only etc....

I can understand people with no cash downloading it, but when you get your ****e together you need to take some responsibility for helping others to survive down here on planet earth.

I don't care if people steal music - it's a fact of life... but it's bull that 'live' is the only way... my only income is from sales and does pretty well even with all the people stealing it also , I enjoy the fact that i've supported musicians/programmers/technicians/delivery drivers and retail staff by staying legal - if i had no moral compass, then i might as well go around your house and take all your goods (stolen or hard earned), murder, rape, pillage etc.... - what a lovely world.

Progger

I never download illegally. MP3's or even wav's which I use are cheap as chips.. Where the hell are you going to get a song cheaper than 2.50 or 3.50 on beatport??? Hell Itunes has songs for 99cent. Plus the quality of illegally downloaded tracks is abysmal. A DJ should never play anything under 320 kbps in my opinion.

L1011

Progger wrote: »

I never download illegally. MP3's or even wav's which I use are cheap as chips.. Where the hell are you going to get a song cheaper than 2.50 or 3.50 on beatport??? Hell Itunes has songs for 99cent. Plus the quality of illegally downloaded tracks is abysmal. A DJ should never play anything under 320 kbps in my opinion.

Virgin Records have compilations of "101 (insert genre here) Anthems" for a tenner

They're generally radio edits so little use, though.

SteveDon

Progger wrote: »

Plus the quality of illegally downloaded tracks is abysmal. A DJ should never play anything under 320 kbps in my opinion.

That is untrue, alot of the sharing sites, especially the ones with special torrent trackers do not allow anything under 320kpbs to be uploaded, also you can request versions in FLAC or Wav formats

seanybiker

one or two of the songs on the jukebox in my local have url's instead of the name of the songs lol.

Helix

Hagakure_irl wrote: »

Hi I'm doing a project on music and DJs, I can't really fit the proper question into the title heading but basically it is as follows:

1) What is the official stance on DJs using downloads in clubs, are they tracked down? Are the tracks checked to see if they where actually purchased?

2) What is your opinion of the matter? For a DJ thats starting up, surely its difficult to buy all those MP3s starting out.

I suppose this really only relates to Laptop DJs or people who use programmes like Scratch LIVE etc.

Thanks in advance guys!

1) no checks in place in ireland anyway. in oz they check the occasional dj for lists of mp3s on their machines and then ask them to provide proof of purchase afaik


2) mp3s are cheap so on one hand its easy to say that people should be buying them, however mp3s are also a completely non existent item. theyre just strings of 0s and 1s so there are quite a few people who are more than a bit uneasy with spending money on them

personally, the only music ive bought in the last 5 years have been nine inch nails albums, bloc partys last album, saul williams' niggy tardust album, and the last radiohead album

they all have something in common in that they adhere to the growing ambition to change how music is distributed.

so for me anyway, id rather pay $5 directly to the bloke(s) who made the music than i would pay €2.50 for a track on beatport, of which the artist himself will be lucky to get enough to buy a lolipop from

Helix

Progger wrote: »

Plus the quality of illegally downloaded tracks is abysmal. A DJ should never play anything under 320 kbps in my opinion.

and why on earth would you think that illegally uploaded mp3s wouldnt be 320kbps?

TouchingVirus

I download music, keep the tracks/remixes I like, delete the rest. I make sets just for my listening, I'm still **** When I get to play live at a club and get paid for it I'll only play music I've paid for, I don't like the idea of making money when I've cheated artists out of money for their music.

I do buy stuff though, I've numerous albums, compilations and purchase receipts from the likes of iTunes and that.

I'd buy stuff from beatport and other online shops if the music was a bit cheaper (not a lot, just a bit cheaper) and most importantly if I could re-download the tracks I purchased for a nominal bandwidth fee and not have to pay full whack again...

A mate of mine had a hard drive crash as he was backing up his music, lost maybe 90 tunes from Beatport he bought over the previous month, they wanted to charge him full price (over 200 euro) as if he'd never bought them before ... And no, you cannot compare this to losing 90 physical singles, because MP3's are digital, content delivery is the only thing you should have to pay for twice because you bought the 'license' to use it the first time

Hagakure_irl

hey everyone thanks for you input on this, some of your answers have been excellent and that link to the italian dj is a great reference for me. thanks again everyone!!