iTunes vs Torrents - which do you use?

thirtythirty

Between The Pirate Bay getting bust and Lilly Allen announcing she's quitting music cuz she's not making enough money, the whole illegal music file sharing conversation has started to get some airtime again, and i just thought i'd ask this to see if the majority of people here on boards bought music, or got it free from torrents.

Personally i see myself as sitting on both sides of the fence - for a group/dj/band that i'm not particularly into and would probably never spend €10 or €15 on an album for, i tend to use torrents, as i take the view that they were never going to get my money anyway, so it makes no difference. If anything it'll get me into their music, and i might actually go see them somewhere and they'll make their money that way. But if it's someone i REALLY like, i do (mostly) buy their stuff.

Anyone have the same attitude!? Or any other views?

djvext

WOW, what a thread title. iTunes vs Torrents????

I presume when you say iTunes, you mean the shop? As opposed to the actual music library app (which I do use).

Torrents are so early 21st century, the smart kids have moved on from that. I personally was never a fan, so I'm glad to see the back of them (slowly happening).

I buy music I like. I buy music I think deserves to be bought. I buy CDs. Thats the way I look at it. Only as a last resort would I ever pay for a download. The idea of paying for a crap lossy rip is laughable, and its bleedin' free out there anyway...

Notorious

djvext wrote: »

I buy music I like. I buy music I think deserves to be bought. I buy CDs. Thats the way I look at it. Only as a last resort would I ever pay for a download. The idea of paying for a crap lossy rip is laughable, and its bleedin' free out there anyway...

+1 to that!

Myself I generally buy my CDs. I wouldn't go spending over €15 on an album I either haven't heard or one that hasn't been recommended to me. If I'm unsure about an album I download it (not via torrents though), and if I like what I hear I buy it. If I don't like it, I probably won't listen to it again. Wouldn't pay for a download either.

Borneo Fnctn

I advocate illegally downloading copyrighted music.

Ally Dick

Neither. ITunes is too dear and Torrents are for amateurs. Rapidshare is the guv'nor

Kold

spottyelephant wrote: »

Lilly Allen announcing she's quitting music cuz she's not making enough money

Rofl. Seriously? Jesus, what a statement. This is the same c*nt that said that In Rainbows wasn't special.

Mars Bar

spottyelephant wrote: »

Between The Pirate Bay getting bust and Lilly Allen announcing she's quitting music cuz she's not making enough money, the whole illegal music file sharing conversation has started to get some airtime again, and i just thought i'd ask this to see if the majority of people here on boards bought music, or got it free from torrents.

Personally i see myself as sitting on both sides of the fence - for a group/dj/band that i'm not particularly into and would probably never spend €10 or €15 on an album for, i tend to use torrents, as i take the view that they were never going to get my money anyway, so it makes no difference. If anything it'll get me into their music, and i might actually go see them somewhere and they'll make their money that way. But if it's someone i REALLY like, i do (mostly) buy their stuff.

Anyone have the same attitude!? Or any other views?

I'm the same as you. I have almost the full Bruce Springsteen(have seen him twice) and Meat Loaf(have seen him once) collections and have every Waterboys(seen them twice) and Saw Doctors CD(have seen them 21 times!). These are the bands I love the most and support them because of that.

I downloaded some Elton John stuff and absolutely LOVE him now. Downloaded loads of his albums. Then he announced the Limerick gig and I paid €80 for a ticket and was the first person there. Best gig I have ever been to! I would never have spent €80 on Elton CD's so he made money outta me via downloads! And I bought the live CD from the gig so he actually made €105.

It works both ways.


The way I see the Lilly Allen situation is that she thinks she isn't making any money outta music because she probably has a high maintenance lifestyle now...

marge87

What kinda sites do people use for music torrents?

thebigcheese22

^ Think its against the forum charter to say.


I'm the same as a lot of people here. If its a band I love, I buy the CD. If its a band I'm only starting to like, then I download it.

alipackers

I'm with the OP on this one. I buy cd's from bands who I'm really into but if its just someone thats been reccommended to me or who I've heard one song of and am intrigued I'll download it.

Also I have a big thing against the fact that record companies haven't done much to make people wanna buy cd's again. Instead of lowering the prices they stick a bonus dvd in with an album and think it justifies a 15-25 euro price tag!

Republic_of_Now

For downloading a very obscure song for maybe a small artist, then probably iTunes. For listening to anything that even touches on the mainstream, i'd use HypeMachine.Torrent websites can come in handy but they are slowly being picked off. I think Magnet Links will be the way to go in the future.

Personally I just stick to HypeM.

Zychedelic

I buy albums mostly (the rest I'd buy on iTunes), because I like having the actual CD, the booklet etc.

97i9y3941

i think this is where the media plays part too,obviously mentioning these sites in the news is just gathering intrest for those werent aware of these sites and now want to engage in illegal downloading,but yeah paying €20 for material thats over 40 years old is a joke to me,paul mc cartney has enough money thank you...

Junco Partner

i never use itunes i either buy the cd or use torrents however the only times ive used torrents is when i couldnt find the cd in the shop as record stores are **** where i am e. sandinista the clash impossible too find and sea sew by lisa habnnigan (at the time it now become widespread)

seanybiker

Download all my musici keep the money for beer.

hitlersson666

i use torrents as buying is too much (im sure eddie vedder will under stand) or else im fu cked

TestTransmission

Rapidshare

Monkey61

Would never buy a cd anymore. I download albums for a very small fee from a site that seems to be a bit of a legal grey area - but it has everything I want. And to be honest I would rather have 15 albums for 15 quid than just one. If I didn't download stuff there is no way that I would buy the CDs anyway because they are just too expensive.

I'd rather give money to a band through paying for a gig ticket or buying a t shirt at the gig.

I worked in a music shop for years and so had access to all the music I wanted for free - I don't see myself ever being able to go back to just being able to buy one album a month; I like to have a couple every week.

97i9y3941

looks like bono must be feeling the pinch

http://www.breakingnews.ie/entertainment/bono-calls-for-tighter-piracy-controls-440511.html

Bono calls for tighter piracy controls
03/01/2010 - 11:59:04

Bono is calling for tougher controls on the spread of intellectual property over the internet.

U2's lead singer told the New York Times that file-sharing hurts the creators of cultural products.

He say US efforts to stop child pornography, and China's suppression of online dissent, prove that it is possible to track internet content.

blastman

^^
Obviously the sales fall-off of the last album weren't compensated for by the re-selling of 20 to 30 year old material at new prices.

Kold

Cute. Bono thinks his sales are dropping because people are downloading his album. Lol.

noodle650

I prefer to buy my music, purely because of audio quality, That and i am a musician aswell, and it mustnt feel great to knwo that your not making anything from your work. i like my high bit and sample rate 192k audio through good full range speakers, Forget about the compressed piles of poo that Mp3's are!

kenon

noodle650 wrote: »

I prefer to buy my music, purely because of audio quality, That and i am a musician aswell, and it mustnt feel great to knwo that your not making anything from your work. i like my high bit and sample rate 192k audio through good full range speakers, Forget about the compressed piles of poo that Mp3's are!

Thats quite low actually...iTunes is higher than that.

noodle650

kenon wrote: »

Thats quite low actually...iTunes is higher than that.

uh...192khz is the highest sample rate you can have, you are thinking about bit rate? as Itunes Bit rate is 256kb/s

fullback4glin

spottyelephant wrote: »

Lilly Allen announcing she's quitting music cuz she's not making enough money?

Where did you hear this.

And neither iTunes nor Torrents, I just listen to music off Youtube but funnily enough the only album or I ever illegally downloaded was actually Lily Allen's!

I don't feel too guilty though cos I was at her concert.

kenon

noodle650 wrote: »

uh...192khz is the highest sample rate you can have, you are thinking about bit rate? as Itunes Bit rate is 256kb/s

Yup, i thought by "192k" you were referring to 192kbs.

noodle650

kenon wrote: »

Yup, i thought by "192k" you were referring to 192kbs.

ah ok, woops! I see my mistake, i should have been more clear in my post.! no worries eh :P

I still prefer to buy my music! hehe

unreggd

I only buy CDs of new local acts, like ones on Independant/Own Labels

International Artists sayin they make nothin off CDs cos of downloading is a joke. They make heaps more in endorsements, interviews etc anyways

They'll always make the most money by doin concerts, so I think piracy is a great thing for giving live music a reboot, the way it should be!

And it seems the bigger they are, the smaller their tour is

Paramore for example, they'r still pretty new
When they tour, they do all of the USA and Europe, do Oz and Asia, most of the globe, then do it all over again. They did this for their 2nd album Riot, then not too long later released their latest album, and the tour for that is already kicked off, in the same fashion

PIRACY F T W!!!!

Gillington

Yeah if its a band I like or have been recommended to me I will probably buy the album.Anythin else I get from torrents or fileshare's.I go to alot of gigs so feel I'm giving my cash to bands that way and if I really like them I might even buy a t-shirt!

nitromaster

TestTransmission wrote: »

Rapidshare

Ditto this.
Most albums I own in cd form I'd have heard first through shifty methods...and liked the whole thing.

Some end up in me buying the vinyl eventually (just for collecting really, don't have a player)

Other then that...if I like the band, chances are I'll either buy merch...or a gig ticket if they ever play Ireland

So win win for everyone

fitz0

I never use iTunes because it is ridiculously overpriced for ****e mp3's. I can't understand why they insist on such an inferior product when the high quality free alternative is available. I do download a bit of music, only FLAC and usually from dead artists. I figure they won't miss the money and their children should make their own way in the world. I occasionally check out a band I'm unsure of but I've bought more CD's since I started downloading so I suppose torrents made me spend more money on music.