Music is on its way to becoming free

http://www.bee.fm


1. A wonderful development leading to more freedom of choice

OR

2. the end of the music business (and with it, high-quality music).



Discuss.

#2

That's where I'm leaning right now too.

I'd like to hear other POVs though.

#1...

i don't see it effecting the music industry much more than any of the other "advances" have.

#2

Such Russian sites are coutless. At least this one doesnt want you to buy the songs for $0.10 per song

Seriously, I think a site where one can go and steram-listen to an album in 128kbps mp3s is nothing to worry about. The Internet made the music free long time ago. If you want to download an album - you can always find it someplace on some torrent or rapidshare blog, or p2p sharing, or whatever.

And the opposite - if one is determined to support a band, he will find a way to buy the CD, regardless on how many places he will find it for free download. That's my philosophy and from this standpoint I think bee.fm is a good promotional platfrom to get your music heard.

Besides, from what I see the mp3s on the website are in 128 kbps, and thus of absolutely no interest to the leechers (they want better quality, haha!)

Once upon a time Major League Baseball owners were deathly afraid the new-fangled radio would keep people at home where they could listen to the game instead of coming to the ballpark. Instead, when the first intrepid owner started airing games fans flocked to the ballpark.....

Music has been "free" for years on the radio and it just lets people know what they want to go out and own for themselves. I believe the internet will (is) do(ing) the same thing. For years and years there will still be plenty of us by the 10's of millions who like to hold and look at our music.....

I think music is going through another period like it has all throught the years and it seems to rebound!

Wargod48

As much as the RIAA sues people over downloading it will never stop the free dissemination of music. But, as records as a medium has shown, there is still interest in music as a complete package - music and art together. The people who download were not likely to purchase it anyways and those who buy like a product and generally continue to buy. The medium may change - cds may go away - but the physical product proabably will not. I think when we all look back it will be shown that as itunes and its like have started there is now a 2 channel distribution that did not exist and have benefitted the music sellers.

I think though that the major record labels may be an endangered species as bands learn about the force of direct distribution. the need for labels may not be as great as bands release material, sell it and can finance their own projects. It may be awhile off in the future but I can see it coming..

Alex

#2

2.
I prefer to pay for my cd´s and vinyls then download them for free, ALWAYS!!!!

I can't make heads or tails out of that site because I can't read Russian, so I can't comment... I got some sort of media player to pop up somehow that started playing Accept's "Starlight," though, so that was kinda cool.

Temple of Blood wrote:

http://www.bee.fm


1. A wonderful development leading to more freedom of choice

OR

2. the end of the music business (and with it, high-quality music).



Discuss.

I'm going with option number one here. The music business has been in a slump since the mid-nineties. As such, there has been precious little music of good-to-tolerable quality since. Because the major music labels are by and large a group of greedy, opportunistic azzes more concerned with making the next platinum record than actually going through the effort of finding and signing a band of actual decent, original content, there has been next to nothing in terms of good mainstream music over the past ten or so years.

What are the label-heads going to do next, ban the radio, because God-for-freakin-bid someone listens to a song for free and doesn;t shell out a pretty penny to buy it? Sales have been going down not because of "the eevil downloading", but because the actual quality of music sucks. When there are more crappy "artists" like Daughtry or any run-of-the-mill rapper around than musicians of actual merit, then yes, sales will be down to normal (every several years the industry has a boom in sales, going up more than 10%. When the boom naturally fades, actual figures go down to normal).

I'd also like to point out that the Public Library System has been in place for years. Any person can go in, borrow the latest bestseller, for free, and return it, for free. Yet, the publishing industry doesn't whine and moan about this.

In conclusion, downloading doesn't suck, the industry and the quality of music nowadays does. When the RIAA gets its head out of its hindquarters and actually puts effort into signing bands of substance (as mentioned above), as opposed to messing around with p2p file sharing sites and guitar tab sites, the quality of music, and hence, the sales will be up, and they'll have little need to whine about it. The industry's just shooting itself in the foot.

Have at it, folks.

Androcles wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

http://www.bee.fm


1. A wonderful development leading to more freedom of choice

OR

2. the end of the music business (and with it, high-quality music).



Discuss.

I'm going with option number one here. The music business has been in a slump since the mid-nineties. As such, there has been precious little music of good-to-tolerable quality since. Because the major music labels are by and large a group of greedy, opportunistic azzes more concerned with making the next platinum record than actually going through the effort of finding and signing a band of actual decent, original content, there has been next to nothing in terms of good mainstream music over the past ten or so years.

What are the label-heads going to do next, ban the radio, because God-for-freakin-bid someone listens to a song for free and doesn;t shell out a pretty penny to buy it? Sales have been going down not because of "the eevil downloading", but because the actual quality of music sucks. When there are more crappy "artists" like Daughtry or any run-of-the-mill rapper around than musicians of actual merit, then yes, sales will be down to normal (every several years the industry has a boom in sales, going up more than 10%. When the boom naturally fades, actual figures go down to normal).

I'd also like to point out that the Public Library System has been in place for years. Any person can go in, borrow the latest bestseller, for free, and return it, for free. Yet, the publishing industry doesn't whine and moan about this.

In conclusion, downloading doesn't suck, the industry and the quality of music nowadays does. When the RIAA gets its head out of its hindquarters and actually puts effort into signing bands of substance (as mentioned above), as opposed to messing around with p2p file sharing sites and guitar tab sites, the quality of music, and hence, the sales will be up, and they'll have little need to whine about it. The industry's just shooting itself in the foot.

Have at it, folks.

And you are realy only 15 years old, increible . I dont agree with everything but you have a point.

Androcles wrote:

When there are more crappy "artists" like Daughtry or any run-of-the-mill rapper around than musicians of actual merit, then yes, sales will be down...

Hey, I like Daughtry! That's a great disc, man!

1 and 2 ,the end of the music buisness = a wonderful development leading to more freedom of choice.The music buissines today is total s.h.i.t ,when you buy a CD your money goes to some executive in an office somewhere, he keeps all of it for himself and throws a few pennys at the people who actualy did some work, when the music buisness is dies (it will) it will lead to:

1.All music being free.
2.Because bands are not getting money from albums they will reley on live shows for money, therefore live shows will be more frequent and more effort will be put into making them more impresive.
3.New bands will be able to distribute there music easyer because they don't need a record deal.
4.The people who make the music will get all the money made, not some guy in a suit.

EVERYBODY WINS!!! (exept greedy record companys)

Both.

While I generally applaud the end of corporate music fatcats making millions off the backs of bands who rarely see any profit from their creativity, I also hate the movement of music away from the physical product into downloads and mp3's.

My local music store owner is really hurting. Not only are sales of new cd's down, he has a really poor collection of used cd's because people are just not bringing them in for trade like they used to. He's considering closing up shop after about 20 years and selling out of his house on E-Bay.

Digital music is seriously missing something to me. It's like I'm cheating somehow if I download something (for free or not). The artwork and the case and the physical CD really fulfill something in me. And before you say something TT, I have tried and a CD case can't fit in my bunghole.

I agree, Spec. Unfortunately, sometimes I just don't have the cash to buy one.
And then along comes Bittorrent and next thing I know, I'm downloading every CD every made. It's just so easy...

And that one guy was right, most music is crap today, and most record companies are greedy, but that's not always the case. What about the bands that own their own label? Will they still make money?

Schbopo wrote:

I'm downloading every CD every made. It's just so easy...

So isn't rape.

That's when integrity should kick in.

Quote :

Unfortunately, sometimes I just don't have the cash to buy one.

Hey, that's the same excuse I use when I'm out of milk for my breakfast cereal. Why should the farmers that raised the cows and produced the product get all the money when big supermarkets are reaping all the profits.

Right on, bro!! Stick it to the man!!

Here is where I become unpopular...

Speaking as an artist, I say download away...music should be free.

When the producers, engineers, studio musicians, labels, distros, tour bus drivers, album cover artists, CD manufacturers, managers & band stylists make more money because of my music than I do then I might as well give it away.

Line Of Fire can be found on many torrent sites, blogs and P2P networks...have a blast!

Some of the responses here are, um.. yeah.............

Wargod48 wrote:

I think music is going through another period like it has all throught the years and it seems to rebound!

Wargod48

The industry will figure out how to change the game...it'll happen.

To hell with "ringtone music"...

Quote :

I think though that the major record labels may be an endangered species as bands learn about the force of direct distribution. the need for labels may not be as great as bands release material, sell it and can finance their own projects. It may be awhile off in the future but I can see it coming..

This is exactly where it's going...