Roots Archives Forum

@ Roots Rocker Matt
I've heard/read that rationalization many times and I respect the philosophy involved. I can't claim to be as saintly as I have downloaded lots of music and loved it and not really had the $$$ to go out there and buy it.

Personally, I sometimes rationalize my thievery by saying that I'm a musician who has been giving stuff away for free on the internet for close to ten years, so if I'm willing to share, then why shouldn't I partake of that which is freely available. By the sweat of my mouse shall I drink at the well of music and 'flim'.

Morally, it's a tough one, but I think what Pots and Pans is getting at is - wouldn't it serve us all better of we could download guaranteed high quality at a price and be done with the pot luck aspect of 'free' downloads?

Personally, I'm not committed to any firm opinion on the free download subject. Main reason. Artists have always got screwed by record companies. If I see a record company whining about loss of sales due to piracy, I applaud. F$%k them, they had it coming.

If and when I see that artists are genuinely suffering from piracy, I might start thinking differently.

and - clearly record companies understand nothing - that's why they have been producing and marketing really bad music for years.

I don't download unless it is for a mix cd that I could not get otherwise. In my opinion reggae is best heard loud on a good sound system and for that, a quality recording is important. Listening to sound clips certainly helps in the hunt for good music though.