Some cool tunes from 2010

[nomisofsiman]

Many reasons. You might not know how to get a high quality rip(Itunes default is only okay), you might not be able to locate the CD when you're putting together an Itunes playlist, the CD might be damaged or lost. If it was an Itunes download, you might have lost it when your hard drive crashed.

The people and bands who are it purely for the music will continue making music and playing music regardless if they make a profit.

There will always be music, whether or not people make money. But will they pay for orchestras, the best production, etc.? I mean, if you are okay with metal CDs sounding like they did in 1996 when there were no sales, that's fine, but if you want to hear bands like Rhapsody, Avantasia, and Nightwish give you the whole epic experience, they need to have a big budget.

Same goes for movies and games. If you like independent films and Space Invaders, a non-profitable industry will not affect you. If you like big summer blockbusters and awesomely produced games, then people need to step up and buy them.

Mind you, I'm actually pro-file sharing, but we need to use it as a tool to help us find stuff to buy, not use it as a replacement for buying.

Amen to that!

 

[modernwizardry]

Mind you, I'm actually pro-file sharing, but we need to use it as a tool to help us find stuff to buy, not use it as a replacement for buying.

Agreed. More than half of the CDs I purchase because I downloaded them and liked what I heard.

 

[skyrefuge]

Ok, I really don't mean to be King Dick here, since I think you get my gist, and I get yours now, and that's the important thing. But this is just too tempting for my petty-ass self to pass up! Forgive me!

Anyways, I never said it was the sole reason.

Well, this is the reason.

And...

I never said the prices have gone up

CD prices are going up because companies are stupid.

You know this is the Internet, and you're typing, not talking, right? That shit doesn't just evaporate!

Neil

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

Shit happens.

I'm not trying to stir up anything but all I mean is that one wrong doesn't justify another (although like I said earlier, I wouldn't be a hypocrite saying I never download stuff).

By the way, out of curiosity, did anything real rare or something get stolen? I've had CD's stolen before, but have been able to replace most of them if not all.

Plus, think of the positive side. Knowing you, you probably had some Dream Evil, Freedom Call and Manowar CDs in that stolen collection. When you think of those, it's safe to say that whoever took them did you a favor.

Youre right it doesnt justify it, but its why I started. I dont think there was anything rare or anything lke that. But to have like 700 cds stolen from you hurts quite a bit.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Ok, I really don't mean to be King Dick here, since I think you get my gist, and I get yours now, and that's the important thing. But this is just too tempting for my petty-ass self to pass up! Forgive me!




And...




You know this is the Internet, and you're typing, not talking, right? That shit doesn't just evaporate!

Neil

Wow. Just wow. Got me guilty as charged here.

 

[Rezz]

If the cost of recording, mastering, and distributing music is doing down, why are CD prices going up?

Are they? I've bought quite a few brand-spankin' new CDs for $7.99 recently.

Let's see... I know I got We Are The Fallen, Slash, Scorpions and Ratt for $7.99. The new Ozzy is on pre-order for that $7.88, and the new Orianthi is on the same order for $10. I also picked up Jimi Jamison's latest, Goodbye Thrill, Bombay Black and the new Giant for $10 each.

My splurge was $27 for the new 2-disc Avantasia set. Of course, I had downloaded this one already and loved it so much that I absolutely had to own the best edition.

It seems to me like CD prices are finally coming down to a reasonable level. I'm sure I could've paid more for all of these if I'd wanted, but I pay attention to sales and take advantage of free shipping promotions when I can.

 

[Rezz]

Here is a serious question for the anti-downloaders here. If someone came up with a solution and was able to ban all illegal downloading, how would you expect me to find out about new bands? My local radio stations certainly aren't going to play any band that would play at Progpower. MTV does't play music anymore (not that I've watched it in 20 years anyway). Do you think that it would be up to me to comb through MySpace pages to find something worth listening to? Or blind-purchase discs based on cover art or simply because Best Buy put a label on it that says "Metal"? I learn about more bands through downloading and I buy more CDs because I have already heard them than I ever would without the resources available to me today. If I suddenly had to expend that kind of effort to find new bands I would probably cease looking and just be happy with the 5500+ CDs I currently own. It would be like the mid-90's all over again when I hated everything on the radio and I had yet to discover the European metal scene. I honestly believe that if they figured out how to ban illegal downloading it would be the death of the music industry as we know it, or at least the death of all bands that didn't have their record company 100% behind them.

 

[FleshAndBloodTheocracy]

^Youtube. I don't download illegally, but my collection is still growing exponentially, with new bands. Some word of mouth, some youtube. Yes, it does require actual effort, but, to me, the hunt makes the feeling when you find a really good band all the better! (I remember when I found Epica...haha....and then when I found their Divine Conspiracy for only 5.99, unused.)

 

[Prog_Please]

You discover a lot of new bands by simply reading the forums. I usually check out most prog related bands mentioned on the forum, and end up liking a good chunk of them.

I noticed that if you really like a band, going to their record label and listening to the other bands on the label also is a great way to discover new bands that you might also like.

Pandora radio is quite interesting, even though every prog band usually leads to dream theater and Opeth rofl.

Finally, I am a victim of Amazon.com's "based on you buying this CD, we think you will like this CD." More often than not, its correct haha.

 

[Diabolik]

Here is a serious question for the anti-downloaders here. If someone came up with a solution and was able to ban all illegal downloading, how would you expect me to find out about new bands? My local radio stations certainly aren't going to play any band that would play at Progpower. MTV does't play music anymore (not that I've watched it in 20 years anyway). Do you think that it would be up to me to comb through MySpace pages to find something worth listening to? Or blind-purchase discs based on cover art or simply because Best Buy put a label on it that says "Metal"? I learn about more bands through downloading and I buy more CDs because I have already heard them than I ever would without the resources available to me today. If I suddenly had to expend that kind of effort to find new bands I would probably cease looking and just be happy with the 5500+ CDs I currently own. It would be like the mid-90's all over again when I hated everything on the radio and I had yet to discover the European metal scene. I honestly believe that if they figured out how to ban illegal downloading it would be the death of the music industry as we know it, or at least the death of all bands that didn't have their record company 100% behind them.

uuuuuuuummmm lets see. This is how I do it.

If I like a band....I see what label they are on. I see what other bands on that label are simular. I research them. I go to lots of different metal forums and read discusions on different bands. If it is a band I like I see if people mention others who sound like them. With the internet you CANNOT say you cant find info on any band legally. This is probably the most informative era of this planet right now. Anything and everything is online. To say you cant find good music unless you have to download is a load of B.S.

To say that if they figured a way to make it illegal to download it would be the death of the music industry is just completely moronic. have you not been reading this thread or paying attention to what is happening???? this is one of the things that is killing the music industry.

I am pretty much speechless about this post.

 

[King Lek]

On buying used CD's.....

I would say that's just as bad as unauthorized downloading, from the taking-food-off-Claus's-table perspective. You're listening to music without compensating the creators, just like unauthorized downloading.

Well...that really does not work.
Virtually everything in life can be resold once purchased....art, books, furniture, cars, the house you live in....and so on.
Once purchased = compensated for that item.

carry on......

 

[Cheiron]

I only download stuff from LaserCD!

 

[General Zod]

Who said it was going down? Good producers aren't cheap. If you are referring to all the bands creating their own studios and self-producing their albums then i could see that argument (sort of), but at the same time they had to spend the money and take time out of their lives to learn recording programs. and if you have never messed with pro-tools this is not something you can just "pick up on the fly" and start recording bands.

Back in the day, I recall bands being advanced hundreds of thousands of dollars to record their new album. Now people can make a better sounding recording with a (pirated) copy of Pro Tools. So while costs may not have gone down in the last five years, production costs are no longer a barrier to entry.

Because popular bands are going to sell more records out of the gate therefore the overall album expenses can be broken down over 10,000-15,000 units rather than 1,000 units. simple economics.

I suspect a decent portion of these costs will go away entirely, once there is no more physical media, and all music is distributed digitally.

 

[Sir Exar Kun]

You discover a lot of new bands by simply reading the forums. I usually check out most prog related bands mentioned on the forum, and end up liking a good chunk of them.

I noticed that if you really like a band, going to their record label and listening to the other bands on the label also is a great way to discover new bands that you might also like.

THIS.

I haven't downloaded anything since the early Napster days, yet thanks to this forum and Perpetual Motion, as well as stores with good product descriptions like Laser's Edge or Impulse Music, I have NEVER found myself short on new music to PURCHASE and listen to.

It's just not that hard. Everything is out there to be sampled with a bare minimum of work, without resorting to blatant theft.

 

[adaher]

Agreed. More than half of the CDs I purchase because I downloaded them and liked what I heard.

Before downloading, half the CDs I bought sucked. It's good to only buy CDs that rule now.

Here is a serious question for the anti-downloaders here. If someone came up with a solution and was able to ban all illegal downloading, how would you expect me to find out about new bands?

I got my buying list from metal review sites, and if I was lucky, I could preview 30-second clips of tracks. This method tended to be hit or miss.

 

[TribunalRecords]

Back in the day, I recall bands being advanced hundreds of thousands of dollars to record their new album. Now people can make a better sounding recording with a (pirated) copy of Pro Tools. So while costs may not have gone down in the last five years, production costs are no longer a barrier to entry.

again, you may have never heard a record that is obvious recorded on pro-tools by a novice person/band vs someone who knows what they are doing. i, unfortunately, hear them all the time in demo packets i get. some of these "start up" dudes don't edit drums, record to a click track, sound replace, etc. ALL things that are standard and norm in the industry at this point. so instead of $100,000 to record a solid album in the 80's it still costs $15,000-$20,000 to work with a good producer. i am not sure how much Sneap costs, but i am sure it's more than that.

but i agree production is no longer a barrier for entry, which is a source of the problem on so many levels.

I suspect a decent portion of these costs will go away entirely, once there is no more physical media, and all music is distributed digitally.

naturally. for labels unlike mine who choose to go that route. i will always do physical releases because to me an all digital world sucks.

 

[skyrefuge]

If someone came up with a solution and was able to ban all illegal downloading, how would you expect me to find out about new bands?

Huh? How do you find out *now* about new bands to download? Whatever methods you use for that, that's what you would then use to find out who's MySpace (or whatever) to check out.

Music discovery (finding *who* to listen to) is totally independent from music sampling (finding *how* to listen to it). Whether you're downloading or MySpace-streaming for your music sampling, you need a music discovery process to tell you what to sample in the first place, right?

And really, the authorized methods of music sampling are much more integrated with the music discovery process than unauthorized methods are. Whether it's last.fm, MySpace friends, Pandora, etc., those sites generally combine music discovery tools with the ability to instantly sample what you've discovered. Torrent indexes don't have any music discovery features, and blogs are really just a list of semi-random links, not actual "blogs". Or do you go to some curated site where someone who exactly knows your tastes makes albums available for you to download?

If you'd made an argument that unauthorized downloading allows for more-effective sampling (it's more complete, better quality, and more portable), then I'd be right there with you. But the "downloading helps the music discovery process" just doesn't make any sense. Especially since there are now more and better music-discovery tools out there than there have been at any time in history. Far better than radio and MTV ever were.

Neil

 

[Jasonic]

Metallica: Formed, October 1981. Album released July, 1983.
Helloween: Formed, 1983. Album released 1985.
Fates Warning: Formed, 1982. Album released 1984.
Queensryche: Formed, 1981. EP released 1983. "They had never played together live before the band was signed."

So in your world, only 4 bands exist?
You REALLY are going to make me do this?????

Judas Priest - Formed 69, Album 74
Iron Maiden - Formed 75, Album 80
Pentagram - Formed 71, Album 85 (did demos, singles, smart!)
Accept - Formed 68, Album 79
Scorpions - Formed 65, Album 72

Yeah, there are a lot of bands who did immediately get signed (IE - Motley Crue getting signed and releasing a full length all in the same year they formed).

Though many bands, like the ones I mentioned above, worked hard to get the right formula together as a live and studio band before releasing any full length output.

Just saying that today the labels are quickly signing any trendy crap.
Just look at that abomination known as VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE, or whatever.
You mean to SERIOUSLY tell me they would have gotten signed if TWILIGHT was not around?

Things are easier now I suppose, with technology and being able to record at home right on your laptop, so anyone with good vision can put something out quickly. It is good and bad at the same time.

 

[Jasonic]

Dolamite - I am just ball bustin'. You know I am a Manilla Road fanboy. Though I still think it is very wrong and you will get slapped with a wet noodle if I ever see you in my town!

 

[jem777az]

There will always be music, whether or not people make money. But will they pay for orchestras, the best production, etc.? I mean, if you are okay with metal CDs sounding like they did in 1996 when there were no sales, that's fine, but if you want to hear bands like Rhapsody, Avantasia, and Nightwish give you the whole epic experience, they need to have a big budget.

I don't think that it's necessarily true that bands need a big budget to give you a whole epic experience. You can re-create an orchestra using samples and keyboards that is hard to distinguish from the real thing. Most people wouldn't even be able to tell the difference. In fact I'd bet that there are quite a few artists who you thought may have hired an orchestra who actually used samples/keyboards.