Blog # 2 - Downloading Vs. Buying Music

Response to a post on www.brotherali.com "Is it ok to download music as long as you spread the word and go to the shows?"

Category:

Entertainment

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• Second
• Blog

[ngaotw123]

i agree but disagree. times are tough and dropping 20 bucks on a record just isnt easy when you need that 20 to go to the electric bill. stealing? come on now, find a better word. its a slur to the fans who spread your good name everyday. thats our end of the bargain in my view. spreading it and increasing your popularity. i know ive personally must have showed over 100 people your music. then think about all the people they tell. your records will be bought from a portion of all of those people

[BrotherAliMpls]

If something is for sale and you take it without paying, that's stealing. The fact that you don't FEEL like you're stealing doesn't change the fact that someone's time, energy and money went into that product. You feel entitled to it because you spread the word? Who's offending who? How would you feel if you worked a day at your job and instead of your boss paying you, they spread the word?

[dabomb1357]

Problem is there's two differant definitons of stealing that use to be one. With real, physical stuff like a car, you steal it, someone can't sell it and has to buy a new one. You made them lose money. That the legal definition.

With a digital album that doesn't exist in the real world, if I won't or can't buy it anyway, me downloading it has no affect other than I get to enjoy music, but someone did work hard on it and they deserve to be paid. This is the moral problem and moral definition.

[BrotherAliMpls]

For you to enjoy the music, I spend months of my life and tens of thousands of dollars with the understanding that I'll be able to SELL the product to recoup my expenses and maybe make some profit for the work and risk. Instead of paying your share to enjoy the music, you just copy and rock on. I'm not trippin' I'm just asking you to call a spade a spade. It's stealing.

[njcarlos1]

I don't mean to ramble on but just think for a second that if everyone who was a fan of Brother Ali said... I'll download it because I don't plan to buy it anyway, and it'll do no harm because other people *will* buy it. Sounds nice but when everyone starts to think like you, those who actually pay become fewer and fewer, until he can no longer afford to make quality music ...and then do you still believe you haven't hurt him? And in the process, yourself?

[BennyLLove]

People shouldn't make a difference between stealing and stealing. If you're illegally downloading music, you're stealing. Don't make it something it isn't. The moral question whenever you should or shouldn't download illegal music is something I can't answer, but it's all stealing in the end.

[FolkMetalPiper]

People download because its free, easy and they are lazy... I buy music because I can and I enjoy to support the bands that I love. When I downloaded, id sit here looking at all these posters and t-shirts with nothing to show for it.. it was all on my computer and if i did burn a CD it still felt hollow

[haveanaudiogasm]

I buy a lot of music via iTunes and if I think a whole CD will be good I buy it. Everyone is guilty of downloading, but the artists need fans to actually BUY the music in order to make money. With resources like iTunes where you can just buy one or two songs if you want to, there's no reason not to spend a LITTLE money on the artists.

[Metalobsession94]

i download music to make sure i don't buy something i don't like. If i like it, i buy it. But when it comes to music that i'm a hardcore fan of, i don't mind downloading it. I just buy it.

[MrInstrumentalist]

Brother Ali you really go hard in the paint! I didn't have to steal your music and I found out about you so that rhetoric about people not being able to discover someone unless they illegally download their music (when you can discover them I tunes or watch YouTube) I don't really get that..

[Shawnku00]

awesome blog, check out casketlegs. com

maybe we can link back to each other?

[thegreatmoto]

yo brother ali i love your music man... i remember buying shadows in the sun back in 05, its still one of my favorite albulms of all time.... i feel ya bro, and it kills me to see people downloading beautiful music without a care in the world and not knowing how it hurts the people making the music... i'd like to tell you hopfully people will change but i'm not sure if too many these days can go a day without the internet.... either way fam i got love for you, and i do appreciate your music

[jgq85]

Why not just donate money to the RIAA. That's where your money's going anyways.

[benjs001]

Brother Ali; as engaging as ever! Love hearing him talking about music. Much love from the UK.