#93 Music Piracy
March 30, 2008 by clander
White people have always been renowned for having ridiculously large music collections. So when file sharing gave white people a chance to acquire all the music they ever wanted, it felt as though it was an earned right and not a privilege.
When (not if) you see a white male with a full iPod, ask him if all of his music is legal. If he does not immediately launch into a diatribe about his right to pirate music, you might have to nudge him a bit by saying “do you think that’s right?” The response will be immediate and uniform.
He will likely rattle off statistics about how most musicians don’t make any money from albums, it all comes from touring and merchandise. So by attending shows, he is able to support the musicians while simultaneously striking a blow against multinational corporations. He will proceed to walk you through the process of how record labels are set up to reward the corporation and fundamentally rob the artist of their rights, royalties and creativity. Prepare to hear the name Steve Albini a lot.
Advanced white people will also talk about how their constant downloading of music makes them an expert who can properly recommend bands to friends and co-workers, thus increasing revenues and exposure. So in fact, their “illegal” activities are the new lifeblood of the industry.
When they have finished talking, you must choose your next words wisely. It is considered rude to point out the simple fact that they are still getting music for free. Instead you should say: “Wow, I never thought of it like that. You know a lot about the music industry. What bands are you listening to right now? Who is good?”
This sentence serves two functions: it helps to reassure the white person that they are your local “music expert,” something they prize. Also, it lets them feel as though they have convinced you that their activities are part of a greater social cause and not simple piracy.
If you bring up this issue with white person who says “nah bro, I don’t give a shit, Dave Matthews has enough money as it is.” You are likely dealing with wrong kind of white person.
In the even more rare situation where someone says “it’s all paid for, and it’s all transferred from vinyl.” You have found an expert level white person and must treat the situation carefully. 
Because of the availability of music online, a very strict social hierarchy has been created within white culture whereby someone with a large MP3 collection is considered “normal,” a large CD collection is considered to be “better,” and a person with a large vinyl collection is recognized as “elite.”
These elite white people abhor the fact that music piracy has made their B-sides, live performances, and bootlegs available to the masses. Their entire life’s work has been stripped of its rarity in terms of both object and sound on the record. The best thing you can say to them is: “vinyl still sounds better.”
However, it is recommended that you do not let this conversation drag much longer. If you let them continue talking to you they are likely to spend hours talking to you about bands you’ve never heard of and providing you with a weekly mix CD of rarities that you do not want.
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That is funny.
http://messedupparentingtips.wordpress.com/
Pfft. You guys totally aren’t white enough. I write for a music PUBLICATION and get my music direct from the labels. And I have vinyl. Bam.
I’m a White guy and I have a HUGE record collection of old vinyl, and 0 (ZERO) pirated songs. In fact, I have no ipod, and I never owned an ipod.
I guess that makes me an ELITE in this. I mean, like, high Mason/Rosicrcian, Knights Templar Order of music collecting. In fact, there are probably only a few who are higher than me. People who own stuff like: old music boxes, old music scores, Edison cylinders, stuff like that. But I am definitely in the upper triangle, over the gap that separates the lower half of the pyramid where other White guys download Itunes.
I’m so white I buy all My music because of the album art.
buying your music for just album art does not make you so white….that makes you kind of stupid…
Even if everyone does it, it’s still illegal. The authorities just can’t keep up everyone, so it becomes one of the it’s-illegal-but-who-gives-a-shit-cauz-everyone-does-it activities.
Kinda like doing five MPH over the speed limit, another thing white people like :p
ha. shiiiit i do 9 over. unless its a school zone!
I don’t think there is as much “piracy” anymore as there is people just giving music out for free.
I get a lot of new music to DJ with off blogs, but it’s not illegal music. It’s homemade music that bedroom producers make and choose to give out, simply because they love their creations and do not want to get lost in the massive sea of stuff on iTunes or Beatport. They want exposure more than a quick buck.
Look at the Crookers and how famous they became because they gave their music out.
I don’t stand by piracy…mostly because now the tunes spread around the net are either terrible quality and/or they’re phony and are just hidden shells for viruses.
However, I still remember the labels saying how music would be so cheap by the year 2000…now we’re paying at times $2-$3 for one song when a whole CD would cost us $10-$15.
Lord knows when I finish some of my own productions, they’ll be up on free blogs and such. I’d rather have a million kids downloading and spreading my music than selling my tracks 2-3 times and never being heard by the masses.
I know, right? I think the man who makes this website has a little too much built up anger against the White race…
Pshaw… this is just satyrical social commentary at it’s finest. Whiteness isn’t something to be taken too seriously the author is just turning a fine poignant gaze into a cultural phenomenon that is “whiteness” taken for granted as normal and makes it look at itself in an incisive manner. Good stuff! White race by it’s very definition is exclusive but funny how spot on his commentary can be, so lighten up and just laugh. Some of my most favorite people are white folks.
“Some of my most favorite people are white folks.”
Good call.
Because of lessening revenues to the labels due to piracy, there are naturally fewer albums being made, especially considering the risk inherent in developing new artists.
I work as a studio musician in Los Angeles and the work load for even the best players is down by over 50% over 10 years ago. In addition, since there are fewer sessions, studios are closing and the engineers, studio managers and even the guys that clean the studio are losing there job.
To guys like Tony who know they are stealing and don’t care, there is not much to say. To others I say my family and I only wish to have a life where we don’t have to worry about making a living and our future security.
Please help the people in our business by not stealing our work…
You’re failing to take into account other aspects of technology that lessen the demand for studio musicians. Autotune has made it easier to do without pro back-up vocalists. MIDI and software synths have made the practice of hiring a professional keyboard player essentially obsolete unless you need someone to play live. Programs like Battery tend to do the same for drummers and percussionists as well.
Compounding that is the fact that basically every major recording these days is done using either Pro Tools or Logic, which are essentially really complicated sequencers that can also record audio. If you play a part correctly that gets repeated later in the song, it’s incredibly easy to just copy and paste it (no need for breaking out razor blades and cutting up tape), resulting in shorter sessions. The editing has gotten so sophisticated that even if you make minor mistakes, they can often be fixed.
Last I checked, most session musicians don’t get any kind of residuals, so record sales only indirectly affect you. For what you say to be true, there would have to be a huge drop off in the number of albums actually released in a year, which is definitely not true. There’s less demand for session musicians because there’s simply less demand for live instrumentation.
The fact is, the music market has become fragmented. The days of record companies being able to essentially dictate what’s popular are over. The future belongs to artists and musicians who are willing to take on production, etc themselves instead of waiting for “hit makers” to “discover” them and hire a full staff of musicians and songwriters.
The problem you are facing is inherent with your own words, “I work as a studio musician…” This signals to me that you are not loyal to one band and not interested in creating art, you are just a “professional musician” manufacturing as much music as possible. I wouldn’t even bother stealing the shit you produce.
And by the way, you are dead wrong about fewer albums being made. The reality is with the technology of the internet musical ARTISTS have the ability to produce their own ART without the need of a professional studio. Which means there are naturally an insane amount of albums being made every year.
Join a band and make some art, then people will appreciate it buy purchasing it. Dick.
The solution is easy. Make the music affordable. CDs cost pennies to the dollar to create, yet today’s music CDs cost more than the average movie DVD.
With a movie DVD at least i get a couple of hours of entertainment, while with today’s music CDs, you would be lucky to get 8 minutes of worthwhile music! And to add insult to injury, music CDs cost on average almost as much, if not more, to buy than the average movie DVD. Can you say OVERPRICED music CDs???
You don’t respect the public with reasonable prices, and the public will go around you to get what they want.
This is such bullshit. I just released an album. I sold the CD for $10 anywhere in the world with free shipping and broke even. CDs do not cost pennies to the dollar to create. To get a professionally manufactured CD to your door as an independent artist with a small run (say 200 CDs) costs $3.50 a piece + $1 for packaging + $3 shipping in US or $5 shipping out of US, not to mention the ancilliary costs. I made zero dollars – it can’t get any cheaper without burning a CD-R for you and putting a shitty label, but then you people will complain about that and say “fuck him, I can just download it and burn it myself.” A large label can afford to purchase tens of thousands of prepackaged CDs, and their cost per unit is still around $2.
“Pennies to the dollar”? I don’t think so.
The physical materials to create a CD are inexpensive, sure, but it’s definitely not cheap to record, mix, master, promote, and distribute an album, not to mention the dozens of people that all need to be paid throughout this process.
Making a CD is an investment, one that you expect to get back through – what else? – album sales.
so you are telling me that it costs MORE to make a CD than a movie DVD?? Justify how does a music CD costs more than a movie DVD?
You can’t.
The music industry are just damned too greedy and now they are paying the price…..along with all the people who are paid throughout the process.
No sympathy here.
yes in most cases it does cost more to make a film than a record. its just stupid to think that it wouldnt. they are twice as long, they are moving picture sound and music, they have being crews to pay ect. a record is what 40mins of average? they can be made by one person in a bedroom with a laptop. however this doesnt have shit do with my a dvd is cheaper. (and they arnt most of the time)
movies get a box office release (they make millions here) most ppl still see movies cause we all how much better it is to see a film in a cinema. and they they get put out on dvd where they make even more money off them selling them from anywhere from 10-40 bucks AU. (im from Australia)
a record gets put out and then sold that’s it, you can go pay to listen to it 1st at some theater or what ever. you can buy it or download. everyone knows that ppl dont buy records anymore. i dont think greed comes into it with have the cd ppl buy. i am a musicain, i dont mean to sound like a twat saying that i just i know that from the records i put out that i know most ppl wont buy it. so i want to make the few ppl who do feel as tho its worth it, by adding extra stuff, art bonus tracks ect. deluxe edtions are a good exmaple.
piont is there are some things you cant download, these are what you buying. if ppl dont buy records a tangible side of music will die.
also touching on the lables stealing form the artist shit (sorry this is really long and im sure noone will read this) lables need to make money in order to put out records. bands know this they are on lables cos its hard to get ppl to hear ur music. id say its more than fair for a lable to take most of the profit for a record they put out. they can make thier living playing show as it was said before.
please dont feel you need to “own” me by picking holes in the grammar and spelling. i am well aware i cant write well, and really it just makes you look like a twat.
dont think i need to say this but this is just my opinion
I bet you also have an entry called “paying for music on itunes” or something. Christ this got old fast.
Come on, everyone does it!
I know it’s stealing, and I know stealing is wrong. I just don’t give a shit.
At least you are honest!
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