If a company makes millions (let alone billions) while all but the top 1-5% of their artists have to fight for scraps, piracy is the only good option. Dont buy from billion dollar companies at all. Support artists individually and let labels rot.
this post was submitted on 26 May 2024
99 points (97.1% liked)
Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
54746 readers
222 users here now
⚓ Dedicated to the discussion of digital piracy, including ethical problems and legal advancements.
Rules • Full Version
1. Posts must be related to the discussion of digital piracy
2. Don't request invites, trade, sell, or self-promote
3. Don't request or link to specific pirated titles, including DMs
4. Don't submit low-quality posts, be entitled, or harass others
Loot, Pillage, & Plunder
📜 c/Piracy Wiki (Community Edition):
💰 Please help cover server costs.
 |
 |
|---|---|
| Ko-fi | Liberapay |
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
This is the way. Vote with your wallet and try to be conscious where/when possible.
DRM-free versions are [almost] always available somewhere. If it's DRM-free, I will buy it if I like it. If the DRM-free version isn't for sale or I can't easily circumvent the DRM, it just means it came from the high seas instead of a local media store.
And don't even get me started on how often TV shows aren't even released on DVD/Blu-ray/4K. Again, I can't pay for it if no one is offering to sell it to me.
Im going to pirate this documentary
Let's overhaul the video game and film industries now.
There's a book by the same title that's very good.
Probably my all-time favourite non fiction title. It made me feel part of something bigger than just thinking of my teenage self as some lowly degenerate trawling zero-day torrent sites.
Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem. If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24/7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the US release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate’s service is more valuable.
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/valves-gabe-newell-says-piracy-is-a-service-problem/
It was true then and it's still true today. Services like Steam, Spotify, and Netflix are far more valuable to the consumer than physical distribution.
If you want to support your favorite artists, come out and see them on tour (at non-ticketmaster venues, preferably) and/or buy merch.
Video/TV streaming services seem to forget why they succeeded in the first place, with all the restrictions on family accounts, exclusivity deals etc.
Some of us still prefer Bandcamp over Spotify since artists actually get paid worth a shit from it, but that's just me.
Tbf, that's not really Spotify's fault. After operating costs and the cut to the various app stores they're on, the larger record labels hoover up all of the profits. Spotify has actually operated at a loss the past few years.
Just buy merch
Buy merch on Bandcamp, on a Bandcamp Friday. 100% of the money goes to the artist/label. They do these once a quarter or so IIRC.
There was just one on May 3rd. Upcoming ones are on September 6th, October 4th, and December 6th.
Unlike Spotify, if I download the music, I get to keep it. It doesn't disappear from the streaming service because of licensing issues. Even if it disappears from Bandcamp itself, if I already have a local copy, I get to keep that local copy.
For 15 years the only way I could listen to 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul was to listen to the rip of a CD I made years earlier, because licensing kept it off of streaming services.
Spotify can and will remove music from their library. Bandcamp can't remove my files from my PC and various backups. It's the equivalent of having a physical copy, but in digital format and is transferable and able to be backed up.
So true. Record labels seem to just want the ability to sell overpriced, shitty DRM locked licenses without any competition from piracy, because it shows just how exploitative their practices really are.
To add on this, most musicians make little money off physical releases. If they're an indie group/artist, they're probably losing money in the hopes that they gain an audience. Shows usually pay artists (but trust me, not always), and merch always gives artists something to keep them going (unless they're a victim of a 360 deal).
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.