A warning note

Don't quite get this. The indsutry is growing and yet they complain. It is a fact that just because somebody copied a song it doesn't mean they would have baught it.

There are small bits of evidence that in some cases "piracy" could actually boost sales...

I leave it to people to Google this topic for themselves, but you cannot take every song pirated as revenue lost.
 
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I strongly believe that if the pricing of music (and movies) was acceptable, a grater majority of the pirates (sic) would prefer to purchase and get the prettier case and CD/DVD including the extra goodies which are normally included on these.

If the potential purchaser feels totally ripped off, then the posiblity of using a copy increases directly in proportion to the amount being ripped off.
 
I've said it once, I've said it a million times. I simply don't believe that piracy has any impact whatsoever on music sales or of that of any other medium. People who want to own the product will go out and buy it regardless, and people who don't won't. It really is that simple.

People who download movies / full cd's and games have no intention of buying the product in the first place. If you make MP3's disappear tomorrow they would tape the songs off radio, MTV or whatever other means is available (like they did 15 years ago anyway).

The whole issue around P2P and piracy is overblown. The idustries assume that if they can stop people from downloading stuff they'll go out and buy it, and that just isn't true.
 
Personally I'm more likely to buy an album if I've like a song that I've downloaded - same goes for movies.
 
I agree with antowan, i download off the internet, its far more cheaper than spending R150 on a cd with only two or three goods songs on, i prefer to just make my own........i get much more enjoyment out of the music i want to listen to
 
There is a lot of waffle and nonsense in that article, but one bit that I'd like to warn others about is this:

SA has only one store that sells downloadable music through the Internet, Musica, in operation since December 2004.
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Here is the response to an email I sent questioning various aspects of that service ( admittedly I got a fast and reasonably honest response ):

RE: Music Downloads

Dear Peter

Thank you for your e-mail.

We hope that you find the answers to your questions below, satisfactory:-

Q. It won't work with Netscape. It won't work with Firefox. It won't work on my Mac.

A. Our site is set up to allow licensed downloads of tracks to users with a machine set up to deal with licensed media. For this purpose we rely on the integration between Windows, Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer. Unfortunately, if you use a different Operating System or Browser you will not be able to access our digital downloading service.

Q. Using IE on my PC it won't let me try a sample because it wants to "upgrade" my DRM. What does this "upgrade" do - does it change settings?

A. The upgrade will not change settings on your PC. It will merely upgrade your DRM file which is a component of Windows.

Q. Why is it so expensive - R8-33/song is fairly insane, even more than most CDs? R2-50 per song and it might be worth it. Even Apple's iTunes is cheaper at US$0-99c per song. Why use your service over Apple's?

A. Our digital service is hosted by a service provider in the U.K. Their track are priced at 99p which converts to R9.99. We were unable to secure a U.S Service Provider.

They were not interested in forming partnerships with SA. You are welcome to decide whether or not use our services as it best suites your needs.

Our current users have chosen to download from Musica as they feel we are an established reputable company where there purchases are safe.

Q. If I download a song, what format is it in? Can I burn it to a CD to put in my car radio or hi-fi? Can I play it in a non-microsoft player? Can I play it on my Mac?

A. Our permanent downloads in DRM protected WMA format. Most of our tracks are permits at least one licence to burn to CD. You may however confirm this on the relevant Rights Information link on the site. We can forward you a comprehensive mail on how to burn to CD. Once the CD is burned, it can be played on your CD player.

Our WMA tracks will not play on digital players which do not support protected WMA files. You can however transfer the tracks from a burned CD to your portable player.

It will not play on your Mac.

Q What is the sound format - is it compressed with lossy compression like MP3? Or is it uncompressed full CD quality.

A. Our WMA tracks are supplied as 128kpbs. This is very close to CD quality and does not have the inconsistency of an MP3 track.

Kind regards

Aqelah Mahatey
Musica Customer Services
Click to expand...

I sadly had to decline their service!
 
Well on that note, its time to mention the added value that people get from all the free coverage they get from all the attention they get.
How many filmstar celebrity's have risen to new heights of glory beacause of outrageaose beahavior?
I wonder if Telkom dont benifit from all the free publicity they get, be it good or bad.
I mean look at the cigarrete box "harmful when pregant' etc "smoking can kill you" hasnt harmed the tobacco industry.
I am sure if we dug hard enogh we would find statistics to support that there would be a direct correlation between say - "illegal downlaod" publicity and a rise in sales of dvd, cd media blanks.
and the warnings about which night clubs were in the tabloids for "drug scares" - i mean thats just what dealers want isnt it?

Its the age old philosophy "if its illegal it must be cool"
or "naughty = nice"
So how do we know that the purveyors of authuring hardware and software, arent just boosting there own coffers by blowing the whistle on it?
and erm, guys, gals why do Sony make writers? and DVD media?
Why does Microsoft software include a "rip this dvd to your hardrive"
i dont buy it, guys its a society of duplicity that we live in, full of incongruety
it all boils to three things/ PROTECTIONISM and CHANGE, and who has more money.
it is only a matter of time till we watch media streamed over our puters and pay a few rand for the right to do so.
the only thing in this world that is constant,- is change, and the rest of the world, legals trademarks etc, battle to catch up, editing the small print and making addendums ad nauseum to keep there companies in the black.
perhaps it is more rational to look at the vendors , purveyors of "thechnology of yesteryear" as being the problem.

question: why only 10 - 15 tracks on a cd????
answer: oh!! ? you mean you can get more on??

think: oh no then i make less profit.
statement: lets keep to wav format and pretend we never heard of mp3. :)
 
Simple Twist Of Fate said:
question: why only 10 - 15 tracks on a cd????
answer: oh!! ? you mean you can get more on??

think: oh no then i make less profit.
statement: lets keep to wav format and pretend we never heard of mp3. :)
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The main reason that there are only 10-15 tracks on a CD is so that the CD conforms to Red book specifications - i.e <700MB with wav encoding. Also, royalties are payable per song, not per CD.

edit: ...I have a tinfoil hat for you...
 
I wish the music industry will get with the times... they seem to get their stats in a twist.... Someone who copies MP3's does not mean he would have bought the CD in the first place. ... They are loosing money on the the other crap 13 tracks on a CD that would not have sold 1.
 
90% of the MP3's on my system is from unknown artists. I download them, listen to them and if I like an artist's work I buy a CD. I just wish more artists would supply some free samples of their work on the internet as most of the MP3's I downloaded are from P2P.
 
as someone mentioned i don't wanna pay R99-150 to listen to one song, and sadly nowadays some 'artists' only have one good thing and then dissapear from the limelight cause they other tracks are crud. What ever happen to fried jam dot com ? Anyways if only sa music was available as a pay per song and was as cheap as R2.50 i'd buy alot. Another factor is they selling 128kbps.. which is alot less than a standard cd/uncompressed and yes you can hear the difference i think up to about 192k or so. it really depends on the type of music and sounds they making. Ofcause cd quality is still best.
 
Haha! Wish I had "standard" taste in music so I could buy cheap R100-R150 CDs locally! I have to import everything I listen to firstly because noone stocks anything locally and secondly because stores who import it for you charge R160 - R250 per disc...

As for movie piracy... It's actually quite a ridiculous idea in South Africa. Do a quick equation. What does it cost you to download a movie? Let's say a DivX is about 700MB. I'm on a 10GB SAIX account which I pay R349 for. R359 for my line and another 93 for the analogue line. Total: R801. That means R80.10 per GB. +- R65/R70 per movie. What happens when a movie's 2CDs like a lot of them are lately? Then you get the idiots who actually download DVDs! What the f*@#?! 4.3GB @ R80/GB? Sheesh...

Well, that's my 2c... Telkom helps fight piracy!
 
It's never been worthwhile to download movies in SA, even in the good 30gig days. If you want a pirated movie, you can buy it easily at a flea market or road crossing. I personally think that "genuine" movies are a rip-off with weak story lines at a high price and pirated movies still have a story line that stinks. So I don't buy movies, whether genuine or pirated nor download them.
 
I agree with krycor, I am also sick of paying up to R150 for one track.

By the same token I also object to being charged UK prices per track, by Musica, especially when the UK arguably has the highest prices in Europe. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm certainly not earning a UK-sized salary.

It seems to be time for the music industry, at least in SA, to realise it isn't going to even come close to doing anything about piracy until it starts to provide value for money, and approx. R2.50 per downloadable track sounds reasonable to me.

In the meantime the music industries attempts to stop piracy have been nothing short of laughable, like for example the Sony BMG b**ls-up in the past few weeks or this gem from the MPAA:

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/01/hollywood_after_the_.html
 
Does anyone remember the days when double tape decks with high -speed dubbing were cool? Back then if the music you enjoyed wasnt in the top 40 the only way youd get to hear it was on a copy of a copy that you got from a buddy.
Its pretty much the same these days, "piracy" is exposure for bands whose music doesnt fit into the mainstream.
As for all the celebrity types whos crap is on the radio 20 times a day they can make up for the losses from piracy by showing off their *(&^ing huge mansions and the 5 mercedes benz s in their garages on Cribs or by selling the exclusive media rights to their next wedding.
Are we really supposed to give a $#!t about these people ?
 
Nick333 said:
Does anyone remember the days when double tape decks with high -speed dubbing were cool? Back then if the music you enjoyed wasnt in the top 40 the only way youd get to hear it was on a copy of a copy that you got from a buddy.
Its pretty much the same these days, "piracy" is exposure for bands whose music doesnt fit into the mainstream.
As for all the celebrity types whos crap is on the radio 20 times a day they can make up for the losses from piracy by showing off their *(&^ing huge mansions and the 5 mercedes benz s in their garages on Cribs or by selling the exclusive media rights to their next wedding.
Are we really supposed to give a $#!t about these people ?
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Piracy in the 'old days' with casettes were not a problem as every copy got worse and worse and it eventually became so bad you could not listen to it. Besides, the music industry gets a "fee" for every blank casette sold.

The digital format is loss-less and you cant differentiate between the original or copy. The music companies also get paid for every effing blank CD sold too... (they tried to levy a fee on MP3/USB memory sticks in Canada, but the government soon stopped this practice)
 
SA has only one store that sells downloadable music through the Internet, Musica, in operation since December 2004. It has close to 800 000 songs on offer at around R9,90 each and hopes to have 1m songs in stock before Christmas
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man, i really wish iTunes would hurry up already and "open up" a "store" in sa
i mean, who the heck uses .wma files anyway?
and how many portable devices out there actually support it?
there doesn't seem to be any legal (viable) solutions for downloading music in sa

edit: okay, so on closer inspection it seems there are quite a few .wma players out there, but still... :)
 
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arf9999 said:
The main reason that there are only 10-15 tracks on a CD is so that the CD conforms to Red book specifications - i.e <700MB with wav encoding. Also, royalties are payable per song, not per CD.

edit: ...I have a tinfoil hat for you...
Click to expand...

heh, well tin foil or not, cmon who wrote the redbook?
the same guys who pass legislation to support companies that buy the guys that write it?
its protectionism
 
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