[quote name='darthbudge']Piracy is not always a detrimental thing to the artists or creators. There have been many times that I have downloaded an album from an Artist, just because it was the new thing, or I thought it looked interesting. If I had to play money for that CD, I never would have listened to them. However, since I did, I may have discovered I like them, this may cause me to buy Band T-shirts, Concert Tickets, I recommend them to my friends, who then may go out and buy the CD, and then they might recommend it to their friends.
Also, if there is work that I truly find outstanding, I do go and buy it.[/quote]
As a DJ (and an artist), I can tell you that the underground is rough. We're always looking for exposure, but we're also scraping money up together (usually money we earned outside of music) to get the next project underway. Right now, we know the main money to be made is on shows and ringtones. I've actually tried to get some of our original material to some "ripping groups" in hopes we'd gain more listeners, and expand our market (to clarify, all material given is done so with express permission from the copyright holder).
Of course, I don't speak on behalf of the industry, just me and other artists I work with that share my view on this. As someone who stands to be paid off royalties, it's hard dealing with the fact that many people who will pay for my product won't be paying me, but that doesn't mean they'll never pay me. Being in it for the long haul, I hope the listeners I get will become fans, and search for my products through any distribution channel that supports me making more music.
That being said, each industry is affected by piracy slightly differently. While artists have shows and ringtones, as well as other income venues, games & movies are different. Movies make money off theatre showings, dvd sales, and merchandising (if applicable). Many people who download or buy pirated movies, view it more like cable television, in which they're paying low prices for some entertainment. The industry should actually seek to employ "bootleggers" to have them simply keep a stock log, and pay a per-disc royalty (which could be low), as well as have a business license and pay taxes. This wouldn't wipe out the retailer market, as they could set restrictions such as single layer copies only, or no HD content, or maybe not offer special features, etc.
If you weren't going to make the purchase, but because it's a much lower cost, you get it. Piracy still isn't free. To me, this says to me the best way to deal with it is find a way to incur a similar cost & means to those who already pirate, to avoid "losing out". In other words, if someone buys bootlegs because they're only $5, you could make that $5 instead of the bootlegger if you offered that person the same product for $5. The industry mostly looses to piracy because they don't attempt to compete with it on it's level, for fear they can't control it.
In the meantime, it's still illegal.
*EDIT* For anyone wondering about my name (gamertag/DJ name), it's pronounced "piracy", but the meaning is "Pyra" is in "pyrotechnics", and the "C" is for the pronounciation of it, making it like the "pyra" is "in motion" (so to speak).
ed up. First rule of fake accounts: don't have a conversation with yourself.
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