downloading music? you're ripping yourself off

you know when i was a young man i used to put a lot of research into my music, as a matter of fact i still do. i would read interviews with my favourite musicians and see what they were listening to, i would ask the guy at the record store what he was getting into, i would demo out CD's at the store, and then i would pick out what i thought were going to be the best albums. every album i bought was with my hard earned cash. there were times a friend burned a CD or recorded a mix tape, and there's nothing like a good swap with your friend, but most of the time it was me getting excited about a band, then going to the store and buying the CD

there were plenty of times i bought a CD and on the first listen would be incredibly disapointed. i once bought 'the very best of marvin pontiac' from amazon.com and it cost me $75 after delivery fees etc. i nearly cried when i heard it first, thinking this is absolute crap. but because i paid $75 i made myself listen to it over and over till i liked the album. actually i was working a bar in london once and a famous DJ and i started talking and he mentioned the album and i told him i had it. he was very impressed and then i thought to myself "that wasn't such a bad purchase was it?"

the point i'm trying to make is, because i paid for the album i made myself listen to it. if i've paid for something i will generally listen to it until i start to like it, otherwise it was a waste of money. thats not to say that you must like all the music you buy, but the dollars spent make you value the product a little more

now i have a problem with people downloading music for free. i'm not going to jump to the stealing argument but rather i'm going to say that when you get something for free you tend to value it less. i know people who download so much music, listen to it once, dismiss it without giving it a real listen, and then proceed to move on. i think this really diminishes the value of what the artist spent weeks, months, or years creating

i believe if you really value music, art, film, etc you try to contribute to it, but also you really try to delve into what you have before you. by downloading excessive amounts of music how can you really value what you have? it just becomes a cheap commodity that is easily expendible. you know i have a deep connection with every music purchase i've ever made and for this i am eternally thankful

now i'm not trying to preach to anyone and i'm not saying that swapping music with friends, or even the odd free download is wrong. i just think that being greedy is really cheating yourself. some of my favourite albums took over ten listens or even more to really get into and i couldn't imagine my life without these little gems. its all about respecting yourself and your love for the art, along with respecting the individuals who make a living from giving us this joy

later