Can SOPA Save the Music Industry?

[chrisso]

On recent record this thread will get swiftly locked.
(Just so you know)
Monster Cable take down Gear slutz?

[Liquid360]

thread will get swiftly locked.

Why? This is the "Music Business" forum, and that Bill will affect all of us. I'm pretty sure music and movies are the biggest piracy targets.

[ScumBum]

I'm all for anything that will get people buying music again , which gets artists money , then recording studios money , then better music being made because theres big budgets . That would be awesome !!

[Michael Jin]

SOPA will not save the music (or movie) industry even if it miraculously passes. If adhering to pre-existing business models is what defines "saving the industry", nothing short of aliens disabling our modern technology and eliminating the internet will save it. It's not pirates and internet websites that have screwed things up. It's technological progress and social change.

You can either embrace society's changing perceptions of intellectual property and try to adapt or you can hang on to a model that's doomed to fail because people don't believe in it anymore. That's how these things work.

[JoRillo]

I'm all for anything that will get people buying music again , which gets artists money , then recording studios money , then better music being made because theres big budgets . That would be awesome !!

Oh... My... God...

That is all you care about? I'm not even guna get into this argument right now - just this statement.

Anything? You are ok with ANYTHING that gets music sales up? Even stripping you of your liberty's as an American? .... Anything?

[automatom]

Sopa is an internationally humilating mistake by the US govt.

It will not lead to increased music sales, for a generation raised on the concept of a simple link to a song or video, it is anathema.

How do we all find out about music now? Won't under sopa.

How do we all use the internet to share interesting and funny things we've found? Won't under sopa.

Either sopa is what it appears to be, and will decisively kill off the american creative industries for good. or it is just a stupid piece of uninforceable shit. Either way, why support it?

Without the ability to 'share' there is no 'inter' in internet. Just a network of no use.

[Liquid360]

Oh... My... God...

That is all you care about?

Oh No! not the evil MONEY that feeds me! How stupid of me?

If you want to be a "starving artist" knock yourself out. But don't drag me down with you.

How do we all find out about music now? Won't under sopa.

The same way you used to find out about products before everything was "free", through advertisements. The difference is you get paid when people buy your work.

YOU get paid, NOT GOOGLE.

[mikeg09]

That’s why I am 50-50 on the matter. I also would like to see artists, producers, engineers, and record companies get PAID for what they do. Too many people these days are STEALING from other people. It needs to stop.

The only downside about all of this is will the government take advantage irresponsibly if they gain the power to censor websites?

[Liquid360]

if they gain the power to censor websites?

If you aren't doing anything illegal, then you have nothing to worry about.

[Ninathadon]

Originally Posted by automatom

Sopa is an internationally humilating mistake by the US govt.

I completely agree. It will not save anything it will just cause riots, not to mention the blatant disregard for freedom of speech and expression.

If by some unknown reason it actually passes eventually it will lead to the control of what artists are aloud to say, and even how we sell our own creations.

[Liquid360]

I completely agree. It will not save anything it will just cause riots, not to mention the blatant disregard for freedom of speech and expression.

If by some unknown reason it actually passes eventually it will lead to the control of what artists are aloud to say, and even how we sell our own creations.

Well, we aren't selling ANY of our creations right now. How is enforcing the LAW an attack of YOUR personal freedoms?

[mikeg09]

Originally Posted by Liquid360

If you aren't doing anything illegal, then you have nothing to worry about.

Yea, but if it hinders our freedom of speech and our only means to express ourselves, then that is a problem as well. I havent looked much into it all but im going to find out everything involved with SOPA.

[Ninathadon]

Originally Posted by Liquid360

Well, we aren't selling ANY of our creations right now. How is enforcing the LAW an attack of YOUR personal freedoms?

Because it simply won't end there, if we let the regulate major websites eventually the will control them completely.


this is simply my opinion, im not mad at anyone who disagree's i was just adding my two cents.

[mikeg09]

Well its kind of overboard that you could go to jail for singing a famous song on youtube. Its not like you would be getting paid to sing somebody elses song on youtube anyway.

I think this whole thing started because piracy is starting to affect the movie industry. It crippled the music industry whether you want to beleive it or not.. but now people are downloading movies for free.

I dont agree with people stealing Music or Movies that took a lot of hard work and MONEY to make happen.

Its like you build a house for somebody and then they dont pay you for it..

Im still 50-50

[MannyTheAvatar]

Originally Posted by Liquid360

If you aren't doing anything illegal, then you have nothing to worry about.

Any legal and legit website with any social component has quite a bit to worry about since they are responsible for whatever people write and link to. One little thing that may or may not be illegal or link to something that could be illegal could mean that that website would be in legal trouble and could be shut down... at least that's what I gather from my understanding of SOPA.

[Liquid360]

freedom of speech

Freedom of speech does not include intellectual theft. At that point, you're just using "Freedom of speech" as an excuse to steal.

[initialsBB]

Has anyone else been seeing a stop sopa ad all day at the top of gearslutz? I was kind of surprised by that.

[mikeg09]

Originally Posted by Liquid360

Freedom of speech does not include intellectual theft. At that point, you're just using "Freedom of speech" as an excuse to steal.

I agree.

But then again, our government could be using THAT as an excuse to do what they want and control us in an irresponsible way. Who knows what they can do.

[JoRillo]

Originally Posted by Liquid360

Oh No! not the evil MONEY that feeds me! How stupid of me?

If you want to be a "starving artist" knock yourself out. But don't drag me down with you.

I find it hilarious that this is the only part of my statement you quote. If you want to be rich with no freedoms then by all means - go find a country that you can do that in. I as an American would rather have a freedom of speech and the rights that my constitution has given me over a bit more money in the bank.

If all you care about is the music industry making more money then I think it is a pity that people think this way. I would rather live free then live rich - maybe not you - but that's your right to think how you want.

[chrisso]

But your attitude is very wrong.
It's not about net freedoms versus rich rock stars, it's about piracy versus the ability of musicians to work on their music, feed their family and maybe own a home.
This kind of shows a weakness in the anti-music business mentality, that it has to be characterized as millionaires and private jets.
It's actually about helping ordinary workers do their job without being ripped off.

[drumdrum]

Ironically, if SOPA gets passed, GS along with many other forums and sites, will soon cease to exist. People technically break copyright laws everyday without realising it. Imagine not being able to talk about specific items or people on the internet, for otherwise sopa would shut you down. Ironically if SOPA was passed, this thread would have already broken its rules numerous times.

I'm all for artists getting a fair deal, but before the internet came along, things weren't as rosy as people want to think. Only the lucky bands (not always the best) got signed and still the record labels could take advantage of them. I mean, how else could the band get their music out there without label support?
Of course the story is different for the bigger bands in those days (the guns n rosed and the acdcs etc) who had labels fighting over them so they could choose who to sign to.

But music is an artform at the end of the day. You may not like a piece of music, but others may. The internet allows the lesser folk to get out in the public to some extent. Sure, this does lead to a lot of bad music getting released, but every so often, a real gem of a band come through that could never have been given a fair shot by a label (for various reasons), that just makes wading through the crap worthwhile. Its rarely a case of "the cream riding to the top"....any one who's ever been in a serious band knows that.

If sopa passes, what do you think will honestly happen? The US has no jurisdiction outside the US, so international legal issues will tie up the courts instead of dealing with more important issues, and in the meantime, the pirates will still download music either from a different server in a different country, or from a friends computer. And while this supposed "piracy cure" is being tied up in courts, the other massive liberal freedoms that were sacrificed for it, will ultimately have been in vain. The pirates and their ilk unfortunately have some of the brightest technical minds at their disposal that no law can repress. They'll find a way...they always do.

SOPA is not a piracy cure....it can't ever be. Piracy isnt a "disease" that it once was that can be cured anymore.....it has become a philosophy among the mass public that must be considered, adapted to and compromised with. I am not justifying piracy.... it is wrong, no question...,it is stealing, plain and simple. However, you cannot stop that what is generally (and universally) not seen as a big deal.....and its certainly not worth foregoing such crucial civil liberties that sopa will destroy.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Gearslutz.com

[Liquid360]

Has anyone else been seeing a stop sopa ad all day at the top of gearslutz? I was kind of surprised by that.

Because they think all the YouTube links won't work anymore.

Let's face it, most of us WANT our music to be heard for free. But we should at least have the choice. That's what I think this is about. the CHOICE to decide what to do with your own intellectual property. Right now we have NO choice.

[Iamcory]

Originally Posted by automatom

How do we all find out about music now? Won't under sopa.

How do we all use the internet to share interesting and funny things we've found? Won't under sopa.

how did people discover music before the internet?

and i've read a moderate amount about SOPA but I still don't exactly understand how it hinders freedom of speech.

[chrisso]

Originally Posted by drumdrum

I'm all for artists getting a fair deal, but before the internet came along, things weren't as rosy as people want to think. Only the lucky bands (not always the best) got signed and still the record labels could take advantage of them.

Total myth.
I started out in the business in 1980 and spent the whole of the 80's in small indie bands, as well as making records as a studio drummer.

[JoRillo]

I understand your guys reasoning to want this bill - but I feel your taking the first offer rather then wait for the good one to come. This bill goes against American liberty's - therefore I will NEVER stand for it. Maybe you don't care because your already closing in on the end of your life and just don't care about future generations - well - "Hi there" I am one of the future generations (I guess I count as the "current" - not future generation of adults - but you get my point).

[Liquid360]

Maybe you don't care because your already closing in on the end of your life and just don't care about future generations

No, it's exactly because I do care about future generations that I bring this issue to light.

[mikeg09]

I think at the end of the day, if you are not doing anything illegal and not sharing files that dont belong to you, there is nothing to worry about I hope. I just dont want SOPA to effect my life in anyway.

Pirates will probably find another way, but the majority of pirating will be fixed if this is passed. If people make a living off of music and movies and that is how they feed their families, who are we to steal from them?

The United States has the most successful entertainment business in the world. You think Iraq would ever make a baddass movie like "The Dark Knight"? Hell no. If we keep downloading music and movies for free, eventually the entertainment business will no longer have the money to make badass entertainment.. And I like the Dark Knight!

[JoRillo]

Originally Posted by Liquid360

No, it's exactly because I do care about future generations that I bring this issue to light.

Yes - Piracy is an issue - do you honestly think music will stop because of piracy? HAHAHA That's a joke.

Industry's evolve - and one day someone will come up with a genius way of stopping it - this is NOT it.

Pirates will probably find another way, but the majority of pirating will be fixed if this is passed. If people make a living off of music and movies and that is how they feed their families, who are we to steal from them?

Actually the movie industry is still making a killing. Maybe not "as much" as it potentially could be making, but still not in danger of going under.

[chrisso]

UUUUgh.
1) First offer.
Piracy has been attacking the ability of musicians to earn money for nearly ten years, pretty hardcore for the last five.
2) Liberty.
I have no liberty to stop someone taking the fruit of my labor without permission and without payment. Your loss of liberty is a fear, not yet proven. The musicians loss of liberty is here and present.
3) Future generations.
Past generations of consumers did very well while paying for their creative content.
I'm concerned about future generations of content creators. Future creative people.