I know right you can just use your five-finger discount and use the grab-and-go register and it's yours.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

They're both the same thing...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

In essence, nobody loses anything from downloading illegally. There were no variable costs for having the album online for purchase. However, with the store, there's the material the CD is made of, the workers who helped make it and the workers in the store. The store loses money if they give 10 things away for free, but nobody really loses anything if I download illegally.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well it does cost money to sell through iTunes. Though the artist probably did make their money back in sales already, it does cost to sell in most online stores.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Variable cost is a cost per unit. There is no variable cost to selling music on itunes because selling 50 copies of a song on itunes and selling 500 copies of a song cost the same amount. This is not true for CDs because you have to spend money for every CD you make. The cost of making the song is called a fixed cost because it does not depend on the number of items produced.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Plus, the store paid for the CD in the first place and they're charging 15 dollars to make a profit.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

The artist loses out if you download illegaly. If everyone downloaded illegally, there wold be no music industry and there'd be nothing to download.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

the artists ratings still go down on itunes, billboard, etc. Its unfair to everyone who spent time and effort making the music when you just take it, whether physically or digitally.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

plus, like if i download something online, it's not like it'll run out. but there are a limited amount on cds in a store

by Anonymous 13 years ago

But the point still stands that it's STEALING and ILLEGAL.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well I would say yes because the CD itself and its case cost money to manufacture, which aren't needed if you're downloading it.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well, yes, I suppose. Since that way you aren't stealing money from the manufacturer, the mucisian, and the store all at the same time. But I wouldn't do either, so whatever.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Unless you copy DRM protected libraries, in which case actually buying the music can still be illegal.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Maybe slightly more ethical, but not much. If by that you mean that downloading the album illegally will have fewer negative consequences, sure. But really, I wouldn't say either is particularly ethical.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah, I would say it's more ethical. I'm still divided on the ethics of downloading music and movies, though I'll admit that I'm a hypocrite and I do download them all the time. But, like, musicians don't actually get most of their money from album/single sales - they get the majority of their paychecks from live shows, tours, and merchandise. So, cutting out the middle man of the music industry, could you say that by downloading their music for free, and exposing them to more people, gaining them more fans and therefore more money from merchandise and concerts, it all evens out? Also, I wanna state that I don't download recent music from starting-out bands. Like, if it's some band from the 80s or Adam Lambert or something, then I'll download it, but if it's some band from Melbourne that just put out an album last year, I'll probably try and buy it. Make of that what you will.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Musicians/record labels usually allow their music to be on Youtube, or on the radio, or on MTV. That's a good method of offering your music free of charge to listen to. However when it comes to being able to *own* singles or albums, it costs money for a reason. If you think that music sales aren't important, why don't you just steal the CD from a store? It's not ethical to steal something the artist intends for you to pay for.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Musicians used to make a lot more money from regular sales. But when downloading got popular, the ratio has changed and ticket prices went way up.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

There's no law that says downloading an album online is illegal. Physically stealing, however, there is.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Exactly. It's illegal if you sell it or make some sort of money out of it.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I say they're both unethical. It feels worse to steal a physical CD because it has the physical representation to remind you. Stealing music is wrong because it's not paying for what you're using, it's like sneaking onto a subway/underground system. It takes a lot of time and money to make a CD and those involved need to be compensated or they won't be able to make more.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

not at all. it's the same action, just different means of doing it. regardless if you download it online or steal it, you're still stealing from the artist.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I wouldn't say it's more ethical, but it's definitely of a lesser expense to the people who produced it.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

The manager had to invest in those CD's. When you steal it, he doesn't get any profit back. He rather loses the 10$ he used to buy the CD. The author still gets money therefore... When you download illegally you cut out the middle man, and save his grief. Now which is better: Denying the author 15$, or stealing 10$ from a store manager?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

lol however we look at it, it's still illegal and breaking the law is unethical

by Anonymous 13 years ago