Feelings on Napster?

Cornfed, I'm glad you're so sure of yourself, there, especially since that makes no sense at all.

It's simple... distributing copywritten, intellectual property, in any form, is illegal. This forum is full of absurd allegations... greedy record companies, cheated starving artist, and those sweet, pimple-faced teenagers who download MP3's before they rush out and buy the CD. People, get real; stop trying to justify stealing. From what I've read here, it is clear many of you have little understanding of the record business. Your hard earned $15 is NOT gobbled up by Porche-driving A&R guys. There are MANY hard working and talented individuals involved in the process of creating music. Songwriters, artists, publishers, musicians, managers, studios, producers, engineers, assistants, mastering engineers, arrangers, technical people, graphic artists, photographers, manufacturers, promotions, and let's not forget... lawyers for all the above. Each of these individuals make a living from the sale and distribution of the music they help create. Napster, and the equivillents, whether by intent or not, contribute to breaking the laws are in place to protect these individuals.

Pghedge@aol.com; well put! i agree with you on every point you make. join up and get your views here regularly. please.

You ought to, you're the same guy...If it were illegal, the judge would have shut it down. Stop whining like a crybaby, and enjoy your own music.

To Pghedge@aol.com: Maybe "distributing copywritten, intellectual property, in any form, is illegal" - if so how does MTV and radio fit into the picture? One could have a vcr or tape deck running all day and copy a whole bunch of "copyrighted" material. Napster is going to become the "radio" of the future if only because the radio (at least in most of the USA) really sucks. I've wanted to hear something from the recent recordings by several lesser known artists - what do I do? Sit in front of radio for weeks at time hoping to catch maybe a tune at 4 a.m.? No, I long onto Napster, do a search and within 5 minutes I've got at least one track to check out. Works great. Now if I buy the CD or not depends on quite a few other factors. And it's the fact that those "buying factors" differ from person to person that really upsets the apple cart. As an older, fairly well heeled audiophile, I like to pick up the best sounding version a recording that I can find. Napster certainly does not provide that but for a college student or teenager whose only stereo is their computer system, well the 128K Napster file probably sounds just fine and it doesn't cost them anything. Yeah, the new age is here, now the industry just has to find a way to deal with it.