I might be in danger of being “Captain Obvious” but bear with me ok.

There is a lot of talk about the film industry suffering because of illegal downloads, the music industry is also whinging. EMI is in the news because of that very topic.

I’ll shed no tears.

There is a revolution/evolution taking place. No longer will we just shell out money because of fancy advertising, if we like the look of a film, we hit the P2P sites and get a freebie. The quality of said download mostly is pretty crap, but you soon figure out whether it is worth actually paying to see the film at the cinema….it’s what I do.

If it is a good film, I WILL go to see it on the big screen, and if it’s a great film, I’ll buy the DVD as well. Two obvious examples are “Stardust” and the “Heroes series” both of which I could have gotten free, but wanted the better quality of the DVD which only the DVD makers can supply.
The Cinemas are still full, money is still being made in large amounts by the industry, but the populace no longer will settle for second best films. There is no “straight to DVD/ Video” section anymore. If they want our money they can earn it and turn out watch able films and series.

And the music mob cannot rely on radio one to plug songs (does anyone still listen to radio one ??)…if you want the new talent…try “MySpace” or “YouTube”. It’s not unusual for a singer/group to have a massive following before some prima donna radio presenter has ever heard of the singer/group.
Illegal music?....anyone care to examine those two words carefully, and see how they just do not sit together well?

Illegal Music…….nope. I still can’t get my head around that concept.





“The times they are a changing….”

It's like you say it's not an issue of music being illegal it's an issue of the money men not making enough money anymore.

They don't care about the product just the profit margin on it.

i download stuff them lol

I like your attitude Kelly

The media industry is stuck in the past and is moaning now because it’s a victim of progress. Everyone downloads, there’s no point denying it. One of the biggest losers of downloading is advertisers.
Advertising has been around for over a hundred years, we as a society are used to advertisements breaking up TV shows.

Downloaded TV shows do not contain advertisements which is why I download them. I watched that Pushing Daisies last week, and was fed up with the interruptions every 12 minutes, so I got hold of the series from a torrent site. I’ll delete it as soon as I’ve watched it. I do buy CDs I could download albums but I don’t. As for films, well, I’ve said it before no pirate film will compete with watching it on the big screen. You cannot beat watching a special FX bonanza on the big screen, it has a unique feeling. If people are stupid enough to download music and video then go out to a car boot sale and try and sell it, then all fool them, especially if they get caught.

The Media industry has to get used to the fact that people want to be entertained in their own time, not the media’s. Thirty years ago people would gather together to watch a TV program, because there was no other way to view it at any other time. But towards the end of the 70’s the Video recorder came along. Anyone here old enough to remember those chunky top loading betamax video recorders, so big you had to get planning permission to own one. Nowadays you have a huge amount of choice and not just illegally downloading stuff, you have a huge array of software that can pull stuff off sites like YouTube, separate the sound from the video and convert to an MP3. BBC I-player is so popular millions use it.

I’m hoping that this revolution in the way we view and listen to media will see an end to the TV licence, but we can all dream.

Jase for PM.

Having a chat last night with a guy at work about Sky TV subscription charges. If you have the full package, including the pay per view sport, box office films etc, and use them regularly, then together with the TV licence you are looking at shelling out well over £1000 a year.

Together with the TV licence, Broadband, going to the cinema to watch the latest big films and buying them on DVD, I'll probably spend between £500-£600 per year. Still pricy but it beats Sky hands down.

HQ remember i'm going to be PM!

well when Humans encounter a wall we go round/under/over that wall. Wether its no advertisements (which the advertisements are fecking annoying)

It's very hard to find a tv programme or radio show that pulls in the millions that they used to. The market is fragmenting- you've got so much more choice thanks to the digital channels. Viewers can now skip through the tv adverts thanks to services like Skyplus.

People read less newspapers. In twenty or thirty years only the older generation will even care about a daily newspaper.

The growth of online revenue streams has meant that online now generates more income than all of commercial radio.

All of this has left media owners scratching their heads for ways to get results for thier advertisers. Many newspapers and magazines are repositioning their product as an online alternative. Commercial radio and tv can look to generate income from product placement .

To succesfully market a business nowadays you need to follow a different set of rules.

'The New Marketing Manifesto' by John Grant is a good place to start

Now this is an amazing thread! I agree with each and every post in here on this subject.
Years ago The Band Metalica did make a stand on so called Illegal Music and did help to get the original Napster removed from the internet.
Time goes by and really I see no affect at what they did other than to send file sharing underground for a short time.

It is funny to read in the papers now that their latest album (which was leaked onto the net)..
that they no longer seem to care about this issue!

Apparently, they do - they cancelled an interview over precisely that issue.

I think that your right times are changing and it's like you said, I watch films on the net if I want to see them but if I REALLY want to see something it's the cinema hands down and I'll buy the dvd.

It's the same with music. If I want to see a band succeed and get good quality music I buy it from a shop or download from a company which makes me pay. If not I try and get it 'illegally'

I really dont understand how we have to pay the licence fee when most of us dont watch terrrestrial anymore. Or is that irrelevant?

Have you heard that Noel Edmonds is boycotting the tv licence? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7613938.stm

haha thats well good well i hope it goes

I have been downloading for ages, from movies, to music, to software. It’s just far too easy to download; so many people would rather do it.

It comes down to quality too. Does anyone actually use a proper CD player anymore? I'm not talking about the 25 quid thing you've got sat in the kitchen that you listen to while cooking. I'm talking about the CD players that take up half your living room. The reason people had/have them, is because of the sound quality they pumped out. Most people these days however, get their music, and whack it onto their computer in a crappy Mp3/Mp4a format loosing out on the sound quality. Now this is perfectly fine for some people, so if they're going to listen to this second rate form of music, why bother spending £9.95 at your local HMV for it, when you can download the same poor quality for free?

Then there’s the quality itself. Do you really think the band whose CD you’re buying, disserves the £9.95 you’re paying for it? A lot of bands I would say no, so I’ll download their music instead. Kings of Leon’s new album comes out this coming Monday, and from what I’ve heard of it it’s absolutely fantastic and for that reason I think they disserve my £9.95 so I will go out and buy it.