Aside from “the above” half baked and poorly thought out arguement, people pay to have something they can hold on to, read lyrics from, stack on a shelf, and of guaranteed quality (with the right bands given credit for the right songs — too many errors like “Comfortably Numb” by “the Beatles” on the internet. Errors in ripping, naming errors, all propagating as fast as light. Downloading as it stands right now has many flaws that still motivate a consumer to pay for the real (and legal) thing. Who cares if my racks and racks of CDs can now be fit on a quarter sized chip hung around my neck?

For a world famous rock star to earn only $200 k per year would be intolerable – well too bad, thats enough cash for anyone – NO? – okay, push that up to 1 million for top sellers.

Why not do what Australia does (or used to do) with its bartenders and and set wage brackets based on experience. Of course this wage bracket would be based on, oh, I dunno, NUMBER OF DOWNLOADS? I am sure that there are many up and coming bands that will one day be super famous who would accept a $200 to $1000 k per band member per year “Salary”. Gone would be the days of 1% of the musicians, actors, poets etc. making 99% of the $$$. Paid by some sort of “superfund” that all consumers of said product contribute to. Now lets hear some noise about capitalism being the motivating force behind “the quest for excellence”.

Besides, he must be around 70 yrs old, right? Not the demographic that is high on computer usage. He probably listens to what his 45 year old hubby has to say and parrots that to the media. And his hubby is a Canadian AND a former Advertising Dude – bound to be twisted…he was the only guy on his block who did not play hockey.

Think about THAT for a while.

BTW- I am Canadian. I can therefore make light hearted comments about said country….

In fact some of the heaviest traffic came for several sites that re-indexed my the song in a way that used my bandwidth but never funnelled the downloader to my website where they could see the “plea” for donations, listen to my other songs, order a CD, etc etc.

The sites were in Chinese and I had to have a screen capture translated…my name was mentioned on only one of the sites and the bands name was not mentioned at all. I suppose that anyone who became a fan could track down my website through the song title, and perhaps that has happened. I really don’t know as the site is not set up to receive feedback comments.

Can you see how my situation relates to “illegal downloading”? My music is available for free (donations accepted though) and has been enjoyed by a lot of people. Probably none of these people would have heard any of it if there was no internet. So the internet has allowed me to share my creations with others – thats all though. I can not see how I could earn a cent, except maybe if I join the IPOD world (something I know nothing about but someone gets a buck per download, probably Apple computers).

I do not “tour” – I do not think that my techtronic-trance-”hip-no-hop” lends itself to that, so there is not cash coming in that way. So when do I get paid? I love making music and that is/was my sole modivation while I was working. Now that I am not, and I am pretty broke, I would not mind seeing some cash coming in. P2P or just straight FTP puts money into the hands of the ISPs and that is all. If I did not freely release my music from the start over the an internet website, I would definitely think of “free-downloading” as stealing. In fact, I do – because it is. I do it myself. MAJOR. But I am consoled by the fact that after purchasing 500+ vinyl albums at $10 each, the record companies came out with CDs and instantly pumped the price from $10 to $20 per album. The doubled it without incurring any real extra costs. The DOUBLED the price of an Album OVERNIGHT! So, as I reached about 350 CDs, napster came along and all the rest happened. I did not, and do not, feel guilty downloading (steeling) this music. I especially do not feel any guilt about downloading music that I have already paid for via CD or Vinyl purchase.

Unfortunately, it is true that there is a demographic of musicians who, in the past (pre P2P), would have earned a decent income through modest album sales but today, because of P2P, would make almost nothing from sales and would have to tour if they wished to be able to feed themselves.

Early REM, Alice in Chains, Sex Pistols, Janes Addiction, etc. would have been in that catagory. Who knows, there may not have been a second album from any of the above. So there is some harm being done, especially to musicians who, for whatever reason, do not tour.

So much more music by so many more bands are available for anyone for free – good exposure for the up-and-coming? Perhaps, but the day will come when you could have millions of fans listening to tens of millions of songs and not earn a single penny for your efforts. Is it time to incorporate COKE ads in the background of every song? Maybe……

As far as Elton John is concerned, he definitely does not need to make any more money. Perhaps a tax on touring revenues of bands that have “made it” like U2, Elton John, Rolling Stones, Radiohead, that would go towards subsidizing the “making it (but not there yet)” bands/musicians would be an answer.

Already I can see the day when television programming becomes uneconomical. I turned on my TV only once in the last year and yet I have watched a solid 10 hrs per week of Supernatural, True Blood, Dexter, etc. No commercials. No revenue from this guy. As more and more folks simply download commercial-free content, the $$$ to justify creating these shows will evaporate. It will happen quickly too. About the only solution I can see is for adverts to be loaded right into the shows. Coke signs, car ads, … all of it as an integral part of the shows we watch. Skip the ad and you miss the show. The only way. AND THEY BETTER DO THIS QUICK as I am sure the growth of P2P people will be exponential in the coming years. Either that, or stomped on hard by every government with outright IP denial on countries that do not “fall in line”.

OH, it almost goes without saying that those who pepper their comments with biggoted statements only serve to bring down the legitimacy of the cause they are trying to support. It tends to make the users of this forum seem like a bunch of crack pots whose opinions are radical and not worthy of serious contemplation (or is it another form of discrimination to judge the entire forum group by the antisocial comments made by the minority of participants)… and round and round and round we go…yes, there is irony here.

“Judge not this forum by the off-color statements made by the few, but by the character reflected by the content of the statements made by the character of the many.”

“In spite of Reginald Dwight,
this is not the end of the fight, but sadly it just might,
if he is judged to be right,
and wouldn’t that just bite,
if the vote went his way,
just because he is gay,
and some fools without heart,
made that non-issue a big part,
and they blew the case apart.
And this sad attempt at a rhyme
Is not worth a dime
So please dont you think
That my songs like this stink
I just need another drink
Chase another elephant so pink
But really it is true
Booze is not the issue
Its the time of the day
past 4 am and I must lay
myself down on a bed
before I pass out and break my head
On the monitor screen
or the keyboard machine
oh God I cant even rhyme
and its way past bed time
I have no clever way
to call it a day
So I will just end it and say
Wait,its Sunday, its time to pray
Nope,not something I would say
But I really cant stay
So I will now go away
But if you hate what I say
I didnt mean any of it, okay
Just dont hunt me down
Dont run me to ground
Besides I carry a big gun
Its not always for fun
Its really my right arm
straight from the farm
days and nights of labor
and arm wrestling with the neighbor
Oh god will I ever stop writing
Its really starting to be biting
okay I will go now
this time I know how

I will just say ‘ciao’

and so it is time
to sign off

PS. go ahead and roast
this forum post
go cry to the host
That my post should be made toast
because you are the most
and I am just a ghost
and you can even out rhyme me
see?
ha ha he he
Wait one minute though
My music does not go
anything like this here
I mean no where near
So I wont even say my bands name
Cause its not part of this game
Not close to the being the same
absolutely no where near this lame

The topic of discussion is Elton John’s latest demand to bolster his half billion pound bank balance by tearing great chunks out of the Internet. Refusal to tear great chunks out of the Internet would have a seriously detrimental effect, says Sir Elton, and he has the bank statements to prove it.

At least, that was the topic, until you and your fellow cry-babies showed up, wailing, bellowing and stamping your feet, insisting that any criticism, no matter the reason, of anyone who just so happens to be homosexual is ^V.

(Sorry for the ctrl-V: I haven’t set up my computer to paste the usual tantrum of hysterical clichés that your sort scream to shout down debate, every single time.)

Now run along and have a wank. We have matters of great import to consider, and you’d only become frightfully confused.

To the gay folks on here: You don’t have to be gay to like rainbows. There. I said it. ;)

Photoshopped? I’ve met Ellton in person and he looked exactly like that… well, except some cum oozing from the corner of his mouth …

Since my above request is censorship – nevermind.

Let everyone say what they want otherwise there’s no discussion just censorship.

the homophonic shit is in the torrentfreak article if you count that insulting and totally irrelevant photoshop. i wouldn’t count on it being removed.

still waiting for my first comment to be ‘approved by moderators’ , oh well…

Now if he wants to close down the internet he should start with his own site !”

OK.

Not me. Not until at least the 7 corporations of entertaiment parasites and criminals get out feet first.

You see we don’t negotiate with terrorists we kill them.

Then we can talk.

“He cares about maintaining a system that allows talented people become popular.

Unless somebody puts forward a model that guarantees the same outcomes as the present one, the longer this game of cat & mouse will continue.”

I know people with real talent (not RIAA BS such as this old ugly pederast of Elton John and his crappy songs with stupid lyrics) who could not make a living because of all the parasites infesting the music industry.

And for the Cat & mouse game, this will not continue because the wolves are coming in pack to kill the fat cats and the rats who serve them.

Tell your bosses it is time to run!

The man has made his life from what he does, he doesn’t care about loosing a few shillings or whatever the fcuk currency it is he uses

He cares about maintaining a system that allows talented people become popular

Unless somebody puts forward a model that guarantees the same outcomes as the present one, the longer this game of cat & mouse will continue.

also a big, big fuck you to all the people spouting homophobic and insulting garbage on here.

sad to be associated with you as part of the same p2p community.

He’s just another hypocrit.
(must be a spelling error in that).

Google “elton john website” turns up:
“www.eltonjohn.com” (official website)

Now if he wants to close down the internet he should start with his own site !

Some studies even suggest that file sharing has a positive impact. Even the most damming report only suggests that file sharing is responsible for 30% reduction in sales ( while most studies suggest the impact is only 5%). So the studies suggest that over 70% of the decline in the music industry (possibly up to 100%) is due to other factors.

The industry is in decline, jobs will be lost Fact. Clamping down on file sharing isn’t going to save them as file sharing isn’t responsible for the majority of the decline in the industry.

Wasting tax payers money on legislation which will only have a tiny impact on sales would harm the industry even more. Higher public spending + more expensive internet access = less money in Joe publics pocket and less record sales

“Fuck off, #35. This isn’t about homosexuality.”

That was exactly my point, moron. Learn to read AND comprehend. ;)

I absolutely love Elton John, in a very… manly sense. I’ve printed out the picture on this blog and it shall do me great justice on my lonely nights! I contemplate sneaking into the John’s estate, strangle David Furnish in his sleep and wear his face like a mask. Mmmm yeah, that’s the ticket!

Ralph
http://www.online-privacy.us.tc

someone then toss some gas on it cause the musicans are full a hot air like this bozos head

He’s the gay guy that suck at singing.