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Old 23-02-2010, 02:01
roidboy_
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Simon Cowell is part of a group seeking tougher anti-piracy laws in the UK.

The American Idol boss, filmmaker Paul Greengrass and Working Title Films co-chair Tim Bevan have urged the British parliament to implement a "three strikes" rule to stop illegal downloaders, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The group signed a letter addressed to MPs imploring the government to take a hard-line stance against illegal downloading and to support the digital economy bill.

"Digital entertainment services are really beginning to take off," the letter says. "But for these new business models to develop, it is critical that more is done to prevent the illegal services providing easy access to free content."

Internet service providers, including Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse, have fought the proposal and have been reluctant to cut off subscribers who download illegally.

Author Terry Pratchett and Spooks creator Stephen Garrett also signed the letter.
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Old 23-02-2010, 02:01
roidboy_
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i wish simon cowell wold p*ss off
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Old 23-02-2010, 02:12
SickPuppy21
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They wont stop it, like it or not the internet is always one step ahead when it comes to this sort of thing, Cowell literally thinks he can enforce it? LOL.
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Old 23-02-2010, 02:32
stvn758
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Where can I download his comments, please?
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Old 23-02-2010, 03:24
gfunked-83
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this kind of thing makes me sick

its just so retardedly stupid, I cannot believe there are real humans signing stuff like this

honestly Cowell thinks he is God
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Old 23-02-2010, 03:25
CRM
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They wont stop it, like it or not the internet is always one step ahead when it comes to this sort of thing, Cowell literally thinks he can enforce it? LOL.
It's not about stopping it, it's about having further laws to hopefully dissuade people from engaging in piracy. Laws primarily act as a deterrent.
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Old 23-02-2010, 03:34
gfunked-83
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It's not about stopping it, it's about having further laws to hopefully dissuade people from engaging in piracy. Laws primarily act as a deterrent.
no they dont, it just means innocent people get screwed over because the lawmakers dont understand the world we live in or its technology
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Old 23-02-2010, 03:39
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Perhaps of they decided t bring the prices of new CDs down to £5 or £6 instead of up to £16, and music artists were not multi millionaires, then more people may be willing to go music shopping on the high street or legitimately online.

It is a joke that millionaires are complaining about losing money to illegal downloaders.
Why should anybody at all feel guilty about that?

Granted, there will be a different future now, where newer artists are less likely to get so rich, as a result of illegal downloading, but IMHO this is no bad thing.
It may actually help the industry as I believe we are very much in a time when most 'artists' are only in it for the fame and money, as opposed to the love of making music.
Perhaps if they were not so sure they would become millionaires they may not be so willing to tap a few buttons on a PC and sell it, getting a no.1.

I am a musician myself, and I am more than happy to put my music on yootoob (no, I will not provide any links), so it is free, and I am happy to gig for minimal amounts of money or nothing (if there is no real travelling involved) because I love making and playing music.
I don't care how many people download and keep my tracks. As long as no-one rips my music off and makes money from it it is fine.
Of course, the beauty of being an unsigned musician putting music on yootoob (or anywhere else on the net) is that it acts as a kind of copyright against ideas being stolen, as I can prove my music was made first just with the upload date.

Okay, I have veered off subject.
I don't say that all illegal downloading is right, but if you want a 10 year old album, which the artist and record company have already made a mint from, then I have no qualms about anyone 'nicking' a copy.
Maybe with new music it is different, it deserves a chance to be successful. Not from the financial point of view, but from a purely curious point of view - i.e, how high up the charts can they get etc.
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Old 23-02-2010, 03:47
gfunked-83
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Thank you Big BHM

Why any artist thinks its a god given right to become a millionaire because of their music is so far up their bums and they must be rubbish artists.

Music is about the music. In the days of the internet where you can get your music straight to the public without the costs of CDs and pointless record companies how can it be justified to complain about money? Dont talk rubbish about advertising. Thats precisely wht makes music fake and is the antithesis of decent music. If you get hits on youtube its because people talk about your stuff.

Im not denying anyone a living but put it in perspective, if someone is worth it people will pay to go and watch them play live.

How record companies can try and charge for CDs and then extra for a downloaded/ ripped version is beyond me.

In the recent "doomsdays" of the illegal internet, I see a film called Avatar beating all previous records. If its worth it the film will make money

Get stuffed greedy old people, instant wannabees and fame whores. Seriously anyone that agrees with Cowell is retarded and his music is crap anyway!

This is way beyond a joke
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Old 23-02-2010, 04:02
AxeVictim
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Who would want to download any of the crap that Cowell is involved with anyway
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Old 23-02-2010, 04:03
BigBHM
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Thank you Big BHM

Why any artist thinks its a god given right to become a millionaire because of their music is so far up their bums and they must be rubbish artists.

Music is about the music. In the days of the internet where you can get your music straight to the public without the costs of CDs and pointless record companies how can it be justified to complain about money? Dont talk rubbish about advertising. Thats precisely wht makes music fake and is the antithesis of decent music. If you get hits on youtube its because people talk about your stuff.

Im not denying anyone a living but put it in perspective, if someone is worth it people will pay to go and watch them play live.

How record companies can try and charge for CDs and then extra for a downloaded/ ripped version is beyond me.

In the recent "doomsdays" of the illegal internet, I see a film called Avatar beating all previous records. If its worth it the film will make money

Get stuffed greedy old people, instant wannabees and fame whores. Seriously anyone that agrees with Cowell is retarded and his music is crap anyway!

This is way beyond a joke
Add to that, recently proudly announced on the news was that 2009 was a 'record year for single sales'... So if Avatar can break box office records, and more singles were sold in the UK in 2009 than in any previous year since the 50s, then where is the problem?
How is the industry being adversely affected if records are being broken in terms of sales.

In the last few years we have also seen artists breaking records for live tour attendances and takings etc.

Sorry, I think we are being lied to about how the industry is being affected.

The only thing that has been affected is album sales, and DVD sales ( I believe) but as stated, many and most of these people/companies are already rich beyond any or OUR dreams, so they can go cry into their pillows for all I care.
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Old 23-02-2010, 04:11
MD1500
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If I remember correctly, Susan Boyle shot to fame in the US because of Demi Moore twittering about a wonderful singer she saw on YouTube. How would this have been possible if it wasn’t for UK Viewers of Britain’s Got Talent contravening Cameron Mackintosh's copyright and uploading clips of her singing “I Dreamed A Dream”?

Sure, it was piracy and copyright infringement, but it ended up making Cowell millions. If Three Strikes had been enforced then, SuBo would still be unknown over there.

Still, he works for Sony, one of the Big 4 companies trying to introduce Three Strikes to unsuspecting countries around the world, so his hypocritical stance is no surprise... He's probably still reeling from being beaten to the #1 position at Christmas.
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Old 23-02-2010, 04:19
gfunked-83
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and to add to that, even if you call downloading via peer to peer networks or by ripping your own CDs a crime, (which its not!!), its entirely victimless. If you look at the stats, those who download the most also end up buying the most.
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Old 23-02-2010, 04:24
gfunked-83
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If I remember correctly, Susan Boyle shot to fame in the US because of Demi Moore twittering about a wonderful singer she saw on YouTube. How would this have been possible if it wasn’t for UK Viewers of Britain’s Got Talent contravening Cameron Mackintosh's copyright and uploading clips of her singing “I Dreamed A Dream”?

Sure, it was piracy and copyright infringement, but it ended up making Cowell millions. If Three Strikes had been enforced then, SuBo would still be unknown over there.

Still, he works for Sony, one of the Big 4 companies trying to introduce Three Strikes to unsuspecting countries around the world, so his hypocritical stance is no surprise... He's probably still reeling from being beaten to the #1 position at Christmas.
damn straight about Boyle

oh and Sony and Cowell....get lost you bullies
http://www.judiciaryreport.com/sony_...ckson_song.htm

Corporate theft is OK, but grannies downloading a song must be put in Jail!!
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Old 23-02-2010, 04:32
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Perhaps of they decided t bring the prices of new CDs down to £5 or £6 instead of up to £16, and music artists were not multi millionaires, then more people may be willing to go music shopping on the high street or legitimately online.
That's not the way the music industry sees it. When CDs were unique / uncopyable as digital items in the 1980s they still cost more like £16 than £5, and imagine how expensive that seemed then. They'd rather lock you out of illegal downloads and charge you the price of a PS3 game. It's the authors of the music I feel sorry for. But let's be honest, even if the music companies weren't there, people would steal from the artists instead.
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Old 23-02-2010, 04:44
BigBHM
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Sure, there is always going to be theft, whatever system or prices there are, because it is just like any other part of life and business.
The thing is though, we have all known for years that a CD costs very little to produce (about £1 each I believe when you get into the hundreds of thousands of prints) so it is little wonder that when we have the opportunity to download as much music as we like, many are going to take that option - knowing that still many people are going to be mug enough to spend £16 on something that has such a ridiculous mark up.

Look around, and all that can be seen are mega rich artists, massive conglomerate music, publishing and distribution companies, massive chain record stores which have put most small independents out of business, not through price by through choice.

For people in the business to think that could continue indefinitely is very naive on their part.

Paul McCartney for me is the biggest example.
Ok, he was part of the biggest selling act in history (over a billion album sales by The Beatles), but when it is reported that he has a fortune of £800m (probably more now) I am sure I am not the only one who gets a sick feeling in my stomach, and it almost makes me want to download all of the Beatles' works over and over indefinitely.

I don't of course - the only Beatles I have downloaded has been the Sgt. Peppers album, but like most people I believe, I had already bought tha CD before, but it is unplayable.

I have a few albums which I have downloaded, put onto CD, and the CD now sits in the box of the original copy I BOUGHT but which is now unplayable.

I would far prefer to see a time when musicians do not become millionaires - at least not so soon, and where music companies don't make so much profit either, all as a result of being more realistic and fair with their new product prices.

At least some stores offer cheaper prices, but then, look what happened to Zavvi - AFAIK they were much cheaper than HMV and Virgin etc. but had to close, probably because as with the box office at cinemas, most of the money you hand over goes to the distribution companies, which is why companies like HMV charge so much.
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Old 23-02-2010, 05:01
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Eh? Zavvi took the Virgin megastores name. And the Zavvi distributor was the same one that served Woolworths. It wasn't a coincidence they went down at the same time. But I have no idea if the industry deliberately made it tough for them or if the demise of the Single helped them on the way out.
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Old 23-02-2010, 05:09
BigBHM
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Eh? Zavvi took the Virgin megastores name. And the Zavvi distributor was the same one that served Woolworths. It wasn't a coincidence they went down at the same time. But I have no idea if the industry deliberately made it tough for them or if the demise of the Single helped them on the way out.
Demise of the single?

As I mentioned earlier, in the UK, in 2009, more singles were sold than ANY other year prior.
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Old 23-02-2010, 05:15
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HMV no longer sells singles. Well, that's what they told me when I went in...
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Old 23-02-2010, 05:23
rhod
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(if) music artists were not multi millionaires
I think the main problem is the likes of Cowell being multi millionaires, rather than the artists tbh. Very few artists ever get a sniff of that sort of money.
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Old 23-02-2010, 05:24
BigBHM
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For the record, my post about Zavvi, and why they closed was pure speculation, because they were cheaper than everyone else on the high street.
I don't know who sells singles or not, but there certainly is no decline in sales.
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Old 23-02-2010, 05:36
BigBHM
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I think the main problem is the likes of Cowell being multi millionaires, rather than the artists tbh. Very few artists ever get a sniff of that sort of money.
Really?
Most of the biggest acts for the last 50 years have become millionaires.
Granted there are a lot of artists who have not made that kind of money, but that is because they did not sell much.

Many of the artists that have made millions have made MEGA money.

Macca, over £800m
Elton John, over £400m
Stones, hundreds of millions
Queen hundreds of millions
Madonna...
MJ...
Robbie...
George Michael...

The list could go on and on andon of artists that either have or are perceived to have made millions upon millions.

It is about public perception, so the reality that many artists don't make mega millions is beside the point.
If the public did not THINK that everyone in the music business, or in movies, or on TV makes stupid money, then perhaps (just perhaps mind you) more people might be more willing to pay for products more regularly instead of stealing.
It's only my theory, and I am not saying I am right.
How do I know? LOL
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Old 23-02-2010, 06:13
MD1500
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Personally, I'd like to see a flat-rate "all you can eat" legal P2P service. That's the only thing that can possibly dent piracy. The demand is clearly there yet the music industry insist on keeping their heads buried in the sand.

It's been a decade since Napster changed everything. Far too much time has passed for there to be a return to the old ways. It would be like going back to horses and carriages after spending 10 years driving a motorcar.
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Old 23-02-2010, 06:17
rhod
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Really?
Most of the biggest acts for the last 50 years have become millionaires.
Granted there are a lot of artists who have not made that kind of money, but that is because they did not sell much.
Yes - but they are the biggest acts, after all.

There are still a lot of artists who had hits, but still get screwed by their record companies. For example, a guy called Herb Feemster who co-wrote and performed a song called "reunited" had to fight in court to get any royalty money, even though he had sold nine millions records and a Grammy nomination. Hadn't even seen a financial statement in 28 years!! (he won his case, by the way)

For many artists their experience of the record industry is more akin to this than being millionaires..



The band is now 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 million dollars richer, but is in the hole $14,000 on royalties. The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month.

The next album will be about the same, except that the record company will insist they spend more time and money on it. Since the previous one never "recouped," the band will have no leverage, and will oblige.

The next tour will be about the same, except the merchandising advance will have already been paid, and the band, strangely enough, won't have earned any royalties from their T-shirts yet. Maybe the T-shirt guys have figured out how to count money like record company guys.
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Old 23-02-2010, 06:25
BigBHM
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Yes - but they are the biggest acts, after all.

There are still a lot of artists who had hits, but still get screwed by their record companies. For example, a guy called Herb Feemster who co-wrote and performed a song called "reunited" had to fight in court to get any royalty money, even though he had sold nine millions records and a Grammy nomination. Hadn't even seen a financial statement in 28 years!! (he won his case, by the way)

For many artists their experience of the record industry is more akin to this than being millionaires..
Fair enough, but like I said, all that really counts is public perception in this case.
And the general consensus is that ANYONE you see on TV is earning mega bucks, especially musicians and actors.

Ok, most people are aware that not every actor earns $10m per movie, but when it is publicised just how rich some of these stars are, I think most people assume that it is fairly normal for stars to be rich.
Hence the usual phrase 'rich and famous'.

I think for many people that assumption leads them to self justify illegal downloading in general.

That is a very interesting link though, and clearly show why bigger artists (like Queen for instance) chose early on to produce their own work, and to an extent self manage too.
It seems the only way to make money (until you are selling many multi millions of records).
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