Written by Lucas on 03.05.2009 at 19:19

Also, what the hell is this 'supporting' of a band? If you buy your music from the label or some distro, first hand, you are supporting a band. But if you buy your stuff second-hand, from e-bay for example, you're not. Why not? You're not creating extra demand, not a single penny of your money goes to the band (or even the label that supports the band, for that matter). So all you who buy your albums cheap from second-hand stores, isn't it smarter to buy them first-hand, but with the knowledge that you're actually supporting your favourite band now? Food for thought, I'd say.

i'd definitely do that with albums i just want a far clearer quality, from very well-known bands that really don't feel the difference when you actually buy their album, like for example a remaster of Queensryche's Empire.. they changed their label since then and now i doubt even 0.5% of the money i'd spend would go into Geoff Tate's pocket. same for Maiden, Priest, Sabbath, Metallica and pretty much most well-known metal bands(which pretty much make up for 95% of the bands i listen to anyway).

what i DID change my mind about in the past months was buying/downloading stuff from more underground bands, like for example White Wizzard's last EP, i'd totally buy that shit if i knew where, and i even mailed the guys at Hazy Hamlet asking how can i buy their album, they said i'd have to pay 16 USD for the album + shipping from Brazil, which imo is huge, but worth it when you know that HH is a totally self-produced band and there's no record label bullshit going on(just like, though they are on a far higher level, Manowar), apart from maybe 5 dollars for the mail order, they're all getting the cash.

in conclusion: don't be suckered in by record label's money-grabbing tactics like when they re-re-release a multi-platinum album... it's just not worth your cash to buy such things. help the underground bands you like get famous, buy their EP's and whatnot, enjoy their shows, and support bands and tours that need supporting.

I just can't afford it and besides most of musical choices are not available,where i live,in India.

Written by Hermann Langke on 24.10.2009 at 10:26

I just can't afford it and besides most of musical choices are not available,where i live,in India.

cant you buy if from net or they check the mailboxes too?

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 12:46

Written by Hermann Langke on 24.10.2009 at 10:26

I just can't afford it and besides most of musical choices are not available,where i live,in India.

cant you buy if from net or they check the mailboxes too?

No chance of that happening buddy.Please spare a thought for me.

Written by Hermann Langke on 25.10.2009 at 17:30

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 12:46

Written by Hermann Langke on 24.10.2009 at 10:26

I just can't afford it and besides most of musical choices are not available,where i live,in India.

cant you buy if from net or they check the mailboxes too?

No chance of that happening buddy.Please spare a thought for me.

its same as iran then! you have to buy things by your frinds who will come from eu or japan or .. and the other way is get them from Smugglers with extra money unfortunately

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 20:12

Written by Hermann Langke on 25.10.2009 at 17:30

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 12:46

Written by Hermann Langke on 24.10.2009 at 10:26

I just can't afford it and besides most of musical choices are not available,where i live,in India.

cant you buy if from net or they check the mailboxes too?

No chance of that happening buddy.Please spare a thought for me.

its same as iran then! you have to buy things by your frinds who will come from eu or japan or .. and the other way is get them from Smugglers with extra money unfortunately

In Persia the system is damn repressive and that is not the case in India,though.I am poor enough.Are there any great Metal bands in Turkiye?

Written by Hermann Langke on 26.10.2009 at 14:23

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 20:12

Written by Hermann Langke on 25.10.2009 at 17:30

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 12:46

Written by Hermann Langke on 24.10.2009 at 10:26

I just can't afford it and besides most of musical choices are not available,where i live,in India.

cant you buy if from net or they check the mailboxes too?

No chance of that happening buddy.Please spare a thought for me.

its same as iran then! you have to buy things by your frinds who will come from eu or japan or .. and the other way is get them from Smugglers with extra money unfortunately

In Persia the system is damn repressive and that is not the case in India,though.I am poor enough.Are there any great Metal bands in Turkiye?

im not a fan of azeri (if tehre is) or persian or turkish bands, but yes there are alot which I dont mind.

Written by Guest on 26.10.2009 at 20:51

Written by Hermann Langke on 26.10.2009 at 14:23

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 20:12

Written by Hermann Langke on 25.10.2009 at 17:30

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 12:46

Written by Hermann Langke on 24.10.2009 at 10:26

I just can't afford it and besides most of musical choices are not available,where i live,in India.

cant you buy if from net or they check the mailboxes too?

No chance of that happening buddy.Please spare a thought for me.

its same as iran then! you have to buy things by your frinds who will come from eu or japan or .. and the other way is get them from Smugglers with extra money unfortunately

In Persia the system is damn repressive and that is not the case in India,though.I am poor enough.Are there any great Metal bands in Turkiye?

im not a fan of azeri (if tehre is) or persian or turkish bands, but yes there are alot which I dont mind.

Persia is a hot and happening place for underground Metal in Asia.

Written by Hermann Langke on 27.10.2009 at 14:47

Written by Guest on 26.10.2009 at 20:51

Written by Hermann Langke on 26.10.2009 at 14:23

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 20:12

Written by Hermann Langke on 25.10.2009 at 17:30

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 12:46

Written by Hermann Langke on 24.10.2009 at 10:26

I just can't afford it and besides most of musical choices are not available,where i live,in India.

cant you buy if from net or they check the mailboxes too?

No chance of that happening buddy.Please spare a thought for me.

its same as iran then! you have to buy things by your frinds who will come from eu or japan or .. and the other way is get them from Smugglers with extra money unfortunately

In Persia the system is damn repressive and that is not the case in India,though.I am poor enough.Are there any great Metal bands in Turkiye?

im not a fan of azeri (if tehre is) or persian or turkish bands, but yes there are alot which I dont mind.

Persia is a hot and happening place for underground Metal in Asia.

if we had freedom in Iran the biggest metal fests in Asia would be in Iran, yes Im agree but I dont like persian metal bands exept "Kahtmayan" which a nice instrumental album. but to be honest didnt listen to a lot of them. maybe there are some other nice band too.

Written by Guest on 27.10.2009 at 14:51

Written by Hermann Langke on 27.10.2009 at 14:47

Written by Guest on 26.10.2009 at 20:51

Written by Hermann Langke on 26.10.2009 at 14:23

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 20:12

Written by Hermann Langke on 25.10.2009 at 17:30

Written by Guest on 25.10.2009 at 12:46

Written by Hermann Langke on 24.10.2009 at 10:26

I just can't afford it and besides most of musical choices are not available,where i live,in India.

cant you buy if from net or they check the mailboxes too?

No chance of that happening buddy.Please spare a thought for me.

its same as iran then! you have to buy things by your frinds who will come from eu or japan or .. and the other way is get them from Smugglers with extra money unfortunately

In Persia the system is damn repressive and that is not the case in India,though.I am poor enough.Are there any great Metal bands in Turkiye?

im not a fan of azeri (if tehre is) or persian or turkish bands, but yes there are alot which I dont mind.

Persia is a hot and happening place for underground Metal in Asia.

if we had freedom in Iran the biggest metal fests in Asia would be in Iran, yes Im agree but I dont like persian metal bands exept "Kahtmayan" which a nice instrumental album. but to be honest didnt listen to a lot of them. maybe there are some other nice band too.

But there is not much Persian Metal available for downloading.

I dont like metal bands that showbizing so i download albums illegal

by the way i wanna listen music but i got no money so i do that

Here's why I don't download and I prefer to buy albums:

- I like to have a physical copy of the album. To me it's much more satisfying than just having a bunch of bytes on my hard drive
- I believe in supporting the bands as much as I can.
- I used to do some downloading and I had a lot of issues with it. Some songs would be either really crappy quality, or it would cut out before it finished. When I buy the albums it's almost guaranteed to work (although on occasion cds can get scratched).

I know a lot of people who only download and refuse to buy the albums. I've given up trying to convince them that they should buy the albums because I find that if someone doesn't want to pay for something, they simply won't.

Written by Brave on 29.10.2009 at 10:43

I dont like metal bands that showbizing so i download albums illegal

Wow...this is just...wow. I hope something was lost in translation, because that was just a flat out stupid thing to say.

Written by Doc G. on 15.11.2009 at 12:42

Written by Brave on 29.10.2009 at 10:43

I dont like metal bands that showbizing so i download albums illegal

Wow...this is just...wow. I hope something was lost in translation, because that was just a flat out stupid thing to say.

You should understand some jokes

Written by Brave on 17.11.2009 at 07:25

Written by Doc G. on 15.11.2009 at 12:42

Written by Brave on 29.10.2009 at 10:43

I dont like metal bands that showbizing so i download albums illegal

Wow...this is just...wow. I hope something was lost in translation, because that was just a flat out stupid thing to say.

You should understand some jokes

I wasn't sure. Sarcasm is hard to read in text. I've seen some people make similar comments but actually mean it, so I can't be blamed.

Here in Iran we can't buy albums for clear reasons and there's no Rule for downloading.Iran even doesn't have any copyright rule.we can buy windows 7 in our universities for like 1 dollar.

The only way for MOST of Iranians is to download the albums, and it's not illegal here.

But if I had the chance, I would buy the albums,Cause having the official CD/DVD with covers and booklets is way more better than some .mp3 files stored on you computer.

I don't know it's funny for you or not,but download the albums,and if you really liked them pay for it and have a physicall CD/DVD of your favorite albums/bands and if you didn't like the album don't buy it. Fair?

When I found out that each band member gets about 25 cents an album I stoped buying new and decided to save my miney by downloading and buying 2nd hand. I try to go to shows when I can. Why pay 14.99$ for a CD when I can go to the show for the same price? I think anyone here can agree that listening to a CD is nothing compared to a show. Even more so knowing that your 14.99$ to see the show is more to serve the group and mot a greedy record company, caseing manufacturers, printing companies and other organizations that must be payed by the purchase of a CD. Basically, support bands and go to shows. Don't go crazy downloading either!:nogood:

Hmm... my attitude about downloading is pretty neutral. I have no problem with it in principle. Though I do have a problem with people who think because downloading is there, they can obtain all their music for free and never have to buy an album. And there are plenty of people who can afford to buy albums, but just choose not to do so. This is something I definitely don't agree with. Though obviously there are exceptions, like the iranian metalfan above who has no access to the physical albums. For them, downloading is their only option.

The positives of downloading: Back before I got the internet just over 3 years ago, the only way of discovering new bands was to take a chance and shell out money on a cd. Although more often than not I discovered some great bands this way, there were times I wasted money as well. Downloading is a way of discovering new bands without the risk element. Also, I really detest when a band release an album, then sometimes just a few months later, the cash hungry record label will release the exactly same album again as a "special edition" with bonus tracks. This basically penalises the true fans who buy the albums on or very near the time of release. I definitely have no qualms downloading said extra tracks if I purchased the album at the time of release. This type of record company tactic is just ripping off fans, so I dont blame fans who do not want to shell out full price for what is essentially the same album as they already own.

There are a lot of positives about downloading, although a lot of people do abuse it.

I downloaded many albums before but now I have not done it in a long time. Most of the albums I downloaded and liked I have buyed recently.
I think it is okay to download the album and then buy it if you like it, but I use to listen to songs or tracks on Youtube, Last FM and Spotify and then buy
In some cases, like if the album is not aviable in your country, you have no other choice but download. But I don't like it when people who do not understand why you should buy a CD and laugh at me when they find out that I buyed some cd's for the whole "study-salary" (if it is called that in English), like most of my non-metalhead friends.

I download quite a lot to be honest. But, it's mostly cause I'm poor. I do prefer to have the actual cd because of pride of ownership and all that. And well, half the time, when i download something its usually some obscure band that i have little to no chance of finding anywhere.

I don't think downloading is the problem, I think that the problem is that the CD are just not worth the money. Why go buy an album with three good songs for $15.99 when I can just download the three songs for free. Some people will say that "well mp3 are not as good of quality. Bull Shit! I can buy a CD, and rip it to my computer at CD quality. "Well what about the artwork and the booklet!" What about it? Every CD I bought has had a two page booklet that is filled with nothing but thank yous to people that no one knows except the band. And bands don't even put the lyrics in the booklet!. If you want people to stop downloading make the purchase worth a shit. If you have an album include a DVD with stupid drunken bullshit that happens backstage cause you know we love that shit! Include the lyrics in the booklet! And for shitchrist sake make the album worth $15.99!

I download(am not proud of it but it's the only way) because you can't buy metal albums in syria, but some day when i leave this shit hole, i will buy all the Albums i dreamd about like Cannibal Corpse, Deacapitated, Vader, etc

I download a lot, but mostly I listen for free on Spotify (and sometimes Grooveshark). Of course I buy several physical albums a month, but that's not nearly enough. If you want to have access to all the must-hear albums you know, you either have to be filthy rich or have a horribly narrow taste in music. I can't and I don't want to buy all the albums I nonetheless want to hear, so I download them with a pure conscience. I'm not ashamed or proud of it; it's irrelevant to me. I tend to have little patience for holier-than-thou sermons about what I should or shouldn't do.

I won't vote, though, because I disagree with the options. Technically, downloading is not illegal. And technically, I could afford albums, if not everything I want. I just don't use it as a lame excuse. I could just as well stick to those albums I can afford, if I had moral reservations. I just don't. Of course I prefer physical albums and wouldn't mind supporting the industry more, but I simply see no reason not to indulge my hunger of music. What can I say, I'm a product of my age and honest about it.

I usually shell out the cash for CDs. I like having the physical album and I also do not want to be made an example of like that one woman who has to pay out something like $80,000 per download. I really can't remember if that was the actual dollar amount per download, but it sounds right.

I used to download quite a lot, but since there is such a huge amount of music available it was usually quantity over quality. It's for example easy to download a whole discography of a recently discovered artist, listen to it briefly and then if it isn't really mind-blowing it easily is lost and forgotten among the rest. I have more and more started purchasing CD's and only those worth the money. It is just much nicer to have the physical album than some files on the computer.

I really don't have a problem with downloading. I might be wrong here, but the way I see it is that if there wasn't downloads happening, most bands wouldn't have gotten their music out to a wider audience.
For example, considering the scene in India, you wouldn't have bands like opeth, textures, tesseract, cof, intronaut etc come down to play gigs in India, if there was no downloading of music. No one in India would have ever even heard of these bands if you couldn't download an album. The cool part of the internet is that people from all over the world can listen to your album even if its not available in their country.
I would actually love to have physical copies of my favourite bands, I do have a few, but not much. But since its not easy to get them in India, I can't. Even ordering it online, I would have to ship it to a friend coming down, coz sometimes if you ship it direct to India, the customs might not let it through.

I think people should download the album, and if they like the album or band, support them. Fans should buy their merch, promote them and attend their gigs. Thats the best way to support your favourite bands.
Bands make way more money from live shows and merch as compared to album sales.
So what I do is, if i'm a fan of a band I buy their merch and go to their live shows( local gigs)
I also see that if you wear bands merch, you are also promoting them much more than a cd would lying around in your room.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't buy cd's, but support the band any way possible. If buying cd's is your way of supporting your local/favourite band, then do that.
For me I prefer merch as I know that more money goes to the band when they sell a tee as compared to a cd.

I must admit i have changed from predominantly buying CD's to becoming mainly a downloader.

There are several reasons for the change i think. Firstly, availability - When i got into metal back in 1995 most people i knew didn't have the internet & Napster was still 4 years away from existence (damn i feel old) so downloading just simply wasn't an option. Even when P2P started to become popular, do you remember how damn slow the connection speeds were? Back then if i wanted music it was easier & faster to order it or buy from the local CD shop. Nowadays you can discover a band & download their whole discography in 10 mins.

The other issue is that now we are in the digital age, CD's are becoming obsolete in a way. How many of you still have a diskman? And how many of you now have Ipods? Even when i buy a CD nowadays, as soon as i open it i rip it & upload it to my ipod & discard the CD on the shelf.

I do miss the old days, when buying a CD was such an event. I remember being so happy to get my hands on that brand new CD & locking myself in my room & cranking up the CD player to 11 while analysing every inch of the booklet & packaging for hours on end.

I still love the idea of predominantly buying CD's over downloading, but it just isn't practical any more. If i did that, i'd only know 10% of the bands i do now & i'd have no money! I always intend to buy the album i downloaded but always seem to find more important uses for that money. And in my defence, although UAE is pretty liberal compared to most of the middle-east when it comes to metal, you can't buy anything but the generic stuff off the shelves here unless you get lucky.

I do still buy CD's if i love the album & do try to support the bands where i can through buying merch & attending gigs though, but unless i consider the album a masterpiece that i must add to my collection, then unfortunately i don't hold the same value in owning the CD that i once did

Well, almost all the material I have is downloaded, because:

1. For the average incomes of the majority of Latinos metalfans is very expensive to buy records online, in my case I prefer the doom metal and then these disks should be imported mostly from Europe, and that's worth big money.

2. if I had a lot of money to spend on music would still be difficult to buy the material I want because there are not many guarantees that arrive safe to hand.

3. there are some metal record stores in big cities, currently living in a small town and distant, however those stores do not have much to choose from.

4. buy mp3 albums online is still expensive, not worth it if I can find people who want to share files at 320 kbps

I may be accused of not supporting the bands, but if bands that I enjoy visiting my country, I do the best to go to concerts, but that rarely happens because the doom is scarce here in my tropical land.

I'm from Bosnia...there is no internet law here so we can download what ever we want from net...and if I want to buy an album (really I like to have some original LP's or CD in collection) I can't find it here because music in my country (and whole Balcan) is crap...just folk folk folk...not folk like folk we call it here turbo folk ...there is no music shop where you can buy for ex. Savatage - Gutter Ballet album...so I must download them and put on my HDD...

Www.bandcamp.com

I go there most of the time...