Double Standard with Pirating - Music vs. Video Games

[Bryan]

At least with music you can individually buy songs on iTunes... with games there is often no such option.

You would want to buy game levels separately?

I always thought that the game developers shy away from that because they didn't want people to realize their game sucks.

 

[FatBoyXPC]

I think there's a fundamental difference: most musicians make almost all their money from live shows while the greedy music industry people make theirs from music sales. A game studio usually makes virtually all of its profit from game sales/subscriptions.

fixed

Now it's really fixed.

Quoted for truth.


@luisgepeto: I forget the exact statistics, but I saw something on slashdot which stated that out of the cost of a CD a few dollars goes to manufacturing and shipping, a surprisingly small number of cents goes to the artist, and the rest goes to various people along the supply chain from artist to consumer. At least with music you can individually buy songs on iTunes... with games there is often no such option.

I kept that QFT in there because that's so true.

Actually there is Steam. I know it doesn't have ALL the games you can buy, but Steam has definitely come a long way.

Also, the amount of money artists make: usually less than 1% of the sale of the CD. The CD prices are only so high so people can get rich, it's nowhere near the cost. If you guys think about it, paying $0.99 USD for a song on iTunes, that's almost just as much at buying the cd (usually less than 5 dollars more to get the physical copy) and you get the artwork and stuff with it, if you care about that. If you just google the whole topic of how much money artists make from each sale, it's honestly less than 1%. Let's put that in perspective: Band X sells 100,000 copies of their album at $15 a pop. That's 1,500,000, and 1% of that is 150,000. Let's just say there are 5 members int his band, we're looking at 30,000. That is nothing. Let's not forget a lot of this 1% goes BACK into the record company anyway to pay back what they might have used for recording, or advertisement contract, etc.

Welcome to the American way. Lie, Cheat, and Steal.

 

[anythingtwisty]

I try to buy music and games, because I like supporting the work that goes into them. However, if the game is not being produced anymore, or I have a copy of the game, I do sometimes pirate ROMs. I buy all of my music.

 

[HALLU]

I try to buy both my music and my games, but usually fails because I can't afford it all.. I eventually buy what I've downloaded though..

 

[Bryan]

I try to buy both my music and my games, but usually fails because I can't afford it all.. I eventually buy what I've downloaded though..

So by this logic, you shoplift too, right?

As for eventually buying what you've downloaded, go ahead and figure out the number of songs you've pirated and let us know what the count it.

 

[Muesli]

I buy all my music in CD form besides the odd song. I've only ever torrented one album. I can't get an itunes account either because they don't support Paypal. If they did, I would buy all my music.

 

[JLarsen]

I pirate music because I listen to metal, and despite what people say about p2p apps hurting the metal industry, it is actually helping it. Metal bands don't sell garbage for albums, since the music is so underground. They have no means of spreading their names on the radio, television, so the internet makes perfect grounds for spreading your name, and getting people to come see you perform live.

As for pirating games, I will stop when I get a computer that will run the games with confidence, and I play newer, more modern games. My computer as of now can only play games made no later than 2005, Maybe maxing out at games like Half Life 2, which have long since lost their profits. Games die out rather quickly.

 

[bwatkins]

Pirating a 99¢ copy of music is no big hit to Lady GaGa.

In other words, music will eventually be free and artists will make money strictly off concerts, we're just at that bump in the road before it happens.

I DO believe that a 99 c song pirated is a big deal. Think if this song is pirated / stolen from the artist 5,000 times. This is a very large problem.

Also, i do not believe that music will EVER be LEGALLY free. Artists do not make near enough from concerts to continue producing music the way they do.
Album sales are crucial. Consider a classic rock band that no longer tours on large scale. Lynard Skynard released 5 albums from 1973 - 1977. Since then 5 other albums have been released and NOTHING NEAR THE CONCERT REVENUE OF TEH 70'S HAS BEEN COLLECTED. If there was no payment for albums bands like this, and all bands, would simply no longer be able to produce albums.

I have played an instrument since i was 6 and been in many bands. I WILL NOT pirate music as i feel as if i am doing an injustice to the artists.

 

[masterofthebass]

Pirating a 99¢ copy of music is no big hit to Lady GaGa.

In other words, music will eventually be free and artists will make money strictly off concerts, we're just at that bump in the road before it happens.

I DO believe that a 99 c song pirated is a big deal. Think if this song is pirated / stolen from the artist 5,000 times. This is a very large problem.

Also, i do not believe that music will EVER be LEGALLY free. Artists do not make near enough from concerts to continue producing music the way they do.
Album sales are crucial. Consider a classic rock band that no longer tours on large scale. Lynard Skynard released 5 albums from 1973 - 1977. Since then 5 other albums have been released and NOTHING NEAR THE CONCERT REVENUE OF TEH 70'S HAS BEEN COLLECTED. If there was no payment for albums bands like this, and all bands, would simply no longer be able to produce albums.

I have played an instrument since i was 6 and been in many bands. I WILL NOT pirate music as i feel as if i am doing an injustice to the artists.

if you understood anything about the music industry, you would know that the performers make about $.07 for every song on an album (a little more if they composed it). What piracy really hurts is the record labels. Performers really don't make their money off of album sales, but instead the things that album sales lead to.

 

[bwatkins]

Pirating a 99¢ copy of music is no big hit to Lady GaGa.

In other words, music will eventually be free and artists will make money strictly off concerts, we're just at that bump in the road before it happens.

I DO believe that a 99 c song pirated is a big deal. Think if this song is pirated / stolen from the artist 5,000 times. This is a very large problem.

Also, i do not believe that music will EVER be LEGALLY free. Artists do not make near enough from concerts to continue producing music the way they do.
Album sales are crucial. Consider a classic rock band that no longer tours on large scale. Lynard Skynard released 5 albums from 1973 - 1977. Since then 5 other albums have been released and NOTHING NEAR THE CONCERT REVENUE OF TEH 70'S HAS BEEN COLLECTED. If there was no payment for albums bands like this, and all bands, would simply no longer be able to produce albums.

I have played an instrument since i was 6 and been in many bands. I WILL NOT pirate music as i feel as if i am doing an injustice to the artists.

if you understood anything about the music industry, you would know that the performers make about $.07 for every song on an album (a little more if they composed it). What piracy really hurts is the record labels. Performers really don't make their money off of album sales, but instead the things that album sales lead to.

Aggreed, i may be lacking some knowledge. However wheter it hurts the artists or labels that support them, it still hurts the industry as a whole.

 

[ajmorgan25]

Pirating a 99¢ copy of music is no big hit to Lady GaGa.

In other words, music will eventually be free and artists will make money strictly off concerts, we're just at that bump in the road before it happens.

I DO believe that a 99 c song pirated is a big deal. Think if this song is pirated / stolen from the artist 5,000 times. This is a very large problem.

Also, i do not believe that music will EVER be LEGALLY free. Artists do not make near enough from concerts to continue producing music the way they do.
Album sales are crucial. Consider a classic rock band that no longer tours on large scale. Lynard Skynard released 5 albums from 1973 - 1977. Since then 5 other albums have been released and NOTHING NEAR THE CONCERT REVENUE OF TEH 70'S HAS BEEN COLLECTED. If there was no payment for albums bands like this, and all bands, would simply no longer be able to produce albums.

I have played an instrument since i was 6 and been in many bands. I WILL NOT pirate music as i feel as if i am doing an injustice to the artists.

Obviously I wrote that in a way that wasn't very understandable, since you and someone on GameSpot didn't understand what I meant. I'm not saying that stealing the 99 cents from Lady GaGa is no big deal, but most people who illegally download songs don't think it's a big deal because in their minds it's only 99 cents. I wasn't talking about myself, I was talking about the general public.

 

[bwatkins]

Pirating a 99¢ copy of music is no big hit to Lady GaGa.

In other words, music will eventually be free and artists will make money strictly off concerts, we're just at that bump in the road before it happens.

I DO believe that a 99 c song pirated is a big deal. Think if this song is pirated / stolen from the artist 5,000 times. This is a very large problem.

Also, i do not believe that music will EVER be LEGALLY free. Artists do not make near enough from concerts to continue producing music the way they do.
Album sales are crucial. Consider a classic rock band that no longer tours on large scale. Lynard Skynard released 5 albums from 1973 - 1977. Since then 5 other albums have been released and NOTHING NEAR THE CONCERT REVENUE OF TEH 70'S HAS BEEN COLLECTED. If there was no payment for albums bands like this, and all bands, would simply no longer be able to produce albums.

I have played an instrument since i was 6 and been in many bands. I WILL NOT pirate music as i feel as if i am doing an injustice to the artists.

Obviously I wrote that in a way that wasn't very understandable, since you and someone on GameSpot didn't understand what I meant. I'm not saying that stealing the 99 cents from Lady GaGa is no big deal, but most people who illegally download songs don't think it's a big deal because in their minds it's only 99 cents. I wasn't talking about myself, I was talking about the general public.

I wasn't meaning to argue, just use the text as a way to make a point.