What problem does sharing media contribute to, exactly? How many artists are starving because a fan downloaded their discography, vs the sheer amount of money owed to artists in unpaid royalties and “creative accounting”?
And this is happening to stars; it’s got to be worse for smaller artists.
Artists make money from their fans. Fans discover artists through media sharing. If nobody shared media, I wouldn’t have discovered my favourite bands and spent hundreds of dollars on tickets over the course of my life, or my favourite authors whose books I have bought as gifts many times over, or when I was younger my favourite kinds of games, that I would go on to spend tens of thousands of dollars on over the course of my life (and not just on Steam!).
From where I’m sitting, it sure does seem like it contributes - but not to problems.
Media conglomerates insist that if people can’t afford their prices, then they should go without their product. I’m doing exactly that to show a point - namely, that they’re not as necessary for a good living as they think they are.
That sounds like a very different point than “media sharing is not a problem”. And for what it’s worth I don’t think you’re wrong - there are plenty of talented independent artists who share their work for nothing and accept donations. No need to buy entertainment from giant corporations.
But it’s important to remember that it’s a social thing to be able to talk about the latest whatever. Not keeping up does cost a certain something; whether that something is valuable to you personally is another question again.
What problem does sharing media contribute to, exactly? How many artists are starving because a fan downloaded their discography, vs the sheer amount of money owed to artists in unpaid royalties and “creative accounting”?
And this is happening to stars; it’s got to be worse for smaller artists.
Artists make money from their fans. Fans discover artists through media sharing. If nobody shared media, I wouldn’t have discovered my favourite bands and spent hundreds of dollars on tickets over the course of my life, or my favourite authors whose books I have bought as gifts many times over, or when I was younger my favourite kinds of games, that I would go on to spend tens of thousands of dollars on over the course of my life (and not just on Steam!).
From where I’m sitting, it sure does seem like it contributes - but not to problems.
Media conglomerates insist that if people can’t afford their prices, then they should go without their product. I’m doing exactly that to show a point - namely, that they’re not as necessary for a good living as they think they are.
That sounds like a very different point than “media sharing is not a problem”. And for what it’s worth I don’t think you’re wrong - there are plenty of talented independent artists who share their work for nothing and accept donations. No need to buy entertainment from giant corporations.
But it’s important to remember that it’s a social thing to be able to talk about the latest whatever. Not keeping up does cost a certain something; whether that something is valuable to you personally is another question again.