totally agree. ive gone to about 50 shows this year of artists i either recently discovered thru oinks (battles, the national) or artists i’ve grown to love more because of the availabitly of back catalogue (animal collective, dinosaur jr, yo la tengo).

at an average of 20 dollars a show, thats 1000 dollars on tickets alone. i probably bought merchandise at half the shows also whether a shirt or vinyl. thats another… 500 maybe.

i would not have paid 50 dollars for wilco if i hadnt downloaded all their albums! i would not have gone to 2 shows of beirut if i hadnt known how awesome the flying club cup is.

oinks helped me support the music industry. to all those bands i would probably like but i’ve not heard yet. im sorry but … you’ll have to wait for my money.

every bit of music i bought last year was something i had got from oink as a taster, i often downloaded an album in flac and paid for the mp3 version without even downloading it.

[elbo.ws]

The music industry’s woes are not caused by file sharing. They are caused by the crap that passes for music lately. They are caused by the way that the music industry has historically treated musicians, giving them only a few cents from each record sold. And finally, it is caused by apathetic listeners.

If anybody here is really worried about the “industry’s woes”, go out and pay for some concert tickets. Buy some t-shirts and stickers from your favorite band. Go to shows. Buy t-shirts. Take you friends to the shows too. Buy t-shirts. Go to shows.

That’s how 99.9% of musicians make their money. “The industry” wants you to buy the records. I WANT YOU TO COME SEE MY SHOWS.

Uh…wtf? Is it even worth explaining why that makes no sense? And you generally can’t buy music from artists themselves, because of distribution contracts.

Besides the CD’s that i bought i started to go to tons of shows. Nearly ever other week i went to go see a band that i discovered a la OiNK.

OiNK was a breeding ground for music aficionado’s and thats a good thing! Not only did i spend money on bands that deserve it but i was able to share with others, unknown & local bands that are totally unique. The artists are benefiting from sites like OiNK, the only one being hurt is the RIAA and MPAA which just want to expand their coffers.

How will i know what artists i should spend my money on now?

Exactly. Most of them won’t. But some of them will.

OiNK apologizers creep the f*ck out of me.

Or even more pertinently – “Mr OiNK user, you don’t expect your boss to ask you to do your job without pay, do you?”

I also have a tough time buying the argument that Oink users are so up in arms because, after all, “they just want more people to hear the music.” Well if more ears is really what you’re after, why hide in such an exclusionary little club?

Finally, the argument I find most frustrating (although not put forth here), is that musicians should be recording music for the love of the art, and not motivated by money. That’s absurd. Most of them ARE recording for the love of the artform, but they’re also trying to make it their career. You wouldn’t ask your accountant to do your taxes for the love of the math, would you?

The users of OiNK weren’t merely “the kids.” These were by their own definition a self-selected highly erudite group. Their passion/appetite for music was huge, which is what made them join in the first place. If these guys don’t think that music is worth their time or money, then who will? Forget about the record companies, what happens to music itself when it has no worth? That worries me as a listener.

I’m not worried about Lars Ulrich’s ugly art fund or the record industry getting more dough to pour into Chinese Democracy. I just think that societies get the art it asks for and, not to sound like a boomer, I don’t want disposable. If the most hard-core of my fellow listeners place price and convenience first, will I end up with music McNuggets?

Have I purchased duds? Sure. I still have a gatefold vinyl, mint-condition copy of Chutes Too Narrow for anyone that wants it, free. (that’s fair use)

I can’t thank you enough for saying this — this has been a not-so-secret mental hobbyhorse of mine for some time, and I think helps illustrate exactly *why* ‘mass culture’ as such is so fragmented and ultimately lowest common denominator.