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Comment by jes5199 | Hacker News Reader

"The distribution might be virtually free, but the production certainly isn’t."

Well, all of the music available on iTunes, Amazon, and the Pirate Bay has already been produced, it just needs to be distributed.

If I want to pay for music to be produced, I use Kickstarter. (Or go to concerts, since playing a song live could be considered a new production)

It's a historical accident that we use charging for distribution of music to pay off debts incurred while producing the music.

Of course, paying 99cents to have my phone download a song in the background so I can play it in the next five minutes is worth it to me - cheaper than a cup of coffee, and I don't have to do any work. So the old system of charging for distribution isn't totally dead.

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So in your view the entirety of the 99 cent charge should go to Apple? The song you wanted to download just popped into existence before hand with no time, effort or talent from an artist at all (or discovery by a label)? Please tell me more about this magical music tree.

I didn't say anything about where the money should go.

You implied the 99 cents was a convenience charge, therefore the money goes to the provider of the convenience.

Well, from my perspective as a consumer, yes, it's a convenience charge. I would be happier if some of it went to the artist. I don't actually know how much of it does.

I'm not sure it's possible to actually curate a comprehensive MP3 catalog without active cooperation from the musicians, at some level. But, if the Pirate Bay surprised me and made a fast way to search and download music that was as easy as iTunes or Amazon MP3, and they had a library of songs that was at least as comprehensive as the for-pay versions, then I might decide that the hassle of keeping my billing info up to date in the other databases was more trouble than changing to the Pirate App. I'm not sure. The actual 99cent charge is so close to free that it doesn't factor into my decision.

But that's theoretical. Right now, the musicians get a few cents, Apple and Amazon get legitimacy and a little bit more of my money.

My few cents per mp3 doesn't add up to much. When I actually want to support an artist, I use Kickstarter, or I buy some merch, or click a donate button.

"i'm not sure it's possible to actually curate a comprehensive MP3 catalog without active cooperation from the musicians, at some level."

It's already being done; it's just not public.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oink%27s_Pink_Palace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What.cd

"Well, all of the music available on iTunes, Amazon, and the Pirate Bay has already been produced, it just needs to be distributed."

Just because it has already been produced, doesn't mean that it has already been paid for. The studio and the session musicians have probably been paid, but the artist should be compensated on a scale commensurate with the popularity of the work and that needs to be measured across whatever timescale people are still buying or downloading it.

As a consumer, I don't actually have much power over who does and doesn't get paid for various things.

As a citizen, you have virtually no power to set tax rates. Does that mean you shouldn't pay your taxes?

My guess is that distribution is virtually free, productions is inexpensive, marketing can be very expensive.

>If I want to pay for music to be produced, I use Kickstarter.

If I want to pay for software to be produced, I use kickstarter.

Now I can download AutoCAD, Illustrator and Photoshop guilt free.

Why would you feel guilty? You don't deprive anyone of anything by downloading Photoshop.

I actually have paid for software to be produced using Kickstarter. And I donate to open source projects, too.

I happen to use the GIMP, Inkscape, and FreeCAD for free, and I don't feel guilty about that.

Great. You use the FOSS alternatives and let the greedy guys play business with commercial software.

But then ... tell me ... for what do we need the pirate bay?

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