Canada to tax online music sales

[Babrbarossa]

I wonder, though what kind of lasting effect Radiohead's move will have- Sure the cash is going to go right in their pocket and they just might make more money this way than letting the gorby record company, distributor and retailers eat up their profit, but the novelty of this idea will wear off quick, and bands without such a loyal following wouldn't have as much luck with voluntary contributions. I don't see why bands can't sell their own music online, though- Say if you like band, visit their site and buy their music- I suppose that might become the way of the future.

[Amon]

Originally Posted by belgolas

you can get around that easily, besides like there isn't a hundred other sites. I think it is dumb. Raise the cost so more people pirate. I try not to but if it is a song I am not sure I might like I will download it then if I like it I will buy it. Same with games except for the really good ones.

QFT. I think this will only instigate even more piracy. Some rarer (and maybe better quality) albums already cost an arm and a leg as it is. Demonoid was a very good source for rare music, I can certainly vouch for that.

[qwerty]

Paying to download music is nonsense IMHO. These "starving" artists make enough money as is...greed does the rest. I know that isn't the topic so I'll try to stay on it. The tax is just another attempt by an industry to grab every cent it can. One group sees another making millions and a self regulated lobby says me too, talks with a few artists and some local Ottawa loudmouths, they schmooze the right people and voila we have taxation without representation yet again, it's a way of life in Canada and one of the things I truely hate. Why should we be suprised the many are alway's paying for the sins of the few...well in this case the few are paying for the many cause there are way more people who download free then pay...Someone should estimate exact figures but I'd take a guess at only 10-15%, 20% tops of people actually pay for music compared to those who don't.

Artists are making billions of dollars and they are concerned that they need more? Madness. One of these days they will make all music downloadable only IMHO and do away with recordable media altogether, that will be up to the end user, but you know what...we will still be paying the same price for music even though there is no process involved of manufacturing said tracks onto a portable media medium...I'm sure they'll cite the same thing...millionaire artists who are already filthy rich are losing there millions that they use to buy their islands this year....guess there's always next year Lars...boo hoo. Intellectual property...lol...that's original...Heard Ozzy these days the man is kept alive by nightly cryovac for Pete's sake...I love Ozzy like anyone else but gimme a break...Intellectual property...pffft...

LOL, wow that was intense...but you guys are smart enough to read between the lines I hope.

[enaberif]

Heres how I see it:

Scenario 1:
You go into a record store and find said album of your favorite artist and drop $20 for that cd and take home and well your dissapointed in your favorite artist because 2 out of 12 songs are good on the album and now your unhappy.

Scenario 2:
You go online find your favorite artists album, download and learn that the album is mediocre and saved yourself $20 from buying that album.

This is where buying music online does help because you can buy those 1 or 2 songs that you liked and save $18 but to tax that? Retarded just like the government taking people selling crap on ebay.

The government just wants to control us but when they try to control us we find a way around.

[AkG]

To me this is just another sign of who REALLY is in control of our government, and I don't mean PC vs Liberal. I don't know if anyone else remembers the show "Dinosaurs" but they had a corp called "The WE say SO corporation". With the motto: we know who you are, we know where you live, we know what you want...because WE SAY SO.
Its makes me wonder if Life is starting to imitate art :<

I don't even like Nine Inch Nails but I will be buying all their new albums, just to show my support of musicians willing to tell the xxxRiaa to piss off. The xxRiaa needs to realize that they are as dead as the dinosaurs if they don't evolve. And NO making something illegal doesn't count in the long term as evolving. IF you treat your customers like criminals they will start to act like criminals.

YMMV but that my 2 cents worth.
AkG

[BALISTX]

Like everyone else has said taxing online music downloads for those who buy it legally to try and stop those who download illegally is completely idiotic. It's like arresting those people for buying a product to try and stop people from shoplifting.

I don't think all musicans are complaining about downloading music, a lot actually encourage it because they only see less than a cent from a single CD purchase. They would rather people hear their music, like it and then have them attend the concerts. That is where they make their money is selling tickets for their shows.

[b1lk1]

Using the incredibly warped logic in this thread, all you pirates should start stealing cars in the US as well. Since we pay 15-20% more for the same car than in the US, then it is OK to go steal them since the cost is unfair. You do not have the right to have cheap music, and since you live in a country with incredibly high taxes to begin with, bitching about something like this is stupid. Keep stealing music. Keep supporting stealing software. That is why this stuff is more expensive, especially in Canada. You people should not only be ashamed of yourselfves, you should be arrested. This site should have closed down this ridiculous thread long ago as this has seriously hurt your credibility in my eyes. Really really really stupid and shame on Hardwarecanucks for allowing this type of discussion...............

[BALISTX]

Not once did I say downloading music illegally is alright because they are taxing online music downloads. My point and I think the point most are trying to make is why tax those who are buying the music legally to try and discourage people from downloading music illegally. It makes no sense. It's similar to punishing you for doing a good job because a fellow co-worker did a crappy job.

I was also making a point that the logic behind the government stand on taxing legal music download purchases is idiotic. It would not discourage people from illegally downloading music, infact it will have the opposite affect.

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by b1lk1

Using the incredibly warped logic in this thread, all you pirates should start stealing cars in the US as well. Since we pay 15-20% more for the same car than in the US, then it is OK to go steal them since the cost is unfair. You do not have the right to have cheap music, and since you live in a country with incredibly high taxes to begin with, bitching about something like this is stupid. Keep stealing music. Keep supporting stealing software. That is why this stuff is more expensive, especially in Canada. You people should not only be ashamed of yourselfves, you should be arrested. This site should have closed down this ridiculous thread long ago as this has seriously hurt your credibility in my eyes. Really really really stupid and shame on Hardwarecanucks for allowing this type of discussion...............

I said nothing about supporting piracy either.

I pay for a streaming service and buy those CDs I want to keep. (I won't pay almost full CD prices for 128K downloads....... :) ).

The issue here is the fact that those of us who do actually pay for our music are the ones being punished for the actions of others.

[Babrbarossa]

Yes- we here at H.C. are very particular about the types of crime that we endorse.

Our list of encouraged miscreances is STRICTLY limited to the following:
1)public nudity
2)grand theft bus
3)unlawful impersonation of Christopher Walken