Where can I find artists who encourage music sharing?
Question by John W: Where can I find artists who encourage music sharing?
With the advent of digital music has come a whole set of legal and ethical challenges. The traditional means of distributing music to consumers and money to music producers (artists, studios, etc.) have been disrupted. Some consumers have begun sharing their music freely, without regard to the copyright. The music industry has responded, mostly with lawsuits and Digital Rights Management schemes. Right or wrong, I believe that the industry is fighting a losing battle. DRM schemes are quickly cracked, and lawsuits tend to turn consumers away.
Meanwhile, I have heard of a growing number of artists and studios who are taking a different approach. Encourage sharing as a form of promotion. Then use this promotion to sell scarcer goods, such as CDs (with bonus material), t-shirts, concert tickets, etc.
I support the right of the copyright holder to decide how they want to market their holdings. I’m no pirate. However as a consumer, I don’t want to be locked into a DRM system that puts onerous restrictions on how I can use the music that I purchased. I do and will support bands who treat me like a customer. If I like the tracks that you allow me to listen to and share, I’ll probably buy your CD or watch for your next show in my area.
So can anyone tell me where I can find these artists?
Best answer:
Answer by ed p
You are asking two different questions, but let me respond to the one about DRM.
DRM has largely disappeared from online music retailing. The only two stores I know of who still sell music with DRM restrictions are the iTunes Store and the Zune Marketplace. Essentially every other music store sells music in high bit-rate (usually 256) MP3 format with no DRM. Check out the amazon.com MP3 Download Store for starters.
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