Poll: What percentage of your iTunes library was Legally obtained? [Archive]

MrMacMan

Jul 22, 2003, 12:35 AM

You see I have a dilemma.
I said the one that has 50% in it, but its weird most of the tracks I got illegally I went out and bought the CD afterwards and just never re-imported them into my computer (why wait the time?) so it would be much, much higher.
:cool:

noverflow

Jul 22, 2003, 12:48 AM

i have 16 out of my 2900+ songs... so i could not say 100% ...sad...

Bunzi2k4

Jul 22, 2003, 01:09 AM

well does borrowing your friends cd's count? if that counts, i'm at about 94% legal. The only downloaded mp3's are the ones i got from stepmania (if that counts) and some j-pop.

mac15

Jul 22, 2003, 01:38 AM

arrest me I'm like 30% legal

tazo

Jul 22, 2003, 01:40 AM

less than 10%

MacBandit

Jul 22, 2003, 01:44 AM

Back when I was po and lived on campus with a ethernet connection to a dual-T1 line I had 10s of thousands of pirated music. Since then I have had a decent job and a fiancé that likes to buy music. Out of the 1779 songs I have on my computer maybe 10 of them are from a friend or something. I don't keep all my music on my computer but that may change I have a 160GB drive coming to add to the 80GB I have already in the computer.

job

Jul 22, 2003, 02:03 AM

About 70%.

I still have all of my legit CDs (near 75.)

rickvanr

Jul 22, 2003, 02:03 AM

define illegal.

i download unreleased songs, and live stuff... is that illegal?

maradong

Jul 22, 2003, 02:03 AM

Originally posted by BaghdadBob
Man, I hope these results get better as the sample gets larger. Pretty sad so far.

I was 100%, but for special cases I would hope the vast majority would at least be in the next tier down.
yeah.
but well i would hacve voted >95% or >90% but that form wasn t there. 66-99% is just a real big difference. to big for a good vote. i would have done it with 0-10 11-19 20 - 29 ... and so on.

gerror

Jul 22, 2003, 02:36 AM

Since the prices here in the Netherlands are soo high, I have a lot of illigal music. But nowI have a eMusic account I downloaded a lot of legal music and I occasionally buy a cd. Mostly of smaller bands.
I once read a quote from Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) who said he didn't care about downloading 'because he already has enough money'.
I think it hits the smaller bands more than the big ones.

niar

Jul 22, 2003, 02:36 AM

I have 33% transferred from my old tapes - that's illegal!?

arn

Jul 22, 2003, 02:48 AM

Originally posted by niar
I have 33% transferred from my old tapes - that's illegal!?

I don't think so.

arn

MacBandit

Jul 22, 2003, 02:56 AM

Originally posted by arn
I don't think so.

arn

I agree, I think it falls under the fair use laws which allow you to transfer the audio/video content from one media to another as long as the original media doesn't have some form of encryption such as DVDs.

billyboy

Jul 22, 2003, 03:09 AM

The illegal stuff is a couple of CDs full of MP3s from a mates trip down Kazaa´s "dont pay as you go" shopping mall. Nothing compared to my overall collection, but it puts me in the overly large second band.

I use MP3.com to stream and download legally. My PC pirate friends are amazed I wont pirate, and even more amazed that it is possible to find good music legally on the internet. I hope Apples iTMS has some element of the streaming service because it is a great way of downloading say 150 unknown tracks into a playlist in one click, and then previewing on a loop. It is amazing the difference in quality of some streams - again lets hope Apples monitoring of independent artists´ material stops the chancers from posting cheaply engineered examples of what is often quite good music.

caveman_uk

Jul 22, 2003, 04:01 AM

I'm about 98% legal. I've got the odd Kazaa'd song that I wouldn't buy a whole album for but I really like the song...mostly it's old stuff. Stuff I'd probs buy from the iTMS if I could use it:(

I've also got some stuff from Kazaa that I own the album on vinyl but I can't be bothered to figure out how to rip it from vinyl and I sure ain't buying it again. So technically yes I stole the DIGITAL version but I have a perfectly legal analogue version.

LordMord

Jul 22, 2003, 04:27 AM

i have just over 12k songs on my library and like 10 or so may be downloads. I hate to get the crap quality ruining my beutifully sounding collection!

SO, I have to vote with the 67-99% crowd...ouch :mad:

thinking about it...I should have voted 100% I think...oh well. :rolleyes:

peterjhill

Jul 22, 2003, 05:18 AM

Over 4700 songs, 100% legal

fixyourthinking

Jul 22, 2003, 06:47 AM

Not wanting to get into a flame war or arguement with any one who is hard headed over the issue, but P2P promotion and sharing of music is NOT considered illegal by a very big percentage of people. Now sharing programs is illegal because it can be considered physical property, being that it must reside on my computer to be used by me. Music, potentially doesn't have to reside on my computer or any equipment for me to hear/evaluate it.

I completely believe in artist's rights and the respect of their copyright and right to be paid for their unique music. What I disagree with is that P2P services for the most part are NOT more promotion and sales generation tools.

Many bands that would go undiscovered are DISCOVERED through MP3's. I'm not just talking about Indies either. A lot of people don't know who sings stuff.

The arguement about The WiseGuys - start the commotion - Telepopmusik Breathe - most Moby stuff - and other songs that are in commercials can almost solely be attributed to P2P or file sharing.

I make MP3 and now AAC conversion CDs to play in my in dash MP3 CD player. I am OFTEN asked who sings the stuff I have - two days ago, a customer went out and bought the White Stripes because he heard 7 Nation Army on my car CD player - I downloaded it from LimeWire!

Alexander

Jul 22, 2003, 06:48 AM

Originally posted by Flowbee
Yeah, I think the second to the top tier is a little too broad. I'm probably 95% legal and don't much like being lumped in with people who are only 68% legal. :mad:

I think this is very telling. Do you consider yourself ethically superior to the 68%s?

Alexander

Jul 22, 2003, 06:50 AM

Oo, I found a loophole. What if you bought a CD, ripped it, then sold it? The MP3s were legally *obtained*...;)

MacFan25

Jul 22, 2003, 07:18 AM

I have a little over 1000 songs in my iTunes library - all of which are legal.

fixyourthinking

Jul 22, 2003, 07:37 AM

Originally posted by Alexander
I think this is very telling. Do you consider yourself ethically superior to the 68%s?

I suppose you consider yourself superior to judge and to assert an opinion that P2P is illegal, and in your eyes, apparently immoral/unethical.

Those without sin cast the first iomega zip drive at me!

LordMord

Jul 22, 2003, 07:45 AM

I you sin then just go to confession and all is forgiven...erm...something like that :p

Now take that you sinner you [Zips flying all over the shop] :D :cool:

hvfsl

Jul 22, 2003, 07:46 AM

All my music used to be from Kazaa, but I have recently been getting legal versions of the music.

cc bcc

Jul 22, 2003, 08:45 AM

About 25% of the music in my library is legal, but those songs account for about 90% of my most played music.

frozenstar

Jul 22, 2003, 09:34 AM

Originally posted by adzoox
I suppose you consider yourself superior to judge and to assert an opinion that P2P is illegal, and in your eyes, apparently immoral/unethical.

Those without sin cast the first iomega zip drive at me!

You misinterpreted his statement. He did not directly or indirectly assert that P2P is illegal and/or unethical. If anything, he implied just the opposite.

bousozoku

Jul 22, 2003, 09:52 AM

I'm at 100 percent but I've got a lot of older music to get into the computer without a way to do it. It's mostly on vinyl or open reel tapes or cassette tapes.

crazytom

Jul 22, 2003, 09:58 AM

I could've answered 100%, I guess. Only 14 songs out of 3000 are 'illegal' (0.46%)...but it wasn't like this album was still in production, either. I say let the record companies do what they want with copy protection. I grew up in a period where you would take an album and record it onto a tape player...you can do the same thing recording a CD into your Mac...it just doesn't have the 'digital purity' that ripping them would have...big deal: it doesn't make the music any less enjoyable.

wdlove

Jul 22, 2003, 10:45 AM

I voted 100%, because I don't have iTunes so no doubts it's all legal. My wife does have iTunes and joined the Music Store. The only music that she has if the one's Apple installed!

rueyeet

Jul 22, 2003, 11:14 AM

I'm actually not sure anymore...I'd started out owning everything I loaded into iTunes with the exception of the Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection and some obscure anime tracks, but I've got a couple of friends making me mix CDs of stuff they think I'd like, so the percentage of legal stuff in my collection is probably down a bit in the last month.

On the other hand, I've already bought a CD and bought several tracks from the iTMS because of those mixes, so what the hey.

It's my considered opinion that using a P2P service to download is definitely immoral IF it is a substitute for purchasing. Yes, P2P networks have legal and moral uses, but let's be truthful here: the vast majority of people are using P2P because they don't feel like paying for CDs. Yes, such services are great for sampling, but there's just too many people who "sample" without any intention of EVER buying.

And the other vast majority are apparently using P2P to download porn, but that's another article entirely. :eek:

AhmedFaisal

Jul 22, 2003, 11:32 AM

Most of my stuff is legal, I would say about 70% but that is because A: I am into stuff that you can't find in stores anymore (older stuff) and you can't even backorder it, and I asked, more than once. The other music I like is J-Pop and Anime Soundtracks and those are extremely rare in my country and can't be ordered any way without 100% import tax and I am NOT paying 100% import tax on stuff, sorry NO ****ING WAY.
Cheers,

Ahmed

bennetsaysargh

Jul 22, 2003, 11:36 AM

i voted about 33%, but now that i think about it, i realize that it is about 41%.
lol. I'm such a criminal.

MacBandit

Jul 22, 2003, 11:54 AM

Originally posted by Alexander
Oo, I found a loophole. What if you bought a CD, ripped it, then sold it? The MP3s were legally *obtained*...;)

It's only legal to posses the song in other formats if you currently own the song somehow. If you sold the CD or gave it away then you don't own it anymore.

mc68k

Jul 22, 2003, 12:08 PM

about 20 songs out of 700+ edited album tunes

Rower_CPU

Jul 22, 2003, 12:30 PM

A couple of CDs borrowed from my brother, the rest legal.

Flowbee

Jul 22, 2003, 12:42 PM

Originally posted by Alexander
I think this is very telling. Do you consider yourself ethically superior to the 68%s?

Um... it was a joke.

The question should be, do *you* feel superior by pointing out other people's feelings of superiority?

jg3

Jul 22, 2003, 12:48 PM

Originally posted by adzoox
Not wanting to get into a flame war or arguement with any one who is hard headed over the issue, but P2P promotion and sharing of music is NOT considered illegal by a very big percentage of people.

Not only is this somewhat vague, but your statement here also makes little sense. The question is not about whether anyone "considers" anything to be illegal, but whether or not it actually *is*. Granted, law is not the hard-and-fast objective standard that it theoretically should be, but 'illegal' means 'against the law' - and that's all.

MrMacMan

Jul 22, 2003, 01:31 PM

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
A couple of CDs borrowed from my brother, the rest legal.

Rower do you believe that borrowing stuff and listening to it is illegal? :eek:

Arn -- not to say what others have already but why make such broad widing categories.

And so one answer my beef about stuff I downloaded and then boughts legally, I mean I now own the tracks anyway, why do I want to re-rip them just to claim I have it all legal.

Rower_CPU

Jul 22, 2003, 02:03 PM

Originally posted by MrMacman
Rower do you believe that borrowing stuff and listening to it is illegal? :eek:

It is if I ripped the tracks and gave them back to him.

Nermal

Jul 22, 2003, 02:38 PM

The majority of my legal music isn't in iTunes. I don't listen to some of it anymore and therefore haven't ripped the CD, and a lot of it's in Real/WMA format which I've downloaded from music services, which can't be imported into iTunes.

arn

Jul 22, 2003, 02:46 PM

Originally posted by MrMacman

Arn -- not to say what others have already but why make such broad widing categories.

I didn't think people would know to the percentage point how many legal/illegal songs they had.

I figured it would be very ball-park-y. ;)

arn

D*I*S_Frontman

Jul 22, 2003, 02:54 PM

I am a recording musician, so I'm pretty sensitive about this. I have 47 albums ripped to iTunes--every one legal--and a few free sample downloads, also legal. 100% compliance.

I would be a hypocrite to steal intellectual property from other artists.

A friend of mine burned me a copy of Jaguar, but I am still using 10.1.5. Can't bring myself to installing it without either paying for it or buying a new Mac.

<sermonizing>

Intellectual property is sacred, whether it be music, literature or software, and the way our laws defend and protect it is the engine of innovation, progress, and refined artistry in the US.

</sermonizing>

Bunzi2k4

Jul 22, 2003, 03:22 PM

Music should be free to download. and the way artists make money would be concerts. Becuase now a days, if you buy a $10 dollar cd, less than a dollar is given to the artist. and from the last time i checked they are the ones making the music. its all the record companies that make all the money, not the artists. (about 94% legal)

bennetsaysargh

Jul 22, 2003, 03:33 PM

Originally posted by Bunzi2k4
Music should be free to download. and the way artists make money would be concerts. Becuase now a days, if you buy a $10 dollar cd, less than a dollar is given to the artist. and from the last time i checked they are the ones making the music. its all the record companies that make all the money, not the artists. (about 94% legal)

but some musicians can't afford to go on tour. and maybe some don't want to. or what if they get sick. then they're really left with no money.

D0ct0rteeth

Jul 22, 2003, 03:37 PM

I have about 10,000 songs

- 6000 songs were bought on cd and imported (all cds have since been sold)

- 2700 songs were borrowed from friends or library and returned

- 1000 songs were downloaded as they are live concert bootlegs and cannot be traditionally purchased

- 250 songs are legally downloaded from artist websites or itunes music store

- 50 songs were illegally downloaded and have not been deleted as I have not yet found the full cd to purchase

So I consider myself to be 99% legal, but I am sure someone will say I am 100% illegal as I dont own a single CD.

mjtomlin

Jul 22, 2003, 03:40 PM

I've never downloaded any MP3's from the net, but I have ripped CD's owned by friends and co-workers, but usually stuff I would never buy anyway (not that that justifies stealing it). If I had to guess, I'd say I was around 90% legal.

I've only purchased a handfull of CD's in the last several months. And now it's only by artists that I know I'll like; Madonna, Radiohead... Otherwise, I do all my music shopping on the iTunes Music Store. :) ...that is, when I have money.

MrMacMan

Jul 22, 2003, 03:59 PM

Originally posted by arn
I didn't think people would know to the percentage point how many legal/illegal songs they had.

I figured it would be very ball-park-y. ;)

arn

It was a little much.

Though I know how each song got on my hard drive I doubt everyone can do the same.

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
It is if I ripped the tracks and gave them back to him.

Well you didn't say that, it sounded like you just had his CD's.

I can't deal with the prices, they are ouuttrageous. (CDs only are one .50cents to make?)

Bunzi2k4

Jul 22, 2003, 05:05 PM

still, the point was to get rid off the record companies.

frozenstar

Jul 22, 2003, 05:30 PM

Originally posted by D*I*S_Frontman
Intellectual property is sacred, whether it be music, literature or software, and the way our laws defend and protect it is the engine of innovation, progress, and refined artistry in the US.

I wouldn't exactly call it the "engine of innovation, progress, and refined artistry". After all, those same laws are often used to stunt innovation, dampen progress, and eliminate competition.

Rocket Rion

Jul 22, 2003, 05:31 PM

9000 songs from CDs I've bought over the years.

I just sold all my CDs for about $3000 through Amazon.

That paid for my 30GB iPod 6 times over.

eyelikeart

Jul 22, 2003, 05:42 PM

I'm late on this one...

but I'd guesstimate my collection to be 65% legal overall...

It was much less before I got my emusic.com account...and then iTMS... ;)

Kwyjibo

Jul 22, 2003, 06:07 PM

I buy lots of CDS after i download the signles so it varies between 90-95% depending on when a CD is released and when i buy it

benjaminpg

Jul 22, 2003, 06:48 PM

Originally posted by rickvanr
define illegal.

i download unreleased songs, and live stuff... is that illegal?

The live stuff depends on whether it was illegally bootlegged or recorded with the consent of the artists. Many artists, most famously, the Grateful Dead allow audience members to record as long as they don't make any money on it. It used to be the only way to obtain the recordings was if you ran into someone with tapes that was willing to make a copy of them for you. Now, there are sites, and a Napster inspired trading system called FurthurNet available at www.furthurnet.org.

They have a Mac OS X client (java), and it works reasonably well, although it can require messing with the settings some to get it to work. Here's a list of artists that recordings can be made and traded from: http://www.furthurnet.com/bandlist/ .

As for unreleased songs, those are almost certainly illegal, as no one is supposed to have access to them, and the copyrights apply just the same.

scem0

Jul 22, 2003, 07:27 PM

1-33%

I don't feel bad for stealing a couple cents out of Brittney Spears wallet... Well, I guess its not really Brittney I'm stealing from. More mainstream nu-metal bands, and smaller bands I d/l a song or 2 from just to see what they sound like.

scem0

vrapan

Jul 22, 2003, 07:56 PM

I am all for intellectual property rights but all i see it stimulating is a horde of mass market brainless copy cats boring easily digested stuff......

Sorry but I don't believe that US produces refined artistry in any significant quantity.... If you think about the vast majority of CDs contain one maybe 2 worth listening songs.... movies seem to have lost any sort of creativity apart from very few exceptions. if "artists" had to actually entice people to buy their product by creating something memorable intellectual property right laws would be much less needed. See it that way why would I want to buy the next Britney (nothing against the girl) song for 20$ since i know that i will listen to it for a few weeks and then never again. Same with movies so many copy cats i would never care to buy a movie when the next "blockbuster" is almost identical.... Creativity and quality is the answer not courts.

Think about it Windows XP are heavily protected Mac OS X is not......

BaghdadBob

Jul 22, 2003, 08:09 PM

If you don't like it, don't pay for it...or listen to it.

And I take offense to your naming my entire country when judging our artistic output.

The fact that in most all sports and artistic professions you can make the most money with few exceptions in the US is why you see so many instances of greed over quality -- I'm quite sure if there was the same amount of fortune and fame to be found in any given European country you would see it go frequently to what appeals to the masses which, sadly, is generally not all that great in any country.

The US has produced more than its share of artistry, including within the music industry, you'll have to forgive all 280 million of us for having Brittney Spears and *Nsync to our names.

jlegun21

Jul 22, 2003, 08:30 PM

i'm about 70% legal out of about 75000 mp3s, but the 30% are recorded mostly from friends' old vinyl or unreleased/not in production or no longer available for purchase. that was the real beauty of audiogalaxy. i found stuff on there from local bands that only ever pressed like 100 copies of an obscure 7". man do i miss the greatest music resource that ever existed.

vrapan

Jul 22, 2003, 08:34 PM

My intent was neither to insult you nor your country. Rather to point out that tough intellectual property laws do not promote art. Quality work will sell regardless, it is quite obvious that tough intellectual property laws protect the ones that their work is not worth the 20$ they ask for it... I would gladly pay 30$ or 40$ for a 10 song CD that every single song is worth listening to, a CD that I will be willing to listen to 5 years from today rather than 5 days. And the fact that too much money are made in US from sub - par work only enforces my argument that tough intellecutal property rights have a role to play in stimulating sub - culture .... Maybe my comparison to Windows and Mac OS was not clear enough. MS needs the protection because way too many people think that they pay 200$ too much for a product that is not worth 200$ while Mac OS X is good enough to be sold on its quality rather than on the threat of its legal deparment and the enforcment of encryptions who only make a product more expensive and even less desirable....

Bunzi2k4

Jul 22, 2003, 08:39 PM

actually, aren't we stealing mostly fromt he record bands. too bad we can't kick out the record companies... cuz if they get kicked out, the artists make a ton of money. and even if we dl, they make like 100 times as much as they are making now.

Sayhey

Jul 22, 2003, 09:15 PM

I know this will make be look totally crazy, but all of mine are legal. Just never got into the "sharing" of songs at napster or its successors. Are you listening RIAA?

usersince86

Jul 22, 2003, 09:41 PM

Originally posted by Rocket Rion
9000 songs from CDs I've bought over the years.

I just sold all my CDs for about $3000 through Amazon.

That paid for my 30GB iPod 6 times over.

If we understand what you're saying, you sold the music to buy the iPod (6x over). But now you don't legally own the music, so what areyou going to put on your iPod?

(Sorry if I misunderstood or am preaching... just wanted to clarify...)

BaghdadBob

Jul 22, 2003, 09:48 PM

Yes, it's true that CDs are overpriced, and this applies to the big-top crap too. That doesn't mean it all doesn't need to be protected.

Some people -- a lot of people -- quite simply do not want to pay anyway.

Unlike your OS you have a choice of using or not using music, so the pricing comparison is a little different, plus consider that all Mac OS software is sold for hardware Apple has already sold.

Interesting note: when Lateralus came out you could get it anywhere for $14. That was '01.

Anyway, once again, I say if it aint worth paying for it aint worth owning. Why steal something artistic you don't think is worth any money?

applemacdude

Jul 22, 2003, 10:40 PM

id say mine is about 50/50

Sun Baked

Jul 22, 2003, 10:51 PM

Don't know whether to answer 0% or 100%, since there are basically no songs in my iTunes Library.

Though I think I've seen iTunes somewhere in my Applications folder.

;)

MrMacMan

Jul 22, 2003, 10:56 PM

Originally posted by usersince86
If we understand what you're saying, you sold the music to buy the iPod (6x over). But now you don't legally own the music, so what areyou going to put on your iPod?

(Sorry if I misunderstood or am preaching... just wanted to clarify...)

He had bought the CD's and at that time he owned them, after his use of them was done he re-sold the same CD.

He put the songs on his iPod and then sold the CD.

bennetsaysargh

Jul 22, 2003, 11:12 PM

Originally posted by MrMacman
He had bought the CD's and at that time he owned them, after his use of them was done he re-sold the same CD.

He put the songs on his iPod and then sold the CD.

i really hope nothing happens to his iPod now:p