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Pink Floyd Wins Legal Battle Over Digital Sale of Individual Songs
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again you missed the point. why should it need the authors permission? If you design a product then you shouldn't care how it is sold or used as long as you get paid.
the only reasons to bundle product parts or sell them in sets are marketing and cost savings. and that is good business practice and therefore ok.
what I'm opposed to is that a manufacturer tells me how to use their products based on their personal preferences. that is not ok.
For a lot of us it's a moot point, as we already have all the Floyd albums we're ever going to want.
Besides, where was the outrage when AC/DC said their songs wouldn't be on iTunes because they make albums, not singles? Or when Jay-Z made the same "artistic control" argument with with one of his gangsta rap albums?
Being one of these young people, I should ask: Do you believe that this "richness" is in the record itself? To get great sound out of a record you need a great set of equalizers, amplifiers, and speakers. I fear that this conception that records sound better is biased by the fact that you are much more likely to listen to a record through a good stereo.
Pink Floyd only has one greatest hits album (unless you count collection of their early singles which were essentially done by a completely different band). I don't know how much input the band had in that release, but I do know all the tracks on it are remastered and edited to form one seamless experience, like the band's conceptual albums.
So even with their greatest hits album, they basically recreated the tracks and throw the idea of a track for track, chronological "Greatest Hits" out the window in favor of a single work.
No songs from Floyd albums can be played on the radio either now. Wouldn't match the vision on the artist. The whole album or nothing.
They can't sell their songs for use in commercials either unless the commercials use the whole album in its entirety.
I think if they force some narrow vision onto consumers then consumers will find a work around like pirating their favorite songs instead.
They can't sell their songs for use in commercials either unless the commercials use the whole album in its entirety.
I think if they force some narrow vision onto consumers then consumers will find a work around like pirating their favorite songs instead.
Exactly.
I see these posts from people listening to vinyl on single-speaker Crosley turntables they bought at Walmart commenting on the richness of the sound and putting down some kid listening to digital files when that same kid may have rigged his computer (or iPod) up to a great sound system that runs rings around the trash the vinyl lover is using.
Format only plays a part in the equation...
In a word, no.....
There are different ways to record music, and not every band is interested in creating a bunch of 2-3 minute long songs that "stand alone".
The concept of people going to a physical store and buying music in "album format" might be dying, but there's no reason to prohibit artists from wanting to distribute a collection of related tracks as a "bundle".
Sometimes, an album was designed to tell a story, with each song acting like a "chapter" of the whole. Would you say book authors should start selling you individual chapters of novels too, because the idea of selling the whole novel as one item is "outdated", thanks to digital technology??
There are different ways to record music, and not every band is interested in creating a bunch of 2-3 minute long songs that "stand alone".
The concept of people going to a physical store and buying music in "album format" might be dying, but there's no reason to prohibit artists from wanting to distribute a collection of related tracks as a "bundle".
Sometimes, an album was designed to tell a story, with each song acting like a "chapter" of the whole. Would you say book authors should start selling you individual chapters of novels too, because the idea of selling the whole novel as one item is "outdated", thanks to digital technology??
Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!
Damn! There was a particular drum beat... it goes "bang!"... that I wanted to buy all by itself. I was going to play it over and over and over and over again. I'd pay $0.01 for that drum beat and put it on my iPod and play it: "bang!". Then I'd play it again: "bang!". Then I'd play it again: "bang!".
Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!
I'd put 1000 copies of this drum beat onto a music CD and play it in my car as I drove around town... bang! bang!! bang!!! Who cares about context? Who cares what the artist thinks or intends?? I'd play my drum beat loudly for everyone to hear and appreciate as I drove down the street.
Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!
All for a penny. If I want to hear all those other notes by other instruments I'll buy them separately. Why force me to pay $0.99 for all those other notes that I don't want to listen to? Its my right as a consumer to buy only the notes that I want to hear... over and over and over and over again.
Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!
Now they want to force me to buy a whole album. Just who do these artists think they are? Let me buy my drum beat. I'm the consumer... I am king!
Damn! There was a particular drum beat... it goes "bang!"... that I wanted to buy all by itself. I was going to play it over and over and over and over again. I'd pay $0.01 for that drum beat and put it on my iPod and play it: "bang!". Then I'd play it again: "bang!". Then I'd play it again: "bang!".
Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!
I'd put 1000 copies of this drum beat onto a music CD and play it in my car as I drove around town... bang! bang!! bang!!! Who cares about context? Who cares what the artist thinks or intends?? I'd play my drum beat loudly for everyone to hear and appreciate as I drove down the street.
Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!
All for a penny. If I want to hear all those other notes by other instruments I'll buy them separately. Why force me to pay $0.99 for all those other notes that I don't want to listen to? Its my right as a consumer to buy only the notes that I want to hear... over and over and over and over again.
Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!
Now they want to force me to buy a whole album. Just who do these artists think they are? Let me buy my drum beat. I'm the consumer... I am king!
I've got some of the classic Pink Floyd albums, and they definitely fell into the group of artists you mention. However I have also bought many other albums in the pre-digital days where there was only one or two good songs, and the rest of the tracks are crap that pretty obviously only served the purpose of filling out an album so they could charge album prices for what amounted to a single. That is a blatant ripoff of the consumer, but was largely solved by the digital revolution.
I believe artists should be able to present their music in the manner they wish - but, frankly, those artists for whom this argument holds up really have no good reason for legally enforcing it. Pink Floyd fans will buy their old albums in entirety because the group really did put out a musical "story". If their current albums aren't selling well, it's not digital's fault - it's because Pink Floyd shot their wad (okay, his wad) long ago and haven't done anything worth mentioning for a decade or two.
Why don't you rattle off some of the many Pink Floyd songs you hear being used in commercials? Those greedy old bastards must be selling the rights left and right if they're as money hungry as everyone says they are.
(And "The Great Gig in the Sky" doesn't count, as it was written entirely by Richard Wright and the handful of commercials it was used in needed only his approval and not the band as a whole.)
For what it's worth, I prefer buying CDs if it's an artist I particularly like, whose work I want to have a hard copy of. BT's This Binary Universe is very much an album, having been created for 5.1 surround sound, and having accompanied each track with a short film. It's on iTunes in the form of stereo tracks and videos with stereo audio, and honestly I've only listened to it in surround a few times, but I would never be satisfied with only digital copies. I bought the DVD (which comes with a stereo version on CD), and then another one to send as a gift to someone.
The guy's latest album was released on CD with individual tracks, but on iTunes, it's there as two monolithic "sides". I'm holding out until I can afford to buy the CD, not because I disagree with how he's decided to handle the iTunes release (because I don't), but because, again, I want a physical thing I can hold in my hand and take the liner notes out and read and sit down in a darkened room and listen to. Considering my bank account is continuously coasting on fumes these days, and other BT fans have tried to give me MP3s of the album, and I have a recording of a DJ set he's done with the new tracks in it which I'm refusing to let myself listen to yet, it's a hell of a challenge, but I think it's worth it.
The album is dying, yes. But it doesn't deserve to.
Music is not a "product" it's an art. Music is not a "designed" product, like let's say furniture. If someone manufactures let's a bedroom set they won't force you to buy the complete set if you only like the night stands, because they are in it to make money. True artist do care about their music, and how it is presented and distributed. It's part of their heart and soul, they just don't want to "get paid".
You don't go to the Sistine Chapel and just look at The Creation of Man, because it's your favorite and ignore the rest.
If you don't like the artists way of presentation and distribution, then you have the choice not to buy it.
Quality (even if contaminated) vs convenience
Digital technology only approximates original wavelengths, whereas analog sources, like vinyl mirror them, which is much closer to the original source.
Your argument about amplifiers and speakers apply to both digital and analog players. I would also add cables, mains source, interconnects and the listening environment as contributing factors to the end result.
But once you've lost some details through digital conversion, there is no way of getting it back. Real, analog life is much richer, than a digital one.
Digital technology only approximates original wavelengths, whereas analog sources, like vinyl mirror them, which is much closer to the original source.
Your argument about amplifiers and speakers apply to both digital and analog players. I would also add cables, mains source, interconnects and the listening environment as contributing factors to the end result.
But once you've lost some details through digital conversion, there is no way of getting it back. Real, analog life is much richer, than a digital one.
Good for Floyd! Artists and only artists should control how their work is heard/seen/sold. If they only want their full albums sold and not individual tracks...fine. It's up to them...and should only be up to them! The record labels and consumers shouldn't be the ones who decide this.
Personally, I'm not a fan of purchasing single songs. I always buy a full album unless I have no other option. I would mourn the day that single track downloads/purchases become the precedent. That may kill the artistry of the album as bands may eventually focus on singles. What makes albums great are not the individual songs but the sum of them. Tracks that people consider "bad" or "not very good" individually may, and often, sound better when listened to within the album as a whole. Plus, a song you may not like at first could grow on you. You may eventually end up liking that song. By buying only the tracks you that you initially like, you miss out on other all the songs that could have become some of your favorites.
Personally, I'm not a fan of purchasing single songs. I always buy a full album unless I have no other option. I would mourn the day that single track downloads/purchases become the precedent. That may kill the artistry of the album as bands may eventually focus on singles. What makes albums great are not the individual songs but the sum of them. Tracks that people consider "bad" or "not very good" individually may, and often, sound better when listened to within the album as a whole. Plus, a song you may not like at first could grow on you. You may eventually end up liking that song. By buying only the tracks you that you initially like, you miss out on other all the songs that could have become some of your favorites.
Just wait until they come out with those e-book readers. They'll want us to buy entire chapters... maybe even whole books or complete multi-volume sets.
All I want to buy is one word: "a". Its a fantastic word. I'd pay $0.01 for it and I would display it on my iPad. I'd read it over and over and over and over. I'd carry my iPad around and show my word to everyone so they too could read it on my iPad.
Just who do these publishers think they are? Why should I be forced to buy a whole string of words that have been put together in some particular order? This is some sort of tyranny! Its un-american!
I'm the consumer and I demand the right to buy the individual words and/or letters, written by different authors, without having to buy their entire sentences, paragraphs, chapters or books.
Since we're apparently in non-sequitir mode...
If the iPad made coffee, I'd definitely be down with that.
Stories like this just make the whole world facepalm. It's like watching siblings fight over the estate of the late music industry. If this is actually enforced, most folks who don't really know or care much about Pink Floyd will just not buy any of their songs. Instead they'll just go to YouTube, find a torrent or buy the CD for $2 on eBay.
I could see more sense in an artist demanding high-resolution digital downloads than the 192k VBR crap that's still lingering on iTunes... Now that's a real crime to artistic integrity.
I could see more sense in an artist demanding high-resolution digital downloads than the 192k VBR crap that's still lingering on iTunes... Now that's a real crime to artistic integrity.
Apple has actually fallen behind in the coffee-making smartphone category.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arsiwvy4IoQ
No offense, but how can you call yourself a fan and agree albums like Dark Side of the Moon should be split up track-by-track? You could get away with this model selling The Wall, but DSOTM should never been listened piece-by-piece. It is a solitary piece of art.
They are not arguing with how their product should be used. After someone purchases it, they can do whatever they want with it. Their argument is how it is sold. Anyways, it is not PF's decision to send their songs to radio stations, it's the record label making that decision. This is how the record label chooses to market their product.
If it's a solitary piece of art, they why did they not sue EMI when they released the CD with individual tracks rather than one long single track??
Every time I hear Pink Floyd on the radio, it's a single song only. I suppose that artistic integrity didn't matter for all those years of radio play. I own several Pink Floyd cd's and have ripped some singles to my ipod. This move by the band is only going to drive potential fans to 'alternative' sources.