What if I want to download asian music?

[Irako of the Desert]

Ok, I'm a big supporter of paying musicians for their work. I'm a musician myself and would be really upset if somebody got my music without paying me for it. I absolutely hate downloading stuff illegally because when you don't pay for the music, you're stealing from the artist. I usually use iTunes, but that doesn't work when I'm looking for new asian music. Does anyone know where to go to download legal asian music?  

[evilbrainbabies]

I can't really answer that. But I will say this about iTunes... generally unless the artists put there music on iTunes themselves, they don't make a cent off of those sales. iTunes pays straight to the label, and the label pays bands off of there ticket sales at there concerts. So the only way artists can really make there living is by selling there merch at there own shows or putting there stuff up on the internet themselves. So downloading in my view is generally better than going to Walmart who gets a profit, then pays the distributor, who pays the label, who only gives the artist there recording money and a few other bits and pieces. Not saying it's right. Just saying if you are looking for supporting musicians, go straight to there own shows and buy there stuff. >_> Not iTunes or big name companies like Target.

Try to google some artists and see where there distributors lie. If there is an American distributor then you can try to buy straight from them or order where they sell there music. Hopefully that might have helped you out a bit. I dunno. >_<  

[His Majesty King]

CD Japan and Yes Asia are two sites for such places. But I'd rather buy from their shows than let those types of sites make a $50 profit for a $20 album.

I download lots of music for free personally, but hey, bands like GPKISM and Seileen came by the other week at a club downtown. I was there and I bought all their CDs at their show, AND got them all autographed to boot.

iTunes' files lack quality in my eyes anyway. I'd only buy apps from them personally.

You also can get a bit lucky at Hot Topic. I've found Dir en Grey, Mucc, D'espairsRay, Janne D'Arc and Versailles albums in the CDs they got there.  

[evilbrainbabies]

ya. iTunes doesn't have the bitrate quality, as well as the general audio sound to back up the sound of a CD sometimes. Plus... with a CD, you get something that iTunes doesn't really offer and that's the album artwork. I like the actual piece of paper in front of me, because you are holding something that took alot of time to make, rather than looking at some JPEG that's like... 100x100 pixels. >_> But of course, that's just me.  

[Irako of the Desert]

@ evilbrainbabies: I was under the impression that iTunes is required to pay fees to ASCAP and BMI, who then pay royalties to the musicians. But that's only beneficial to musicians in the US, so of course, unless international bands become a part of either ASCAP and BMI, they can't get the royalties. Maybe by the time I get to my junior year, the MIS classes will help clear this up.

@ Lunaire: Do those sites let you download one song as opposed to buying an entire album?  

[evilbrainbabies]

Well, remember that BMI is more or less a Sony name right there. One of the big four(or five depending on who you ask). And they can play with there own rules all they want. I know I have asked some of my band friends from all sorts of backgrounds from local bands to the ones touring all over the world, and they say they can't trust Napster, iTunes, Amazon and Walmart. Because they don't do business well and it can often make more problems for the artist just because of the royalties and the labels. Because the label might own your royalties over your own music. Depending on what contracts the bands sign.

There are alot of funny and stupid loop holes that all the labels have... just to gain the extra buck. X_x  

[Irako of the Desert]

That's the only reasons those membership thingies rose up in the first place. 3nodding Part of why I decided to pursue a degree in Music Industry Studies. I'll fight for the musicians to get their money.  

[Ethereal Cereal]

Irako of the Desert

I'll fight for the musicians to get their money.

That's all and good, but I still stand by art being something that everybody should be able to enjoy freely, and not having to be forced to shell out money every time one wants to enjoy it.

Buying music is something that each individual should want to do, not have to do.

On topic, most of the stuff that I listen to is incredibly obscure, so the only way for me to get my hands on it is to shell out $50+ for a CD copy or to scour the internet to look for a blog that has it, or to just consult my lovely p2p programs. If I so happen to get lucky when I do find a band that really grabs me and I spot it for a reasonable price online, then I'll go ahead and grab it when the time is right.

evilbrainbabies

ya. iTunes doesn't have the bitrate quality, as well as the general audio sound to back up the sound of a CD sometimes. Plus... with a CD, you get something that iTunes doesn't really offer and that's the album artwork. I like the actual piece of paper in front of me, because you are holding something that took alot of time to make, rather than looking at some JPEG that's like... 100x100 pixels. >_> But of course, that's just me.

That, and with CDs you don't have to worry about a hard drive crash wiping your music library if you weren't smart enough to back it up at least three times in the first place. If worse comes to worst, you can re-rip your library onto your computer in whatever form you wish, be it lossy or lossless, at whatever bitrate you desire.

Buying mp3s is probably one of the most asinine ideas I've ever heard come out of the music industry anyways. Crafting a CD collection is much more fulfilling. However, the only way to know if a CD is worth buying is to listen to the full album beforehand. And if you don't know anybody who is into music as much as you are to be able to borrow a CD of that band and listen to it, you're ********. Therefore, your only option is to download the album. From the internet. Without paying a cent for it.

After that, you can decide which way to go. If you ended up hating the album, then you delete it and that's that. No harm, no foul, and you just saved yourself a potential $15. Or, if you DO like it, you can invest in that band's future by really making a contribution to their work. And of course, buying their music--in physical, tangible form no less, the ONLY way to purchase music--from their official sites is always the best way to go, and it's the surest way to make sure all of the proceeds go straight to them.  

[His Majesty King]

Irako of the Desert

@ evilbrainbabies: I was under the impression that iTunes is required to pay fees to ASCAP and BMI, who then pay royalties to the musicians. But that's only beneficial to musicians in the US, so of course, unless international bands become a part of either ASCAP and BMI, they can't get the royalties. Maybe by the time I get to my junior year, the MIS classes will help clear this up.

@ Lunaire: Do those sites let you download one song as opposed to buying an entire album?

The two sites I had mentioned (CD Japan and Yes Asia) are if you wish to buy the REAL CD. That's what I figured you wanted.

Connect.com was a sony music store that sold a good amount of tracks... but that's closed now.

If all else fails, you can download iTunes Japan, purchase Japanese iTunes cards, establish a Japanese account, and download from there. As much as I hate to fund Apple, hey, the money will trickle down to the band eventually, right?

Maybe you could do a little research? Perhaps the bands sell individual tracks on their sites... Who knows? The World Wide Web is a big place...  

[evilbrainbabies]

The Other Half of the Sky

Irako of the Desert

I'll fight for the musicians to get their money.

That's all and good, but I still stand by art being something that everybody should be able to enjoy freely, and not having to be forced to shell out money every time one wants to enjoy it.

Buying music is something that each individual should want to do, not have to do.

On topic, most of the stuff that I listen to is incredibly obscure, so the only way for me to get my hands on it is to shell out $50+ for a CD copy or to scour the internet to look for a blog that has it, or to just consult my lovely p2p programs. If I so happen to get lucky when I do find a band that really grabs me and I spot it for a reasonable price online, then I'll go ahead and grab it when the time is right.

evilbrainbabies

ya. iTunes doesn't have the bitrate quality, as well as the general audio sound to back up the sound of a CD sometimes. Plus... with a CD, you get something that iTunes doesn't really offer and that's the album artwork. I like the actual piece of paper in front of me, because you are holding something that took alot of time to make, rather than looking at some JPEG that's like... 100x100 pixels. >_> But of course, that's just me.

That, and with CDs you don't have to worry about a hard drive crash wiping your music library if you weren't smart enough to back it up at least three times in the first place. If worse comes to worst, you can re-rip your library onto your computer in whatever form you wish, be it lossy or lossless, at whatever bitrate you desire.

Buying mp3s is probably one of the most asinine ideas I've ever heard come out of the music industry anyways. Crafting a CD collection is much more fulfilling. However, the only way to know if a CD is worth buying is to listen to the full album beforehand. And if you don't know anybody who is into music as much as you are to be able to borrow a CD of that band and listen to it, you're ********. Therefore, your only option is to download the album. From the internet. Without paying a cent for it.

After that, you can decide which way to go. If you ended up hating the album, then you delete it and that's that. No harm, no foul, and you just saved yourself a potential $15. Or, if you DO like it, you can invest in that band's future by really making a contribution to their work. And of course, buying their music--in physical, tangible form no less, the ONLY way to purchase music--from their official sites is always the best way to go, and it's the surest way to make sure all of the proceeds go straight to them.

ya. I always felt that the physical piece had a bit more to it than downloading some mp3 in a low bitrate format. There's something to say about a guy with records, CD's, and cassettes across there wall than some folder on your computer desktop labeled "Music". And ya. You more or less hit the nail on the head with the download as a test. Since I know alot of stores recently have stopped using there headphone sections where you can hear the album before hand and test if you like it or not. Which has been weird to me. Because you would think with iTunes and every other site out there doing that... why would stores stop? But whatever. My friend actually wrote a pretty good thesis on this whole download-to-test mentality and it was really good in both the defensive and the devils advocate mindsets. I'll have to see if I can get him to send it to me and post it. It's actually very good.  

[Ethereal Cereal]

And of course, for those who are limited in their appreciation for music, perhaps listening to one song from an album may give them reason enough to make a purchase.

However, for those of us who actually care about the music that we listen to, listening to just one song isn't enough, unless that song happens to be 60 minutes long and spans the entire album anyways. That's right, a person needs to listen to the entire album before he or she can make a decision about whether to buy it, because who knows? A person listens to a good song from the album then buys it, and the rest of the album sucks. Listening to the flow of the album and consistency of song quality is what's most important when checking out a new band, or even a new album from an already familiar band. Many a time I've listened to albums from bands I love to pieces, but those albums just don't stack up. And one or two songs can be incredibly deceiving unless you're too big a fan of a particular genre for your own good, or again, those are the only two songs that make up the album.