01-01-2016, 04:42 PM
(01-01-2016, 03:55 PM)K-Train Wrote: Yes you're correct the industry (which includes the higher ups) isn't suffering. I should have been more specific and stated that the lower tier artists are getting the short end of the stick. Newer artists getting pooped on by the labels is a big problem and definitely has a long standing track record. But piracy has/does effect(ed) lower tier artists on big record labels. One reason is because bigger labels will normally have more "hands in the pot" so to speak. This means that as an artist you have to sell well if you want the guap (Big Sean reference lol). Selling well is the goal regardless but this piracy will make it harder to varying degrees. Not that I'm losing sleep that Ariana Grande isn't getting all her money lol.
It could also force artists to make better music and come up with more creative ways to stay afloat which can be a positive. Although I'd be curious how many people feel that music today is better than old school music but that's another debate. However as you stated going independent and moving away from the big labels is a safer practice and more and more artists are doing that especially in hip hop/rap. My example of the music industry was meant to illustrate piracy does have an effect how much or how little is debatable. Overall, you made a good point apollux.
Bringing it back to subliminals, Shannon isn't rich like these music executives plus we don't have any statistics showing how much money he's losing per month to piracy. We do know (based off statements made in the past) that this company has never had to borrow money from the bank to stay afloat but we also don't have stats on how much money the current AP code has saved/recovered for Shannon. Those would be very useful stats for both sides but I think acquiring those stats would be nigh impossible (talking explicitly for the AP code stuff). Regardless, with that information alone the argument can be made that Indigo Mind Labs would survive without any AP code at all (which they were doing before 2013).
Just like some people wonder how a certain artists would sell without bootlegs I just sometimes wonder how much further this particular company would be with things such as R&D if piracy didn't exist but I admit that its one of those thoughts you have when you're on the patio smoking lol. That's my whole perspective on it.
@Real Justin: Love that clip, what episode and season is that from?
I'm not sure what season but you can find the episode by searching "South Park Metallica Napster Episode"
As for losing money, really you don't lose money from people pirating your stuff since it's a digital product, there's no physical inventory being stolen, so nothing is being lost. People that pirate stuff aren't people that are thinking if it wasn't available to pirate it for free they would buy it, that's not how they think at all. They think if it's free, I'll try it, if not, then fu*k it, so Shannon isn't losing one single penny from people pirating his stuff.
If he had a warehouse of physical CD's and people were taking them, then he would be losing money because he would be losing inventory, but this is just people who are not going to buy his subs anyways, getting their hands on a leaked copy, and then I as a paying customer have to suffer for it, and to me that's messed up and that's why my vote will always be on no APcode at all.
If this was my company I literally would have never even considered for one second to add an apcode. Piracy is just part of the game, and you don't lose anything from it because the people who pirate the stuff wouldn't be buying it anyways, it's nothing more than a leaked file that some random person gets their hands on, and that person was never going to spend a dollar on this company anyways, so it's seriously not a big deal.
If anything, it could help because a pirate could turn into a customer, but programming them to become one isn't right especially when people paying for the subs have to suffer along with the pirates.
Shannon already said he can't make an apcode that will only affect pirates and not affect paying customers, so to me, I'll always be against the apcode no matter how you frame it.
Shannon literally doesn't lose one single dollar from pirates, but he does gain from them if he programs them to start buying his stuff, so it's win for him, and lose for everybody else, pirates and customers.
