are we really supporting ayumi by d/ling mp3s???

[dCxAyumi1]

wow. such differing viewpoints. and such legitimate arguments O.o hmm..well, i guess what everyone is trying to say is here is that while it is good to buy an artist's album in hopes of supporting her/him and hoping that s/he will continue to produce quality music for us to enjoy, we sometimes lean toward the direction of just getting the music in another, less expensive, more convienient way; and that way is by downloading mp3's. in response to what Unimatrix said, i couldn't agree more. what coerces people to download mp3's is the availability of the mediums in the market today. iPods: sizes range from 10-30 GBs. DVD-ROMs: lots of capacity. used for backup discs and/or "mp3 file backup mediums". that's just the way human nature is. freebies are much better than items that require us to deduct from our hard-earned finances. heh...seems like this issue will be floating around for quite some time, huh?

[yys113]

I think downloading mp3 is okay, not as serious as stealing something from CD store. People are saying some "fans" doesn't own any single yet have tons of downloaded materials, what I would say is even if there is no mp3 those people WILL NOT buy the album and single because people like that just won't. So don't mention them as if they will boost the record if there is no mp3.

On the other hand, some people just cannot afford to buy Ayu's cd, maybe they're still studying (primary, high school) and have no income themselves. So are you saying that they should starve themselves to buy Ayu's cd because they only get a fix amount of money each week from their parents to spend at school? I don't think so. They have the right NOT to buy the cd in my opinion, simply because they are not yet considered as consumers, at least they don't have their own money. Compare to a rich kid (get as much money as he want from parents) who owns all Ayu's album and a poor kid who can only afford one single by starving a week, tell me if that rich kid is a "true" ayu fan and should you mock the poor kid that you're a "lame" fan? Just remember it's not like everyone is rich.

I think ayu will appreciate it if you like her songs, and she definitely aren't that money-minded until she wants to squeeze every single cents from her rather poor fans. For me, I would say I want to save my money now, my parents is supporting me hard to study overseas, and I WILL NOT spent extra money on Ayu's CD and albums that I can get if I go to Pacific Mall in Scarborough or order online. My reason is those are NOT my money, they are my parent's money, very hard-earned, and are meant for my studies not for other luxurious stuff. I can only continue to let ayu be in my life if I can download her mp3 and see where is she going.

I will buy her CDs if I have started earning my own living. Till then I will survive on mp3s. The difference between me downloading mp3 and not doing it is that Ayu will eventually fade away in my life. Downloading mp3 won't deduct one record in sales, not in my case when I wouldn't buy even if there's no mp3. But because of mp3, ayu still in my life.

Those people who keep saying we should ban mp3, you should realize that you are one lucky kid or you have reached the point of life where u can really afford them and think about other people who is not in your situation.

[Unimatrix Prime™]

I think yys113 raised some good points. You don't need to have loads of Ayu CDs, DVDs, Posters, or anything else with the Ayu "brand name" to be considered a fan. Just enjoying her music should be enough. Here's something which may be considered OT:

In an episode of South Park, Kyle, Stan, and Kenny wanted to start their own band, while Cartman wanted to start his own. They placed a bet to see who would get their CD to go platinum first. By the end of the episode, Cartman just wanted to get his CD to go platinum and get loads of money, while the 3 boys realized that music shouldn't be just about the money or status, but knowing that people appreciate your music.

Sure, artists and producers have to make a living, but how many people need a car for every day of the week? Money does change people, so who knows how I'd act if I had several million dollars, but the point is that once some artists get millions of dollars, it may not be about the music anymore, but how much money they can get into their pockets.

[BanFan]

Ah! For the third time I agree with what AfanforXX said. I had a bunch couple Ayu mp3s and even her Rainbow album downloaded. After a while I felt bad about my 50 CD-rs with music videos and other stuff. I got rid of it all though! All I have now is a CD-r with 3 Daria episodes (never released on dvd), and 2 CD-rs of random J-pop mp3s. Once I get all my x-mas CDs I'm throwing all my CD-rs away because I'll have my legally purchased CDs to listen to....

[AfanforXX]

i thought it was a given that if you really like an artist, you'll support him/her the most you can. no one ever said "Starve yourself" to support an artist, that's kind of overly dramatic, and the whole "she won't miss this money" argument is just making excuses to keep leeching, it's not about the greed, it's about having respect for the artist.

you can like an artist without owning anything by them, but you should also try to support them all you can, and saying "AYU IS DA BESTEST ARTISTE EVAR!!!!!!!1111" doesn't count because many of the people who say this don't even own 1 single item by her.

[Ibitsu Kokoro]

I only download because I am going to buy it in the near future. I downloaded songs and deleted them after memorial adress came out with them. I know there are many people here only for the download section. these people don't usually participate in the forum AT ALL.

[DerrickRocks]

It's cool the only reason i downloaded her cds and stuff a while ago was because my mom and I were afraid to order her stuff online because of the whole SARS thing yeah it is funny in a way and she was afraid to use her credit card. So i started using money orders and stuff and it was alright and plus i download to preview tracks now it is alright in a way

[kristen]

i'm 14 years old which means i'm too young to

1) have a job
2) have a credit card

which means i have very few ways of earning enough money to buy any of Ayu's cds. I am fixing to buy Memorial Address and I Am right now but its rare occasions i have enough money to do that kind of thing.

while mp3 downloading is technically 'wrong' some people .... well i shouldnt say 'dont have a choice' because they do lol... for some people, especially people in my situation, the only way we can listen to Ayu is through mp3s.

Let's just take into consideration some people's predicaments before we bash the entire situation. There are always going to +'s and -'s to things so... yeah.

[Piccolo]

I'm going to agree with afanforxx here. Mp3s are okay, if you actually BUY the CDs. You know what % I think people actually buy the CDs around here? Maybe 2%. Seriously, too many people are cheap and don't buy anything and cry about having no money. I know, there are a few people who actually CAN NOT in no way get them. I mean I've met people with like 10000 mp3s and they own maybe one cd. It completely disgusts me. If you have no money, GO MAKE SOME. You can get a job, you can do chores for other people, there are SO MANY OPTIONS. If you time to sit at home all day and listen to mp3s are cry about having no money YOU HAVE TIME TO MAKE SOME. I don't have a job or allowance, and I've got over $200.00 in stuff from saving money I do get. Sure it's not her whole collection, but I'm working on it.

[nmskalmn]

Do you work for free? I don't.

If you only download mp3 and never buy CDs you are stealing from all the staff needed to bring the music to market, not just Hamasaki Ayumi and some executives at avex. What about the musicians, composers, mixers, designers, photographers, stylists, custodians, printers, CD factory workers, warehouse workers, managers, etc? All these people deserve to be paid for their hard work. The guy sweeping the studio floors doesn't have a car for every day of the week, and the guy who operates the CD pressing machine can't make money from product endorsements.

I download mp3 because that is the only way I can preview new music, as Japanese music is not played on the radio where I live. When I hear a song I like I buy the CD eventually, even if it takes a few years to save enough money for it. I have hundreds of CDs.

[Coelacanth]

I download to evaluate artists to see if I like them. Since the speakers on my comp suck, I just burn them before listening to it on the comp... (Stupid, huh?)

If I like the artist, I'd buy some of their stuff, like skal said even if it took years and years for me to finally get it...

Buying bootlegs is okay too, as long as you plan to buy the real thing... (unless of course a real thing doesn't exist)

Whether burning and buying bootlegs is okay or not really makes my head hurt... I don't know...

[quantum_ayu]

its just plain and simple, if you don't take stuff from someone has worked for that's basically stealing. of course, mp3s arent stolen literally, but the ensuing chain reaction will rob the artists and others that have worked to produce these products.

[BanFan]

I have 2 CD-rs now out of over 60 after deciding not to burn music anymore. I realized it's wrong especially since I didn't plan on buying most of it. Now I occasionally will download music and if I like it, I'll keep it until I will get the CD. If I don't like it I throw it away or use it for my latest art piece where I hang cut out pieces of CD-rs on strings with about 10-15 pieces per string. Now not only are they used to rip off artists and staff, they can be used as art!!

I just got Shiina Ringo's second album on BT and I love it, and I put it on my X-mas/B-day wishlist since I have to save up for buying people x-mas and b-day presents for the next five months...If I don't get the CDs for X-mas or my b-day, then I'll buy them right after...

[Brittany]

Eh.. I think we are all guilty for downloading. I downloaded the song "INSPIRE" than I received the single a few days later that I ordered from YesAsia.. I don't really have burned CD's with her songs.. but honestly though, we all do it once in our lives