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

[dCxAyumi1]

well, in order to support a music artist, you would purchase items related to them, either directly or indirectly. am i wrong in saying this? now, im not saying people here do not buy ayu-chan's CD's and whatnot but...shouldn't we stop d/l mp3s all together? well, there are exceptions, like the unreleased tracks...but that should be as far as we go, right? i don't mean to offend anyone, it is only my humble opinion. i'd like to hear from ahs members on this.

[PanKanShi]

Shes already rich... and she's already coming out with a new single. Don't get me wrong, I love Ayu but shes got to slow down a little. You have to be Bill Gates if you want to own all her stuff >_<.

[dCxAyumi1]

i spose so...but that only includes music...

[Unimatrix Prime™]

By DL MP3s, you're not directly supporting Ayu and Avex. They make no profit in having people downloading MP3s, but I don't think that people should immediately stop because of it. To me, I think that while downloading in general isn't the best way to go, at times it's the only solution for people who can't afford it or buy it from where they're at. I don't think it's bad that people download to preview tracks before buying, so while I'm not the richest guy in the world, I'd definately buy Ayu's CDs whenever I can afford it !

[everfree]

Whoa...For a second I thought it was the same person posting three times in a row arguing with themselves. LOL...Anyway, I don't think it's bad to dl mp3s exactly. I mean, that's how I really got into Ayu. Also, I back up all my Ayu CDs by turning them into mp3s, so I'm still supporting Ayu and stuff.

[aiko_hoshi]

but liking jpop, especially ayumi, isn't cheap. i would love to buy her cds, but i don't have 30$ or 40$ to spend on them. i'm lucky if i can buy an american cd that costs 15$.

[dCxAyumi1]

everyone makes a very good point..no one really has all that money to burn =//

[ayumaria]

Hmmm, I've already support ayu [partially... I guess] because all ayu's original CD that I have are only the album CD. For the single CD, I can't find it anywhere on my place.
So, basically, what I download is the single remix track(s) only....

Why not buy online then ????
Well, I'm not a rich people, and have no credit card either...

So, the conclusion is:
I will buy every ayu's CD if I find them on my place.. Yup, I definitely will buy all of them...... if only they were sold on my place...

[SheFliesHigher]

Meh, I don't want to spend lots of money and wait several weeks to get Ayu singles in the mail. I buy her full albums. And I'd buy a lot more if I didn't have to order online, pay shipping, and wait.

[ImpactBreaker]

many mp3s downloaders are potential buyers. If it were not for the mp3s, I doubt a lot of ppl here would even know who ayumi hamasaki is. I for example don't buy any of her stuff because I don't have a job yet but as soon as I have one (and a credit card ekek) I will try to support her as much as I can....until then I'll have to keep on relying on the mp3s =/

[Ayame]

Originally posted by ImpactBreaker
many mp3s downloaders are potential buyers. If it were not for the mp3s, I doubt a lot of ppl here would even know who ayumi hamasaki is.

Agreed. Music from other countries, especially non-European or Latin American ones, is difficult to find in America. I personally heard about Ayu from the Internet and I got to know her music by downloading mp3s. Now, I own several albums and a few singles by Ayu even though I have a good amount of her mp3s on my computer. I believe I'm still supporting her as an artist, just not for every single song that she does, and I don't think that is necessary. As it has been already mentioned, I won't elaborate on just how wealthy Ayu is from all of us crazed fans... XD;

[leafyamazaki]

dling mp3s isn't at all that bad. If u have no means of buying the CDs (online or offline), it can be the only way for u to listen to ayu, and that's okay, but if u do have means then by all means buy.

Buying online isn't really a problem if the store or the seller accept payment by money order, ur only problem is if the postppl loses the m.o., which btw hasn't happened to me yet ^_~

[nick]

-

[ImpactBreaker]

Originally posted by nick
OK then... Here's the note from my web site:
-----------------------------------------------
Downloading mp3 files and keeping them does not differ from actually stealing a CD from the store. Sure, there is only a slight chance that you will get caught with mp3 files but think about this:
1. Will you actually go and tell your friends and relatives: "It was a good day yesterday, I've managed to get out of the [insert your store name] with two CDs under my shirt." Imagine what a low life you will be in the eyes of everybody.
2. Now, how downloading mp3 files and burning CDs is in any way different...?
So, do NOT forget to delete them after listening.

Sorry but I think that's an absurd analogy. If I go to a store and steal a cd, I'm stealing a material thing, the cd case, the cover, the cd cotaining the proper data to be played on a CD player, a material of quality. The CD store spent money on that material thing and by stealing that you are doing a direct damage to that Cd store.
Owning a mp3, if you don't have any ways to getting the actual cd is a completely harmless thing. Plus it's not as if the person who owns it would buy the cd anyway if he/she couldn't and there were no mp3s. Mp3s have a slight worse quality than the CD, plus if you burn it on CD the quality gets horrible. I don't see why you compare a computer data with a material thing.

And... If you do not have ten bucks to spend on e-bay for a single or fifteen bucks for an album... - you have a hobby that you cannot afford then. Though I fail to see how this could be possible - if you have access to a computer and intenet, you should have the minimum amount of money needed for CDs

If you are talking about US (or any other country with a strong currency) than I'll keep quiet (even though I bet these japanese import cds are even expensive for people who live in richer countries - unless you're japanese or live in other asian countries that have no need to import), but I'm actually not north american. Computer and internet here are quite chaeper and a LOT more useful (my parents and brothers can make use of it, while ayu is a personal taste of mine only), as are american cds which I can afford them no problem. But importing japanese cds is way too expensive because my currency is not dollar and prices in dollar usually get too much expensive (and not worth the pay) if I have to convert my currency to dolars. Plus the shipping helps to make the costs extremelly expensive.

[boogieordie]

And... If you do not have ten bucks to spend on e-bay for a single or fifteen bucks for an album... - you have a hobby that you cannot afford then. Though I fail to see how this could be possible - if you have access to a computer and intenet, you should have the minimum amount of money needed for CDs.

So we shouldn't listen to Ayu at all if we can't, at the very second she releases an album, afford to purchase it? That's more than a little absurd. And what about getting bootleg CDs on ebay, that's not supporting Ayu either, in fact it's WORSE than downloading mp3s, but no one seems to care.

If I hadn't downloaded mp3s, I wouldn't have bought the 45 Ayu CDs that I have. It's not like we live in Japan and can hear her music on the radio. Pretty much the only way to become a fan is to download something to become interested.

This is not even REMOTELY like walking into a store and taking an album and walking out. If I were to do that, I'm preventing someone else from purchasing that album by taking the actual CD. If I download the music, I'm not preventing anyone - not even myself - from buying the album. Most likely, either the person downloading mp3s wouldn't go out an buy a CD anyway, or is eventually going to. There is no loss of business because most people wouldn't go out an buy the CD even if they couldn't get it on the internet.

One of the reasons I download any mp3s at all is because we can get them a week prior to the actual release date of the album. I want to hear what I'm purchasing...

Ashley

[nick]

-

[starr5245]

yeah, i listen b4 i buy!!! or i wont buy!!!!

[s1138]

I have no way to purchase her music.
The CD stores around here don't carry it.
I do not have a credit card, so I can not purchase items online.
I do not have friends who could buy it and mail it to me.
And more importantly, I can not afford to spend $30 on a CD.

[..:DisarO:..]

She's already rich! Here in Brazil is very hard to find a Jpop CD, and very expensive, so mp3 is the solution...

I don't think DLing supports her, but sampling her music and going off to buy her cds does.