Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarge
As for bootlegs: Those who claim they would never listen to any obviously don't know about the joy of discovering some rare gem and I wonder if they are really interested in the music. Not everybody is fortunate or old  enough to have seen and heard their favorite artists live when they were in their prime. Fans have always provided each other with inofficial live or rare studio recordings. They may be in circulation without the approval of the artist but they usually don't cause financial losses, they rather increase the interest in the artist, in my opinion.
Ripping new, official releases and make them available for free to everybody is another matter, that's indeed theft. If you put a lot of time, effort and money into something in order to sell that product and make a living from it, you wouldn't be pleased if someone else took posession of it and spread it without your consent. |
Agree 100% with all of this.
I have a few bootlegs that I like better than many official albums, and in those cases, they have only increased my appreciation of the artist's work. If it weren't for those recordings, there's absolutely no way I could have heard some truly amazing performances, and for that I'm a happy camper.