Is the future free available music only?

I ve only illegaly downloaded one album so far in my life. Money is getting tight and even if i don't want to, i have to admit, i probably will do it again one day or the other in the future.

I know this topic really divides music fans of course more than musicians ( even tough we start to see now more and more groups making albums available for free download).

 

The music supports as vinyls or cds only appeared 50 years ago to be large. Music has been played and musicians have been living off music for centuries without any fo those supports but only by  mainly playing concerts and through Patronage.

 

Is the internet and the illegal downloading only brings back the music industry to was it before the appearance of recording support.

 

Maybe record support was only a tiny part of the history of music. A music history that will go on anyway with or without.

 

If musicians could live of their music before without the appearance of vinyls cds why can't they do it now.As well as patronage, concerts their is new ways to make money merchandising etc...

 

I don't  know if you all follow me and i am not trying to apologise to the fact i might download but really i think the future of music will be free available music whatever we want or not..

You may be right.

 If you're keeping a close eye.........

...then for the record, I have never downloaded a single byte illegally and don't plan to.

actually i believe that music will be free in the future. i am not going to discuss the ethical side of the topic or the financial satisfaction of artists but what i think is 'money' or the whole music bussiness(companies etc.) kills the spirit of music. 

I am not talking about the ethical side of the topic as well. I just think that maybe in the future prog will probably survive to a possible disappearance of recording support. People lived of their music before why can't it be possible nowadays.....Support arts does not necessarily mean buying cds, again the arts was supported before.

This is an interesting and worthwhile topic - well done to the thread opener, who was not, I think, advocating anything illegal. I don't.

I get most of my music via download now, but I don't touch things like bit torrents, for both ethical and also PC security issues.

I have had a splurge lately on buying new music, and, like everyone else, I keep an eye out on price, because times are getting hard.

As to the future, I would venture to suggest that CDs, in, say, 10 years time, will be as out of date as the old vinyl's, in other words, as a curiosity for avid collectors. In 30 yerars time, the same will apply to downloads - something else will come along to replace them, that's the nature of technology.

Then, as now, most artists will get paid, rightly, for their work, and the best will make a decent living.

I think actually since the apperance of vinyls and cds a lot of terrible performers made a living out of musics which was probably not possible before. Maybe it has more to do with the world we live in than the record supportbut as Lazland said

.....most artists will get paid, rightly, for their work, and the best will make a decent living.

Eventually all music will be free to download I believe as simply artists and record companies will not be prepared to spend the money to stop it happening. 

I think the good news for musicians is that there are more avenues than before for allowing people to hear your stuff without giving it away.  And if I get really hooked on trying something that is streamed, I'll but a hard copy.

richardh wrote: Eventually all music will be free to download I believe as simply artists and record companies will not be prepared to spend the money to stop it happening.  Interestingly Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' was available for free download before it got a CD release and then went to NO1 in America based on CD sales. Perhaps it really is best left to people's conscience.

Those who downloaded In Rainbows had the option of paying something if they wish. It's heartening that many people did pay something, but dissapointing in equal measure that many didn't. In my opinion anyway. It was a good idea nonetheless. I bought the CD, and generally favour CD over download.