ive always seen p2p as a method of spreading the word
i know that it does happen, but in reality, people downloading whole alnums worth of material is a rarity. for a start, the quality of each track usually varies as it has been ripped and encoded by different people on different systems. then the hassle of burning it all onto a cd (in the right order), by the time all this is done u could have ordered the cd from amazon
where p2p comes into its own, is when u are having a drunken conversation down the local watering hole and some gonzo says 'have u heard the latest xyz album it fkin rocks' so u reply 'whats a good song to get into them with' and he says 'abc123 its the best song ive ever heard'
so next afternoon when u wake up u stick winMX on and download it. upon promptly falling in love with the track u then place an order on amazon.com and buy the album
that to me looks more like free promotion than theft - and certainly, lots of the music i have bought, i originally heard from a p2p service
whats really strange is that me and the bassist in my band recorded this concept album a few years ago, was a process of self-discovery for us more than anything, and i think somewhere around 8 copies are in existance. ive had several people download this off my machine! im not sure they got what they expected, but who knows, they might have liked it heh
