Pages

Ads 468x60px

2009/11/27

9 Reasons Why Piracy Helps the Music Industry


The entertainment industry, as of late, has been more than vocal about the butthurt they have endured at the hands of dirty pirates who steal their music. What they don’t realize is that these people actually help them.

A wild statement, you say? Oh wait, what’s this? Holy Bittorrent, Batman, it is an awesome list!

1. It stops fans from buying crap

Thereby performing a sick kind of quality control. Instead of just consuming whatever crap the artists decide to put out that week, pirates make them work to create good stuff. If a movie sucks, it’s not going to get the same kind of press these days as it would before the Internet. People will tell you it sucks. When someone gets something for free and says it sucks, you can often trust them more than a paid critic who probably got comped a weekend at Disneyland to tell people that “Paranormal Activity” was scary.

2. It helps artists who are actually good

Back in the days, we would only hear a musician if he had a record contract. Today, anyone with a computer and some talent can get their work out there. While it is true that wading through piles of junk can be somewhat daunting at times, finding the gem that becomes your favorite song makes it all worthwhile. The bonus is these guys don’t mind if we pirate their stuff. They are just happy to be heard.

3. It resurrects good songs

Every now and then, a song that would have never become popular again gets linked by thousands of /b/tards involved in some sort of sick joke and gets airplay. Without being free to find and listen to such a song, Rick Astley would still be that young white guy from the 80’s who sounded like an old black man. Pirates made him famous again. You’re welcome, Rick.