Timo Tolkki about MP3

[Theli]

From Stratovarius Forum

What are your thoughts on this? Is he serious? Should any MP3 downloaders be worried? Will he join Metallica in their holy crusade and be hated by fans?

And also, what do you think about downloading "illegal" MP3 in general, is it stealing?

 

[Sonnenritter]

I just lost a great deal of respect for Tolkki. "Waahh, someone is downloading my music for FREE!". The Finnish version of Lars. This is exactly what's wrong with music today. It's more about the sales of albums than people listening to/making the music. There's also a difference between selling and sharing the album. What would I get for sending my friend a copy of the album other than his/her thanks? I'm not increasing my capital in any way. It might not be respectible to download full albums and not buy the actual CD, but "artists" need to get over it. If I download a full album, it's to hear it before I shell out my hard earned money on it. All too often bands will make an album with two good songs and 10 filler tracks. So if he doesn't want me as a fan because I download songs by Stratovarius, Fuck him and Stratovarius.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

If I were Tolkki and had put out something as bad as 'Hymn To Life,' I'd be excited if people wanted to hear it at all, let alone pay me for it.

 

[dill_the_devil]

LMAO - my thoughts exactly, markgugs... I had the misfortune of receiving Ultimate Metal's review copy of 'Hymn To Life', so I was forced to sit through the album in it's entirety, repeatedly, so I could review the album reasonably objectively. That done, I promptly flung the disc out of the window.

As for the topic in hand... I don't think that there's anything wrong with being able to download MP3s, as long as you actually go out and buy the CD if you like the tracks. Musicians get ripped off enough by their record companies without us lot doing it too, but MP3 should be used as a promotional tool.

 

[Theli]

I agree that CD's cost way to much, although I consider an "MP3-album" a poor substitute. Lacking booklet and lacking sound-quality. But what I don't understand is why some artists get's mad if people download 2 or 3 MP3's from a band they never heard of to check them out.
I can swear that my CD collection wouldn't be a third of what it is today if I was unable to download so-called "illegal" MP3's.
Alot of bands have very poor internet presence and downloading a few songs is the only way to discover them.
But, oh no. There's a legal problem.

 

[dill_the_devil]

Yeah, I'm with Theli there - my CD collection has admittedly been greatly increased by receiving promo copies of albums to review from this site, but that means I only have to actually buy albums by bands I'm really interested in... and if it wasn't for the internet, I never would have gotten into a significant quantity of the bands I'm now fairly obsessed with. Hell, I got into Opeth and Katatonia through downloading...

 

[SculptedCold]

As far as metal and other obscure musical tastes are concerned, this is an absolute no-brainer. Yeah sure, mp3 lets artists get ripped-off, but the album sales due to people hearing the tunes far outweigh that deficit. It's just a shame that the huge organizations like RIAA (a-sp?) pumping out POP music that sells shitloads more than anything else anyway, get greedy and ruin it for other struggling artists and genres by destroying things like Napster and especially Audiogalaxy.

 

[SculptedCold]

After reading that thread, i've got no respect at all for him. It seems the only argument he had was that it was immoral and illegal. Wow. The fact that it's someone's work and you want to protect it was mentioned, and I agree with that, but these points should be considered.

a) He says we can download official soundclips. Hmmm. I don't know about anyone else, but metal ain't exactly the smallest genre of music around. There's a fuckload of bands out there, and hearing 30 seconds from a couple tracks from an album isn't enough to give me a feel for the music and the band, let alone buy the damn thing. I like to hear full tracks, and a good proportion of them, before I'll know if they're good enough for me to want to buy the album they're on. Sample clips aren't worth shit.

b) You've got your first band, you're pretty good, but you're in a pretty remote location, or don't have the money/time to get well known by playing around all the time. With mp3's, any band can reach a worldwide audience faster than in any other case. If you're struggling to get known, MP3's are a blessing of exposure, and if you are already known, you're losing absolutely nothing through mp3's, either the band or the label, because it's that sort of worldwide exposure that gets you new fans as well as those that already support you regardless.

Personally, i've pumped about three thousand fucking pounds into the metal music industry in these past two years, and if it wasn't for full mp3 sharing, I wouldn't even fucking know about metal. Timo can shove his legal morality up his ass, he's missing the big picture, big time.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

Well said Sculpted & Dill, well said.

 

[The Deathrace King]

I can understand people's gripes about the theft of their music.

Frankly, though: I couldn't give two shits. I download multiple albums daily, and only if they really knock my fucking socks off will I fork out the cash to buy them.

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

Man this is fucking old uke: it's fucking pathetic already, I download MP3's everyday, and if it wasn't for that I wouldn't be able to buy any albums. Does he think that I would buy an album before hearing some songs first? I won't waste my money on buying an album if I don't know what kind of band i'm going to hear. If it wasn't for MP3's I wouldn't be hearing or buying all the CD's that I have.

Timmo's attitude:fucking pathetic

(Timmo, if you think that i'm stealing your music, don't worry I don't like Stratovarius anyway )

 

[Warrior of Ice]

Ok i for one think its ridiculous because it because of the damn mp3s i got into Stratovarius and Rhapsody and other metal bands. If nothing else it is making sales go up by getting people to hear more music!

 

[Sonnenritter]

I like how he says that Hammerfall sales are down 400% in England because of MP3s. I guess he overlooked that their new album is fucking terrible. Their last two albums have been shit. Maybe MP3s are to blaim. They download the album and realize how fuckin' terrible it is and don't buy it.

 

[Warrior of Ice]

""Timo, have you seen the Metallica mock video circulated first on peer2peer networks, later all over internet? Do you want a similar video of Stratovarius?"

Metallica was right in defending their legal&moral rights.""
I like stratovarius but this is nuts timo is the finnish lars except Stratovarius doesnt sucks as bad... YET!

 

[Psychonaut]

I'm not even a fan of Stratovarious and reading his whining sure isn't compelling me to go buy his stuff. Why doesn't he do an mp3 website or some shit? Sales must be down or he wouldn't be crying so much. Of course, all the little brown-nosers are jockeying for position on his nuts on that board. Fuck them; they're all guilty too. I have increased my collection IMMENSELY due to mp3's and hmmm, I BOUGHT all of them that I liked. I have not one burned CD in my collection. Pussy...

 

[SLAYER85]

ok, i think its bull shit. i dont know stratovarious or what kind of music they make, but man fuck that shit. He sounds insecure about his music selling. Hey, whats the difference between dling a mp3 and going to a friends house and listening to HIS cd, nothing. In both cases you are checkin the music out and seeing if its worthy or not. In my case, i check a damn band out before i just run out and buy their shit. What the fuck is that? how would you know what to think about a cd labeled as whitney houston as the artist, a picture of satan on front, on confused records? i think dlin musics fine. Hey, if a bands worthy they will sell if not, they are fucked. i buy cds cause i like to have the cds in my possession and i enjoy supporting the band. Its sort of a pat on the back, way to go, great job on your music kind of shit. So if you got a problem with dlin mp3s and listening to them, close your ears when cars drive by playing their music loud, youd be stealing the music. This hypocrisy is sickening, "yeah when we are new, trade our shit around and get the word out" "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING COPYING MY CD?!?! GO BUY IT, IM A BIG ROCK STAR AND I NEED ALL MY MONEY!!!!" anyone who doesnt think thats true is either in metallica or stratovarious or is a moron, wait i already said moron twice.

 

[SculptedCold]

Excellent words SLAYER85.

 

[Jim LotFP]

Originally posted by Theli
And also, what do you think about downloading "illegal" MP3 in general, is it stealing?

Yes.

 

[Jim LotFP]

Originally posted by Sonnenritter
This is exactly what's wrong with music today. It's more about the sales of albums than people listening to/making the music.

The only musicians not concerned with their sales are the musicians who aren't making any money anyway.

Originally posted by Sonnenritter
It might not be respectible to download full albums and not buy the actual CD, but "artists" need to get over it.

No, they really need to stop caring what their 'fans' will think and start DOING something about this.

 

[Jim LotFP]

Originally posted by SculptedCold
After reading that thread, i've got no respect at all for him. It seems the only argument he had was that it was immoral and illegal. Wow.

Well that being the case, why would further explanation be needed?

Originally posted by SculptedCold
a) He says we can download official soundclips. Hmmm. I don't know about anyone else, but metal ain't exactly the smallest genre of music around. There's a fuckload of bands out there, and hearing 30 seconds from a couple tracks from an album isn't enough to give me a feel for the music and the band, let alone buy the damn thing. I like to hear full tracks, and a good proportion of them, before I'll know if they're good enough for me to want to buy the album they're on. Sample clips aren't worth shit.

And just hearing one song wouldn't do, so bands could put up a few... but wait, how do we know those aren't the ONLY good songs on the album... so this leads to nothing but the full album being enough. That's bullshit.

So if we should establish that it's OK to download whatever the hell you want, that reduces all musicians to the level of street beggars, playing their song on the corner hoping you'll drop a dime in their case. Yeah, that's dignified.

You know what's wrong with music? Musicians who put their sweat and tears into something for fans who want to hear it all at no expense or sacrifice to themselves.

Originally posted by SculptedCold
b) You've got your first band, you're pretty good, but you're in a pretty remote location, or don't have the money/time to get well known by playing around all the time. With mp3's, any band can reach a worldwide audience faster than in any other case. If you're struggling to get known, MP3's are a blessing of exposure, and if you are already known, you're losing absolutely nothing through mp3's, either the band or the label, because it's that sort of worldwide exposure that gets you new fans as well as those that already support you regardless.

Nothing stops a band from voluntarily releasing MP3s. That's quite different than someone who doesn't give a shit about a band or copyright taking what they will.

Originally posted by SculptedCold
Timo can shove his legal morality up his ass, he's missing the big picture, big time.

No, you're missing the big picture.

Music is NOT FREE, no matter how much people on the internet are treating it as such.

Copy protection isn't going to work, so the next step for the labels and RIAA is to go after the file sharing networks, and when that doesn't work, they'll start going after individual downloaders... only they won't have to do that. They're going to start suing ISPs for enabling piracy and watch ISPs start monitoring and cracking down on their users to avoid lawsuits...

Just watch...