I wanted to collect a consensus. I've noticed many of us STC'ers ignore using the title "gamemp3s" in various conversations in regard to album reviews or sampling. Admittedly, I don't purchase all the albums I have, but I also don't entirely see it as traitorous to download retail soundtracks. I see the inherit flaw in my position: no money funnels into the record companies means production will lower in the future -- but I suppose I still do it anyway largely because one CD means $35.

It seems some of us really try to buy the albums and support the artists, but I suppose it takes real principle to stay true to that.

Thoughts?

I have no interest in it because I just buy new vgm. I use slightly dark for the OOP stuff. It tends to work out pretty good for everyone when I buy albums. The artist gets paid and someone here is going to get a good deal, since I don't hang on to originals for very long.

I use that site to sample music that I'm interested in. This way, I'll know whether or not to slap down that money because paying for a horrible soundtrack or one that simply disinterests me won't be good. The fact that they have so many is another bonus, because they link to some obscure ones that I've never heard before.

Probably we should talk about illegal download in general, instead of a specific website? Recently #gamemp3s seems a bit inactive (at the least, not as active as they were one or two years before), and while they are still incredibly helpful, you know there are some alternative 'faster' ways when we want to sample newer stuff.

It takes courage to say I have been downloading many albums and my purchase rate is less than 5 percent (I'd not normally keep most of the albums in my HDD though), but I still believe I'd purchase even less albums if I didn't download anything. I've been often told to ignore some websites like Galbadia Hotel, but I sometime visit the said site for individual mp3s. What I think is harmful is the distribution of albums in lossless format (FLAC, APE, etc.) and that's almost only one I virtually ignore.

They might be cherished by leechers, but they're all harmful to a very fragile industry.  I'm with a big bunch of people that download a lot of music, partly because I need to sample a lot of VGM as a webmaster. However, I also purchase the particularly good soundtracks. I think there are many that use downloads as an excuse never to buy an album and don't realize the impact mass downloading is having. Put simply, while game music has increased in popularity and recognition in recent years, sales figures have declined five to tenfold. There is a consensus in the industry that this is principally because of downloading with Galbadia Hotel usually being looked on as the worst contributor. Most major Japanese developers still find soundtrack releases usually profitable at the moment, but some have already pulled the plug. However, most Western soundtrack releases (including domestic soundtracks) and exuberant arranged productions (including Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec) are destined to be commercial failures.

Listen to it. If good, buy it. If bad, don't.

I think this happens a lot more than people think.

Is it that much different (legalities aside) than doing the exact same with a CD from the library?

This is a bit of a touchy subject for me despite being such a gray area, so I will try to stay objective in my reply.

I am on the total opposite end of the spectrum here. The only MP3 album I have sought out on my own and kept is the official Beyond Good and Evil gamerip that Ubisoft made available to the public free of charge. Sometimes I do check out MP3s to see if an album is worth my money, but most of the time I will just have faith in the release and will purchase it. If I have any MP3s of albums I don't own on my computer, I delete them. As you can tell from my signature I am very proud of my physical VGM collection and find listening to an official CD much more enjoyable than some torrent that someone downloaded from someone else from someone else from someone else that posted it on gamemp3s.

I think that this is part of that gray area I mentioned. You're not downloading music just to hoard it on your hard drive - you're downloading it for coverage over at SEMO, and through those album pages and reviews people are encouraged to purchase and support the official albums. What drives me absolutely batshit are the people that just download and download and don't support the industry or the composers in any form other than filling their drives with illegal digital copies of albums they have no intentions of purchasing. That's just being a parasite, plain and simple.

That is so sad. I would hate to see the industry crumble because of financial concerns due to these jackasses downloading music without any intent to purchase the albums or support the companies and composers that put that music out in the first place. This is a prime example of the amount of the internet hurting a physical business, and it sucks.

To sum up, I'll just end on a quote from my SEMO profile: "I believe in supporting the artists and the companies that make these soundtracks available for us in the first place, and I encourage other game music fans to do the same."

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I actually am part of an IRC group which is basically next door to #gamemp3s, I spend alot of money on out of print soundtracks and rip them for others to enjoy. I recently had words with one of the higher members of #gamemp3s and told them that I thought the way they mass rip and release brand new soundtracks was disgusting, they do not seem to care, nor show any remorse about screwing over a fairly small industry. I love vgm, there is nothing better than owning the original, and if an album is not available to buy, then I don't see a problem with sharing it, but what they do is just wrong.

I don't even run an IRC client.

If I can get a few mp3 samples, then I listen to it before I decide to buy.  If I decide to buy, I rip from the CD when it arrives.  I don't keep the mp3 samples.  If I do not decide to buy, I don't keep the mp3 samples.

When I sell album to someone else, I actually delete any mp3s I ripped from that album.  If I don't listen to the album anymore, then I have no reason to keep the mp3s.

The people who contribute to mass infringement won't care.  Even if the VGM album industry shrinks or collapses completely, those people will just find another medium to do make illegal copies (copy video game discs, for example).

Sampling an album to see if you like it before buying doesn't necessarily have to involve a torrent.

The publisher's websites often have samples of their new releases, so that's a way to hear 2 or 3 tracks even before the release date.

Even better, CDJapan puts up 30-second clips of ALL TRACKS for most vgm albums just a few days after the release date.  It's a great way to sample all the tracks on an album before you decide.

While reviews are also helpful, sometimes it's hard to accurately express with written words the emotions and moods and styles of an album, so I do think it's advantageous to hear the actual song yourself alongside a review.

1 minute medleys or 30-second clips are about the closest thing to an optimal way to post and share your vgm finds and favorites with others without compromising sales.   

The only downside is that making short clips involves more work and time to chop up the files than making a full cd rip, so if there was an no-brainer app similar to EAC in quality which would rip all tracks to either 30 or 60 second mp3s, then I'd certainly use that all freaking day.

I'm not even gonna touch this subject.

Yep, same here.

One thing that is kind of cool is that people are uploading VGM tracks to Youtube. The quality is just OK and the tracks can't be downloaded, so it deters people from trying to pirate the music that way. It gives a fairly harmless arena for listening to VGM to see if it's worth picking up. I found the entire Echochrome OST on there and thanks to those videos it is now in my Play-Asia cart, ready for purchase.

The idea that illegal downloading of music hurts the music industry is something which is often spouted, but has yet to be proven. Does it hurt cd sales? Possibly.  It's always been convenient to blame filesharing, and ignore for example, the sky-rocketing sales of home-video (dvd, blue-ray) since the early 2000s.  Videogame sales are also up.

All we know for certain is that cd sales are down, pretty much everywhere.  However, at the same time concert sales are up and digital music sales have literally sky-rocketed.

So what does this tell us?  That people are thieves, who download music instead of buying it?  Is that what you guys thinks?!  Perhaps it tells us that peoples ways of listening to music has changed, fundamentally.  That people no longer which to pay money and time for a middle-man service (physical cd store) and for a physical object they do not want (the album itself).  Perhaps people only want the music, and they want it in such a form that it is easy to transfer to ones digital music player.

To those of you who are oh so against file-sharing: Can't you see that it is the sellers job to provide an attractive product, and when the methods they use for sales (physical cds) and the distribution methods used (middle-men) result in an unnecessarily expensive product, this isn't going to exactly help their cause.

Of course the issue is much more complicated than that.  File-sharing has enabled us the enjoy art in an unprecedented way.  As far as music is concerned, one is no longer limited to the minimal selection which MTV, or the radio, etc has to offer.  Which brings about the problem of actually being able to purchase.  It's no longer simply a problem of money.  When it comes to vgm, most of what is released for purchase on cd is done in Japan.  This means that if you are not of legal age you will not have the means to purchase anything without the help of someone who is.  There's also the obvious issue of people simply not affording to purchase.  There are people as unfortunate as this in the world, you see.  This of course making the parallel between the advent of file-sharing and that of public museums in the 18th century all the more significant.  Through file-sharing, types of art such as music and film have truly begun to be something every man is able to enjoy, regardless of wealth or social status.

Sorry for going on at such length, but it's just bewildering to me how the broader concept of file-sharing as a means of spreading art is always limited in mainstream debate to something as unsignificant as the survival of record companies in their current shape...

I couldn't agree more.  And pretty much all people I've talked to, who have the means of purchasing more than they already do, say the same thing.

Case in point time!:

vgm albums I've downloaded to date: 1000+
vgm albums I'd purchased before file-sharing: 2
vgm albums I've purchased at present (the vast majority as a direct result of file-sharing): 500+

The simple fact is that you are not very likely to buy things at random. And that you are certainly more likely to buy something you like than something you have no concept of.

Honestly, I find it rather difficult to download from GameMP3s, let alone where I'm supposed to find where to actually download the stuff.

I download stuff to sample it; if I like it, I buy, if not, I delete the MP3s, and never hear of it again.

Digital music is bullocks without a hard copy album to back it up; granted, I always, ALWAYS rip the album to my computer, and transfer it to my MP3 player, but people who run digital music services act like they're mentally disabled: Between the poor audio quality and bitrates that they format the music in, and all the "Digital Rights Management" bullshit, I'm FAR better off just buying the album so I can rip it at 192kbps, without DRM, and without any viruses, intentional or unintentional, that digitally distributed music may have. And evidence suggests that digital music services are never going to improve, because those who run them are either incompetent, don't give a damn, or know that customers are largely ignorant and have low standards.

iTunes is especially bullshit when they have their own file formats that can only be used on their players; you can bitch about Bill Gates trying to monopolize a market, but Steve Jobs is doing the same damn thing.

And, quite honestly, I'm no rich person; I could be buying video-games, stuff I can't download for free, but no, I'm buying the music, something I COULD potentially download for free, but I buy it and pay for it because I love it.

The day physical albums are no longer available is the day I start "Rioting," hopefully only figuratively.

sometimes playing a game will inspire you to buy the soundtrack. Other times hearing the soundtrack may inspire you to buy the game.

For anyone with any inclination towards VGM, they serve the purpose of advertising for each other. So where a download may reduce revenue in one aspect, it may increase a sale in the other.

Not that I disagree with you, that's quite a sound attitude, but I don't see how deleting the MP3s makes you less "guilty", though. And if everyone did the same you would find it quite difficult to download for sampling purposes to begin with. Just sayin'.

I fully support downloading music to sample it before purchasing.  Not only is there the cost issue, but so much stuff comes out, that sometimes MP3s can even turn you on to something you would have never considered before.

Regarding publishing reviews of albums without having the album on hand, I think that gets into a touchy area.  I personally try to avoid reviewing anything other than what I own or receive physically (although I have reviewed a soundtrack here or there without the CD in hand).  When you're reviewing an MP3 rip, you don't have the complete package in front of you, and it takes away from the experience in my opinion.  Even more, as that review might influence sales of the album, it feels kinda weird downloading the album then telling people to go out and buy it.

This all sort of leads into the topic of digital distribution as well, which we all discussed a couple months ago.  I don't think we're ready to give up our physical CDs, but on the other hand, we're not ready to put down $30 for a CD that might have one or two tracks that we like.  My personal feelings have been for a long time is that the way to revive CD sales is to lower the price.  CDs cost basically nothing to produce these days, and the industry supposedly loses billions of dollars to illegal downloading... how about selling CDs for something like $10?  Yeah, they'd be making less profit on each album, and might need to sell a larger amount to turn a net profit overall, but you might sell a whole lot more too.  That's always been my stance, anyway.

I only download. I have a small collection, all of it for sale by the way, but almost of all of those were albums which one couldn't download before I bought and ripped them. I don't want to support "the industry". I think everyone would be better of without any CD (and album) industry, VGM or not. So yes, I do download from gamemp3s, and anywhere else I can find music for that matter, and I'm not ashamed of it. In fact, I feel rather proud doing it. I might try to explain why I consider the industry superfluous, but english is not my first language, so I will need some encouragement to do it. Sorry.

Okay, that's a slight exaggeration. I have bought quite a deal of soundtracks on a whim before, when I was in Japan this spring for example. But I've pulled my hair when I've thought about what I could've done with all the money instead of giving it to a in fact pretty silly industry. I could've donated the 400 USD to Doctors without Borders, it could've secured me many hours of excerise at a gym, I could've used it on vegetables (healthy person, me). Or perhaps a book entitled "Crush EMI!" or something else that could give me many arguments for my cause.

That's exactly why a full album is necessary for me for sampling. What if the 30 seconds of a 5 minutes track is only good within those 30 seconds and the rest of the track is noise? What if out of 14 songs, I only like three? I rather know before paying anywhere from $26-45 per album, plus shipping. And since I'm picky about my selection, I rather buy the excellent ones from other soundtracks that don't fit my tastes.

I agree with some of Seanne's points, but the simple truth is, most people aren't like that. Most think that, if they have the MP3s, there's just no point in buying the album. That mentality is prevalent at forums like Gamingforce and FFShrine where I see 100s of leechers but maybe 10 people who actually own CDs. I agree it is very useful to sample CDs, but I don't think a whole digital copy is the only way to do so, even if it's the method I prefer.

CDs are expensive to purchase. I'd personally find it impossible to buy everything I like given I'm an overdrawn student, but I make it my priority to buy the ones I really enjoy. In the last couple of years, I've only managed about 20 purchases, but that definitely helps the industry more than nothing. Never bothered collecting ancient CDs going for 100s on eBay though. I'm not a collector in that sense.

I definitely don't see a major problem with reviewing based on an MP3 rip you're familiar with. The physicality of an album is important but the music is the most important factor. I could go around requesting free albums for review purposes, but I have avoided that with the exception of a few fan-arranged albums, because it makes me feel obligated to write a positive review. But I agree anyone should be tentatively about absolutely recommending an album if they only have a promotional or digital copy.  I usually only make conditional recommendations.

As for downloading affecting the music industry, I'm not sure how convinced I am it is a major general problem. However, it hits the game music industry much harder than most, especially given that overseas people rely on the net to find albums in the first place. I talk to people in the industry and they all say that album sales have really slumped, arranged albums are unprofitable (10,000 is needed for profit and most albums don't manage 1,000), and Western sales are practically non-existent except for Halo and Hitman. I ask why and it's usually illegal downloading that's blamed.

This whole debate is made much weirder when people like Tommy Tallarico post over at another popular VGM forum which has a board specifically dedicated to listing FTPs and stuff. Kind of like how you'll find game journalists talking games they could only be emulating on their personal sites.

Uh, no, not the case. The movie can be downloaded and the audio ripped from it. Hell, I think there are ways to even record the audio directly from Youtube.

You're an asshole.

It's not really the suppliers of these rips that are the problem.  It's the people who download everything and buy nothing.  If you're not supporting the artists and the VGM scene in general, you're not a true fan.  Some people, myself included, use rips as a way to fully "preview" CDs before purchasing because let's face it, collecting VGM is not a cheap hobby to have.  I currently own 229 albums and I'd say a good 30-40% of them would not have been purchased had I not heard them beforehand.  I'm not about to blindly spend 30 bucks plus insane shipping fees for something I've never heard unless it's something I know I'll enjoy, such as an album by a favorite artist or if I've heard the music in-game already.

As the original founder of #gamemp3s, I used to see it as a way to spread the VGM love amongst people who either couldn't afford real CDs or just didn't have any other way to obtain them (high quality mp3s weren't as common back in 2000 as they are today).  But the caliber of people in the channel gradually declined and I really have no interest in buying CDs with my own hard-earned money just to share rips with people who have no intention of ever supporting the scene.  My buddy Adam, also known as olmerd, co-founder of #gamemp3s, agrees with this point of view completely and left the channel for the same reason.  He owns 261 albums so obviously he supports the scene just as much as I do.

Do I have mp3 rips of CDs that I don't actually own?  Hell yes.  But I also buy as much as I can, and that's the important part.  As much as I'd like to do so, buying every VGM album I enjoy is an impossibility.  But does that mean I shouldn't be able to listen to them?  Nah.

-Mike

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Bolded for being one the best points in this silly thread.

I do buy albums as much as I can in my current condition not having a job, which as usual makes buying little hard, especially if you have more than one hobby which eats money like rabbits eat salads. So, yeh, I do download game music a lot, but thanks to that, I do have around 170 vgm albums, and I can surely say that 70% of those wouldn't have been bought without downloading full albums. Really, how you can judge the full album by checking 30-60 sec samples, even if all the tracks are sampled like that? I'm no psychic.

Sure, it would be fun to be able to buy every vgm album that tingles your ears positively, but life is life. Man gotta eat, and cds don't give much fiber nowadays. Also, getting a tons of albums brings up another problem, which was it Jodo? had already, the space problem. Heck, I myself don't even have much space for my albums (which considers now the other music genres than vgm (yes I use vgm as a genre, burn me. And if you want to know, someone of you guys know my address probably, grill parties are fun.)), or even not anymore much space for my dvds in this bloody room. Not nice to put them into cardboard boxes, they're not Snake.

Also, as some guys at #gamemp3s already said, why noone haven't mentioned VGMcentral for instance? Which is way larger den of filthy pirates, taking the Ferrari's off from vgm composers.

And I have probably some other stuff to ramble, but then, pretty sure people will just skim this post. Especially when I've said pretty much what other people have said.

ps. Grassie's proud comment is bit odd, but I wouldn't be calling him asshole, but maybe it's just the fact that takes one to know one.

I like this community and almost everyone on this forum a lot, but I'm gonna tell it straight up: when it comes to this issue, most people are so retarded. In the elite VGM community, its been made a point of honour to pound one's chest like a gorilla and proudly proclaim one's VGM patriotism by sprouting a lot of nonsensical garbage.

Let's debunk some myths, shall we? "Downloading music hurts the artist". In most cases, this is bullshit. Complete, utter bullshit. "Ordinary" artists get most of their revenues from touring and playing live, most VGM composers are hired employees of their respective game companies and thus receive salary for their daily work. VGM composers are hired hands without any legal right to the music they produce, all royalties go to the game company that "owns" the music. VGM albums are printed in extremely small quantities, and the money goes to the game company and the record company in charge of producing the CDs (if that is a separate entity from the game company itself). None of the money you pay for a VGM CD reaches the composer: it goes to the retailer (places like Play-Asia, CDJapan, etc.), the shipping service (EMS, DHL, etc.), and the publisher (King Records, Team Entertainment, etc.). All you are paying for is upholding the industrial complex that produces the physical CDs: it is entirely possible to cut out all intermediaries (record company, shipping company, retailers, etc.) by digital transfer which would reduce the cost both to you and the manufacturer, drastically reducing the resources used up in the process. There is no arguing with this logic. If what you want to do is simply to support the composer, send him or her some money or a gift, because he/she sure as hell isn't getting a penny when you're placing something in your Play-Asia or CDJapan shopping cart. 

So please stop this bullshit about "supporting the artist", because you're not. What you're supporting is the industry. Many dimwitted music fans confuse these two things. Some are just too ignorant to understand the difference. Others use it as an excuse behind which they can conceal their elitism, vanity, and materialism and masquerade it as righteousness. Face the facts: there was game music before official VGM albums started appearing, and there will be game music long after the antiquated form of the Compact Disc dies and goes away. The VGM industry is just a tiny, minuscule outgrowth on the far greater video game industry (you might even call it a "parasite", living a borrowed life on it's bigger host), and the revenues from this little industry in the greater scheme amount to just about nothing. No game company, no composer, no artist is going to fall on hard times or go bankrupt if the VGM industry breaks down, because far less than even 1% of their money comes from people buying legitimate VGM CDs. VGM CDs are a luxury, collectibles that are being produced because companies have noticed that there is a certain amount of gamers that feel passionately about the music they hear in games, and there are some that would lay down cash to have soundtracks printed up, just as many of them love to buy hint books, t-shirts and other bullshit merchandise and other such trivial memorabilia. The VGM "industry" came into existence to cater to the materialistic urges of freaks and obsessive-compulsives like us (and before you go into paroxysms of rage, remember that I'm including myself in this group).

People's whining about other people downloading VGM comes from many different sources. Some people are just dumb and honestly believe that if they buy that FF7 OST legitimately, Nobuo will afford another turkey for thanksgiving (these people are usually so dumb and culturally conditioned that they also honestly believe Nobuo celebrates thanksgiving). Other people are elitists (and I admit I've been one of them, so I know where I'm coming from with this, trust me), they enjoy hunting for obscure Japanese game music CDs and paying hundreds of $s for them to eBay and Y!J parasites, and these people are offended by the fact that downloading has leveled the playing field and allowed a greater majority of fans to enjoy these rare CDs. Some people fully understand the points made above, but their main goal isn't to really enjoy the music, its rather to enjoy the physicality of a pressed CD. They know perfectly well that the music sounds exactly the same as a high-quality mp3 or FLAC rip, but they're pure-breed materialists, their reasoning often amounts to "if I can't put it in a shopping cart, it doesn't exist". The music is secondary, they're first and foremost proud consumers, and music-fans only in second hand. The important thing, they recon', is to catch that album before it goes OOP, maybe earn some money on that Play-Asia coupon, track their EMS package on the 'net. The best part, however, is when the CD arrives: enjoying the artwork, smelling the newly opened plastic, placing it on the shelf, and just feeling good about having the physical object in their possession (AKA the shopping kick). They are kids and VGM CDs are the toys, they are addicts and VGM CDs is the dope. And on the plus-side (is there more?!), they can feel smug about themselves on elitist forums and decry "parasites" who steal music from the artists.

Steal...? Really? In what way is copying music = stealing music? Downloading a file doesn't erase the source material, does it? If I go into your house and steal your stereo, I have done damage to you because I've deprived you of your property, right? But if I download a file from your hard-drive, I'm just copying the file, and you still have the file, right? I haven't hurt you in any way, so what's wrong with this...? "But you're hurting the artist!" Christ, not this B.S. again! It is often assumed that the artist is somehow hurt by me downloading the music, but its completely ludicrous to assume that me downloading an album necessarily entails that I would have bought that album if the downloading option wasn't available! The argument is often made by either record companies, or music fans who themselves never download anything and just assume that everyone else is as daft and enslaved as they are. I buy a certain amount of VGM every year, but like Cedille, if I didn't have the option to download a lot of VGM, I'd buy even less, possibly nothing at all. C'mon, can you honestly say that you've enjoyed every album you've bought? That you haven't felt ripped off after paying $30 or more for something that turned out to be complete crap, or only had one or two good tracks? The majority of VGM (like the majority of all commercial music) is heartless, mass produced dung, 95% of which you'll probably not even remember in ten years' time. "But I like it, and if I want to spend money on it, that's my business, who are you to judge me?" Sure, more power to you. If you like to bow down and take it hard from the record companies, sure, that is your business, and your business alone. But don't go parading it off like virtue when all you're doing is feeding your own addiction.

Get this through your head: if you have downloaded anything whatsoever, even for "sampling purposes", you have no moral high ground at all to declare judgment on others who download. Plain and simple. And if you do think you have that higher ground, please explain this: where are we to draw the line? How much of my VGM has to be "legitimately bought and paid for" before I am a "true VGM fan"? Is there a certain percentage of downloaded mp3s on my hard-drive that is the limit between being a "fan" and being a "parasite"? Solve that mystery, if you can! In the meantime, I suggest following this advice: if you have no sin, you're welcome to throw the first stone. That includes no one on this forum, I'm afraid, because we've all downloaded music illegally, and you know it, so stop the B.S..

"True VGM fans" can be identified by one common characteristic and one only: their love and passion for game music. A person only downloading and listening to .spc bundles from snesmusic.org is as much a fan as a kid recording the music from the TV to cassette, or someone totally unaware of "official CD releases" but who still loves and hums along to the music while playing the game, or someone who spends hundreds of dollars a year tracking down obscure physical copies of albums. Respect the music and the passion and stop dissing people who may not have as much money to spend on obscure memorabilia as you (and I) do, or people who like to use their money to enjoy other things in this wonderful life (like writing long rants on obscure forums) but still want to enjoy some great music once in a while.

I know I'm not making any friends with this post, but I'm not running for president, so I don't need to rub you the right way. It just irks me that so many people, even on a comparatively smart forum like this, buy into this whole "save the industry" crap. I say: screw the industry, let people enjoy the music they want. The true artists will survive just as they've done throughout history without the help of the corporate behemoths and parasites, and hopefully there will be a day when it has become common practice to pay the artist and only the artist. Until then, we'll have our toys.

Please, do run for presidency, I'll vote ya.

I have no interest in judging anyone else, I can only speak for myself. And for my part, I've come to consider actual, physical CDs and DVDs a cumbersome hinderance. I would much rather have a collection of music, movies and videos on a single hard drive the size of a novel than racks and racks of clutter. I also prefer to listen to a sequence of music as long as my attention span rather than one limited by the capacity of some all-but obsolete media.

That said, the channels for purchasing digital content aren't quite where they need to be yet. The pirates have more and better content, at better quality and with fewer hassles than more official sources. I'm not yet sure what the best possible solution might be.

Morality is bullshit, though. Don't waste your time trying to make me feel guilty for my actions, you'll only get yourself worked up.

Well, again, I think a lot of us like to have the physical product.  I think a lot of people realize the artist is a paid employee that's either receiving a salary of is pretty much facing a complete buyout of their rights to their music (except Sugiyama), but I still think it's important to support the labels who are trying to put this music out there.  Otherwise, even with the low cost of putting material out on iTunes/etc., I think a lot of game companies simply wouldn't care enough to do so.

Also, you don't think composers like to hear that their music is selling well?  It may not hurt an artist directly, but you definitely are "supporting the artist," even if you're not doing so by padding their pockets with the money from soundtrack purchases.  Also, album sales, although a small market, do bring artists to the attention of audio directors/teams, and can even make it possible for an audio director to push for a soundtrack release within the company.

I'm trying to type this up real fast, so I know it's not organized, but just some stuff I was thinking about.  I completely know what you mean though, and it's annoying when you post something in some general forum and people have no idea what they're talking about.  As an example, because it was funny, I posted about that Touch Generations CD from Club Nintendo, pointing out how they skipped Zelda and Metroid, etc., and some guy bitches back about letting the composer make extra money from album sales and not giving them a hard time about it, haha.  So yeah.

There is definitely a problem in lack of choices.  Some people here only want the digital files, but they are usually have DRM, are not lossless, are not available in all regions, and the vendor sometimes charges as much as the physical album. 

Others want the physical CD and goodies, but similar problems with DRM and availability also apply.  The cost of the CD hasn't dropped very much over the years.  With all the widespread copying, the publishers should sell CDs on volume.

Money doesn't grow out of thin air. I hear this argument all the time whatever the industry. The "industry" pays these musicians, markets their product and pretty much makes it possible to have many of the releases we have and cherish. To some respect, you must support the record companies who supply the multi-million dollar studio to record in and through it, the musicians -- even if you're a downloader, you're still a supporter of the Capitalistic practice.

I haven't read your passionate post entirely, but I do agree with a few of your points, Daniel. How CDs sell rarely affects the artist (they often don't get royalties although some have their own record labels) or the gaming industry (soundtracks sell pathetically small numbers compared to the games). However, they do affect the likelihood of more game music CDs being produced. When CDs usually offer the definitive versions of game music for collectors and leechers alike, I think that's a problem. Game music would still exist, but people wouldn't be able to derive so much enjoyment from it. That's the main point for me and why I encourage people to buy game music.

They are able to produce this music because they get a lot of money for their games. The record companies don't supply "the multi-million dollar studio to record in", the game companies do. In the audio department of games, nothing would change if VGM CDs were no longer produced. Also remember that games had music before the VGM business started.

I guess it comes down to if you want to possess physical CDs or not. In the last few years, I've began to feel like Smeg on this issue (no pun intended), (CDs being cumbersome and a hassle). My gripe here is that some people who buy a lot of CDs think they can sit in judgment over others, which is just dumb.

I acknowledge Chris' point that VGM releases often offer handy definitive compilations of a game's soundtrack (this is one of the very few reasons why I still buy VGM CDs). But just as often, we get half-assed releases that are glaringly incomplete and badly mastered (many times, rips are qualitatively better than the original CDs).

If I don't like the music, why would I keep it? If I don't like it, it's just clutter!

Sampling means I find out whether I would actually want it in the first place or not.

When companies don't give samples of their products, and I buy it expecting to get something I like, but don't, I feel cheated.

Purchases I go into not knowing anything, just hoping for the best turn out 50/50; half of the time, I end up with something I like, and the other half of the time, I don't. I'd like to solve that problem by doing away with the 50% of the time that I end up displeased.

You know, it would be a lot easier to be open-minded and hear you out if you didn't post so condescendingly. Instead, I just skimmed that post and thought to myself, "Man, does this dude always have a stick up his ass or what?"

I have more info to add, although I'm not sure how relevant this will be. Most people in the U.S. have expensive habits, such as smoking or drinking, and sometimes both. Now that I'm in my thirties, everyone in my age group I know has a kid or kids. Plus, almost everyone I know pays for cable TV. Those types of expenses make it difficult to have any money left over for CDs or other forms of entertainment. Some people probably don't have an extra $50 or so per month to pay for original CDs or DVDs.

My income is very low for an American, but I can easily spend $400 per month on entertainment. Since more people in the U.S. have a higher income than I, rather than lower, the sales for original media should be very high. Downloading should only be done by people with horrifically low incomes or people that don't have jobs, such as those younger than 15. Anyone that has a job should easily have an extra $400 per month to blow because I do and my income is nothing to brag about. For those do not have extra money to blow, they could try drinking less or not buying cigarettes. Or cancel their cable TV. There really isn't much you can do to convince someone like me that you can not afford a CD, unless you live in a poverty stricken part of the planet.