When will they stop?

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

Being poor is still no reason to steal. I have no knowledge about the particular subject at hand, but the attitude towards record companies is just rediculous.

Let me explain a little...

I am a fair-to-moderate fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I have a couple of their CDs, and bought the Californication songbook a while back, so I could be a good consumer.

The book was about 80 pages, and was $32.

The book was also not a patch on many of the tabs that I'd found on the Internet.

That is why I'd rather trust a tab site, which provides interpretations of a song- not exact copies. And my own ears can finish off the rough edges.

[Zytek_Fan]

They deserve it.

Music has become to money driven, it's not about the music but about how much they can make from brainless consumers willing to pay. This is why some of the best stuff out there most of us will never hear outside the bands' local towns; the ones who actually do it for the music sadly don't make it big.

I say we petition the record companies to piss off and stop releasing the same garbage to the masses, and let us have our tabs and downloads. I buy records, a lot of them, but I'd like to try before I shell out 20 bucks for what could ultimately be crap.

Good point.

[Egg Nog]

Being poor is still no reason to steal. I have no knowledge about the particular subject at hand, but the attitude towards record companies is just rediculous.

Let me clear this up a little for you.

First of all, a large portion of people on here are being ridiculous - of course pirating mp3s, etc etc is stealing. It doesn't matter how much you think a record company "deserves it" or not, it's stealing. Stealing a rich man's watch is still stealing, even if it has little impact on him. Argue all you want, it's still illegal (that wasn't aimed at you Wout).

Anyways, as far as tablature goes, I don't agree with the record companies at all. Online tabs are just a way to help learn a piece of music. They are not taken from record companies, they are typed out by people who sit down and try to figure out how to play a song. The people type out how they think the notes, chords, etc are played, and then post them. It's no more "stealing" than it would be to sit with someone and show them how to play a song. Nothing is stolen from the record company or musician in any form.

Now of course, if someone were to buy a published book of sheet music, scan it, and share it online, that would be immoral/illegal/etc. That's content stealing. Tabs on the other hand are not.

[twinspark]

Anyways, as far as tablature goes, I don't agree with the record companies at all. Online tabs are just a way to help learn a piece of music. They are not taken from record companies, they are typed out by people who sit down and try to figure out how to play a song. The people type out how they think the notes, chords, etc are played, and then post them. It's no more "stealing" than it would be to sit with someone and show them how to play a song. Nothing is stolen from the record company or musician in any form.

I was thinking about the same thing earlier I saw this thread, or at least close to it. If these sites would get the tablatures from the artists/record companies and they would be straight copies of copyrighted material, then yes, I'd see it illegal. However if these tablatures (I don't play guitar and my knowledge is very limited) were written by some guy who just listens to the music and writes down what he heard - as an interpretation - then I reckon the whole mess ridiculous too.

Besides, I believe that the online tablatures result in no financial losses to the record company, actually they may even have a slight positive effect to record sales.

[Wouter Melissen]

First of all, a large portion of people on here are being ridiculous - of course pirating mp3s, etc etc is stealing. It doesn't matter how much you think a record company "deserves it" or not, it's stealing. Stealing a rich man's watch is still stealing, even if it has little impact on him. Argue all you want, it's still illegal (that wasn't aimed at you Wout).

Are you sure? I recently lost my watch. This can not be a coincedence!

[Wouter Melissen]

They deserve it.

Music has become to money driven, it's not about the music but about how much they can make from brainless consumers willing to pay. This is why some of the best stuff out there most of us will never hear outside the bands' local towns; the ones who actually do it for the music sadly don't make it big.

I say we petition the record companies to piss off and stop releasing the same garbage to the masses, and let us have our tabs and downloads. I buy records, a lot of them, but I'd like to try before I shell out 20 bucks for what could ultimately be crap.

I don't think you can blame the music industry for selling awful music. They might even need to to be able to put out albums from more alternative bands. There is plenty of good music still being produced. We for example need to pay attention to new cars to attract the crowds even though we'd rather only look at classic cars.

Oh get the new Veils cd, it's freaking awesome! It shoud hit the stores September 18th. For some reason we got a month earlier than the rest of you.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

If the music industry deserves to be screwed over you deserve never to listen to music.

Honestly I'm a little confused with the Tabs though. Since more people are able to play guitar and other instruments more bands are formed, more people want to become rockstars and there is a ready pool of talent the record companies can scoop up - I see it as an investment in the future.

But, as with any business, copyright infringement gets jumped upon vigorously.

[Rebirth of Xar]

Guitar tabs make it easier for people to make cheesey ripoffs of successful songs that unless they were tabbed online would be semi impossible for the average guitarist to figure out.