I think we should make an
>honest attempt to support bands by buying what they have for sale.
>
>Later
>John Davidson
 
I certainly agree, and this is a hard distinction to draw. I've struggled
with it in the past b/c I have bought (but never sold) bootlegs. After
finding out how taboo they are, I quit and started trading. But I have a
hard time faulting anyone for buying bootlegs or trading shows IF THEY
ALREADY OWN EVERYTHING THE BAND HAS RELEASED. Most of us are rabid fans,
and probably own every Connells disk (I even have two copies of Fun n'
Games.) The band isn't going to get any more money out of me, because
there's nothing else to sell (until the next CD), so who can fault me for
getting something that they aren't/can't offer from another source. That's
a market economy. If the bands want to beat bootleggers, they should
release a live disk.
 
I know a live release doen't end this, but for example, there is a store
near me that sells lots of live bootlegs. They sell Blues Traveler
bootlegs, and have told me that their sales decreased 90% on those when the
band released "Live from the Fall."
 
Before I'm attacked as a nihilist fiend, I personally no longer buy
bootlegs and only trade tapes of bands that I own their entire opus. (The
latter is less of a moral decision than that trading is such an effort
sometimes that I wouldn't bother except for a band that I really love, like
the Connells.)
 
Peace.
 
.....................................................
Mike Orren
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