@Benny Goldman: I suppose if you live in a country where music is banned and it must be smuggled in... who seriously sees pirating music as the only way to get it? seriously?

A crack fiend who already used up his food stamps and sold his kids for more crack and just doesn't have the money for some tunes????

Rabid Penguin

Um... it was my understanding that the record companies get most of the money from album sales and the actual artist gets money from live shows.

Did will.i.am get the money for this video or did the record company pocket it?

TaitRT

@Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish: And they don't look as good with hooks and eyepatches.

GeekyNerdGuy

So...content sponsored by blakberi > content sponsored by blackberry?

92BuickLeSabre

i understand the plight of musicians, but anyone who'll change "let's get retarded" to "let's get it started" just to schill the song back out in a PC climate and out to every sports arena for use, isn't starving.

he's a bad example of those being hit by piracy, because really?

the black eyed peas??

I'd sooner point at those bands that have dishes @ Denny's - but even then, i'd say those guys need the money.

nosebleed

VERY bad commercial, err... i mean music video....

blazedshaggy

Music pirates aren't as cool as real pirates. One gets to fight ninjas, the other has to fight the RIAA.

Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish

He was already firmly sold out after BEP's first album. This is just making a little extra money.

Barth

"prominently featured Curve" indeed.

92BuickLeSabre

Uh, artists' hawking of wares started waaaay before file sharing came around. Does knowing that make me old?

mildretard

Yeah right, like pirating music will really give them this fate.

PC+Mac Coexist

Well considering they make next to nothing from album sales I think it's unfair for you to blame a musician's selling out on pirates. Musicians make most of their money from concerts, and with pirates supposedly getting his music into everyone's hands attendance shouldn't be much of an issue unless he just isn't good.

mhlaxp

@bosskev: "preferred" may be more accurate, but many people who want music see this as the only way to get it.

Benny Goldman

@Chester_Copperpot: I am in love with her as well.

Benny Goldman

Yeah, the only reason for me to watch a Will I. Am video is for Shoshannah Stern

Chester_Copperpot

You could always, you know, buy their merchandise or go to their concerts. Also, didn't will.i.am make enough money off of Elephunk to end his struggling solo career? This man can't get enough commercial cash.

crumb

wow. that is straight up horrible.

imTheKing

Pirating music is the only choice for many of us today...

bosskev

@Mike918: Well, we could resort to the way my parent's would have handled the dilemma. The old-fashioned "if you can't afford something, you either wait until you can or get by without having everything you want, but you certainly don't resort to stealing it just because you want it now."

I know, I know. It's pretty radical, and I'm not necessarily advocating it. Just putting it out there as a possible choice.

92BuickLeSabre

@92BuickLeSabre: That's why Orca's dorsal fins go limp in captivity.

Free Willy

Wait, what are we talking about?

GeekyNerdGuy

@bosskev: No really sometimes is the ONLY choice...i have been on that situation...desesperately trying to get an awesome album but not too much money on my hands...so i have to go for that option...of course that i try to get it legaly after.

Mike918

@Benny Goldman: See. If I shut up, you wouldn't be aware of all the subconscious and subliminal forces directing your actions at every turn.

There is no free will Benny Goldman; no free will at all.

92BuickLeSabre

@92BuickLeSabre: And wow, talk about a fuckin advertisting campaign, I missed that one til just now. Jeez.

Benny Goldman

@92BuickLeSabre: Oh shut up.

Benny Goldman

well to quote what most people think....

Who the F*ck is Will I Am?

demonotaku

@bosskev: My thoughts too.

I would like to hear more about this "only choice" business.

someToast

How does this show the cost of pirating? He can't afford a Blackberry?

Slumping sales? Lower the price.

Anyone find it ironic that this is supposed to somehow show the cost of pirating, yet it shows up on YouTube?

I never though I would hear 'blah, blah, blah' rhymed with 'Galatica.'

taylors_dad

Red hat... monotone clothes... The nerve of this guy. Oh...... wait you meant the crapberry.

praevalesco

I bet all those Californians that got themselves in trouble with the sub-prime loans were music pirates.

Sometimes delayed gratification and waiting until you have earned and can afford something is better.

GeekyNerdGuy

@taylors_dad: Yes but no one purchases music videos, and not many use YouTube exclusively to listen to music.
@tvasser: ??? Grammar? And yes, pirating does make artists lose money because instead of BUYING the album you're getting it for free. Make sense?

iceicemaybe

Make trash like this, and you'll continue not to eat. Pirating music won't cause you to any lose of money. People's music choices change over time, get over yourself if you can't make more money than u did last year.

tvasser

@TaitRT: Um... it was my understanding that the record companies get most of the money from album sales and the actual artist gets money from live shows.

That's one of a handful of misunderstandings bandied about that help people justify stealing music.

Yes. The record companies are evil, RIAA is evil, DRM is evil, Dr. Evil is evil, etc. etc.

However, the artists get paid from their recordings, and stealing music is stealing from them.

Artists would like to be paid for their recordings and live shows, it helps keep them being artists, but if everyone steals their recordings (or crashed their live shows), then that's why that stream of income dries up.

frigg

@iceicemaybe:

Crappy Iphone keyboard.. sorry for the grammar :rollseyes:...

Im not getting it for "free". I wasn't gonna buy it anyway, so they wouldn't have gotten my money anyway.

tvasser

I already own a BB and will I am didnt convince me to buy one .He wont need to convince me to upgrade to the Bold either.

Justapspfan

...I liked it...

rabiddachshund

I could say that this is sad, but I won't.

The way I see it, piracy is here to correct one thing: To put musicians back on track, so they can make music because they have the talent to, because they like to make music, and not for money only.

The strange part of it all is not people trying to get music for free... is people complaining about not being able to make enough money to buy their next Ferrari or Mustang, or that beach mansion.

I not only have NO regrets if some musicians are making LESS money because of piracy, but I truly wish this to happen.

And I do hope for big record corporations to break, because this is the only way people who actually makes REAL good music will once again be valued in our society.

I see no problem with musicians making publicity on their clips, because if the musician is good, it won't matter.

I have no problems paying for a concert, buying DVDs and CDs or other merchandise from musicians I truly appreciate.
And I'm positively shure that all talented musicians won't have trouble making money even with piracy.

So, let piracy be a natural selection. Why musicians and other artists have to make money so easily? While doctors, firefighters and policemen, people who are saving us every single day, have to work their asses off to give some confort to their families.

Some people might disagree with me, but I think artists nowadays are WAY overrated. I do think they must be valued for their talent, but certainly not the way they are today.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

Very rarely is stealing the only choice, although I can name quite a few Japanese songs that are ONLY available via Japanese iTunes or the Internet. Japanese iTunes requires a Japanese credit card, which is only available to Japanese citizens, so figure that one out. That said, it's the only option that is affordable to the vast majority of people (buying some and not others)...if people were forced to pay the prices the RIAA wants, and repay when you want to use the same song on a different service or device, I don't think most people would pay. If the RIAA succeeds in taking out most file-sharing networks, it'll bite them in the behind.

geowrian

@Benny Goldman: Amen to that.

Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish

@Bokusatsu_Tenshi: "Good" music is totally subjective, and everyone does their job hopefully because they love it and are good at it, but mostly to earn a living and make money. Who are you to say what music should be made or not?

Benny Goldman

Sorry I meant "he meant that only certain kinds of music were supposed to be made".

It's way past my bedtime, old fart that I am.

KStrike155

@Benny Goldman: @Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish: I don't think that he meant that only certain kinds of music were made, but rather that there are too many artists out there that solely try to "sell out".

I think you're living in a fantasy land if you think that "everyone does their job because they love it and are good at it". The record companies' missions are to make money. If that means investing in someone that will make a one-hit wonder but produce a ton of crap music after that, then they don't care, as long as it's making them money.

Don't get me wrong, though. There's a ton of good music out there, you just have to know how to find it. I would have never found most of my favorite artists if it weren't for the internet... whatever "the internet" means.

KStrike155

@Bokusatsu_Tenshi: The only reason you "have no problems paying for a concert, buying DVDs and CDs or other merchandise from musicians I truly appreciate" is because they signed on to a label which payed for the distribution and marketing. Do you really believe that musicians& other artists make money "too easily"? Who are you to compare other peoples' salaries to ones deemed 'more deserving', have you offered your salary to others I may think is more deserving? I sense a bit of jealousy.

kahri

@Bokusatsu_Tenshi: "Why musicians and other artists have to make money so easily? While doctors, firefighters and policemen, people who are saving us every single day, have to work their asses off to give some confort to their families."

Are sick people, burning people, and mugged people pirating the services of doctors, firefighters, and policemen? No... they're paying for them. So why is it OK not to pay musicians?

If your point is that what musicians have to offer is comparatively worthless, then by all means don't pay for it but don't consume it either. But if you do listen to music, then please pay for it! Please!

"The way I see it, piracy is here to correct one thing: To put musicians back on track, so they can make music because they have the talent to, because they like to make music, and not for money only."

Well, it's not for the money only, but without the money, you've wiped out music as a profession. If I tell you that whatever you do in life you should stop getting paid for because then it'll help weed out the baddies who only do it for the money, you'd be like OK... but I still need to get paid. Branding musicians as greedy for expecting to be paid is another bogus justification used to steal music.

Musicians should be "put back on track" by listening to and rewarding the good ones, and ignoring and not buying anything from the bad ones. But stealing music from good musicians doesn't put music back on track, it does the opposite, stunting careers, snuffing recording budgets, discouraging talent, and depriving fans. If movies were as pirated as music, there would never have been "The Dark Night.'

It's funny - the other day on Giz the majority of commenters argued that anyone who signs a cellphone contract is ethically bound to pay an ETF even if the ETF is illegal. At what point did it become more ethical to rip off a musician than withhold an illegal ETF from a telco?

frigg

@KStrike155: You must've missed the part where I said "hopefully" before that and "but mostly to earn a living and make money" after it. But so it goes with commenters who like to pick fights by picking and choosing what to respond to. What is selling out anyway? Making money? What's an appropriate salary to earn? Seriously, these musicians can do whatever the hell they want to do in my opinion, if they make lots of money from advertisers willing to sponsor their video, they must have a fanbase who appreciates their music, so more power to 'em. Hooray capitalism!

Benny Goldman

@Benny Goldman: from my experience it's true. I downloaded a playlist of rock and indie song on the internet and discovered the decemberist, spoon, thao and quite a few more bands in the process. After that i spent money to buy the whole album from those artists and deleted the song from the playlist

dhlt25

Dumb.U.Are

Noobs-R-Us

@the.schimmi: From personal experience, that is patently untrue. Digg's minions are idiots.

Benny Goldman

but if you pirate you also buy more music

that was my favorite article ever on dig

BAM TAKE THAT RIAA

and that is completely true, i heard perry como in bioshock, downloaded a song or two, and now i've bought the cd

the.schimmi

@dhlt25: Nice job, but for every one of you I could name 10 that don't buy and only pirate. But the thing is, this isn't an argument against piracy at all. I'm just saying we shouldn't be mad at artists looking for alternate ways to make a buck.

Benny Goldman

@Benny Goldman: "Nice job, but for every one of you I could name 10 that don't buy and only pirate." I think you may be hanging out with the wrong crowd... perhaps you live on a pirate ship.

Rabid Penguin

Girl im like... LA LA LA..... hum hum.... BLAH BLAH BLAH..
This is exactly why music get pirated in the first place, because it's mediocre pop culture diarrhea.
Yet their profits rise on a yearly basis.

Exist_To_Resist

@TaitRT: that's pretty much exactly how it is. therefore people, keep pirating music, because the only people you're fucking are the record execs, and they're greedy pigs.

will.i.am. is definitely living his life with money that he gets on live performances, while getting chump change from, let's say, 15% of the profit on the solo albums, and whatever cut the band gives him from the 20 or so % that they share on BEP albums. have you ever noticed that it's the Recording Industry Association of America, not the Recording Artists' Association of America? you know who's rights they're really fighting for?

and @92BuickLeSabre: t3h yes!

rimplestultskin

Piracy did not cause this. His crappy "music" did. That video was awful. Going to go listen to some Tool to fix my ears...

iwantcokeinabottle

@rimplestultskin: "that's pretty much exactly how it is. therefore people, keep pirating music, because the only people you're fucking are the record execs, and they're greedy pigs."

That's almost true. Actually, if you pirate music, you're not really ripping off musicians, you're just ripping off hamsters. You know, the greedy hamsters who play on that damn wheel all day and bite their lower lip like "yeah, steal music, see if I care."

And if you steal cars, you know, you're not really stealing anything from the people who make cars, you're really stealing from fish that live exclusively below the photic zone in the ocean. You know, the fish that live so deep in the ocean, you'll never even see them anyway... deep sea living fishy car spinytail skate, greedy blue hake swimming bastards!

frigg

I just don't get it. I might download someone's music to get a listen, but if I like it, I'm going to buy the album. Mainly, because I think most MP3's sound like crap on a decent system, but also because I want to support the artist.

Gabryael

Maybe if we all pirate enough music, I might be able to see a decent show in my city more than once a year?

wills916

What's the difference for a rapper to rhyme about Crystal and Air Force 1's and to have Blackberry logos in their video?

Rappers have been been peddling product since Run DMC brought out their Kangol's and laceless shelltops. But now when a dude's trying to put some money in his pocket and still do what he loves he gets flack? It's a tough economy out there. Will ain't Hova, and if he's got the kind of record deal most rock bands get, my man needs to make some money so he can eat.

Kind of hypocritical for writers selling ad space on their website to talk down to rappers selling ad space in their videos.

pauliedanger

"Pirating music is the only choice for many of us today..."

I don't know where the hell you get the nerve to post something like this. You're not only condoning, but actually promoting stealing - and stealing from an industry that is on its last leg. I can't tell you how many talented artists I've seen shut down and turned away from recording, promotion, and booking companies because no one can afford to put out music that takes time and might not be a hit. I'm not even talking about the archaic structure of the major labels, but the newer "360" structure. You want to know why all the "popular" music on the radio is pre-manufactured and pushed out in a week? Because that's all anyone can afford to take risks on. Yes, the industry is changing and I hope for the better, because if things continue the way they are, don't expect to hear good/creative/original music on national distribution anytime soon.

Stealing is never the ONLY option, but this isn't about options: it's about adolescent impatience and straight-ahead greed. I thought Gizmodo was above that...

SRSound

wtf does this video have to do with stealing music. thanks for wasting my time by showing me this 4minute blackberry ad.

ranova

I think gizmodo owes me a beer after the crap I just watched. I would have been better off going to youtube and watching a LL COOL J video about his momma said knock someone out. WORST VIDEO EVER.

The problem with music piracy is simple, LOWER THE COST OF THE CD! its taken years to get it down to 10$, a cd costs 1-2$ to make and ship. The artist sees maybe .25 to .50 cents per cd. So if you double that you get 5$. with a nice 2.50$ profit. COME ON!! make the music cheaper.

atomoverride

@Exist_To_Resist: This is exactly why music get pirated in the first place, because it's mediocre pop culture diarrhea.

someToast

What the Hell is wrong with you people? This is some of the best rap (well, more hip-hop) I've heard in years. And there isn't any mention of drugs, sex, or violence. It's about a guy wanting a girl back and it doesn't dumb down the language. I'm hearing actual complete sentences in there along with decent analogies and metaphors. Seriously, how can you call that bad? Not to mention the fact that he's ACTUALLY SINGING! Maybe musical taste is lost on today's population.

Zencyde

I looked at the video and the blackberry placement add looks more like a T-mobile placement add..ALL the curves on the poster has the T-Mobile MYFAVES display on it.... its clearly their new Red Curve although the T-Mobile branding is not visible at the bottom of the phone.... T-mobile is the ONLY cell company that has the 5 circles feature a.k.a MYFAVES and that was clearly visible on the Curve Will had in his hand...is it me but T-mobile seems to be showing up alot in mainstream media from Tv shows to movies and Sports...The underdogs seems to be making alot of noise lately....