Should digital content piracy be stopped?

[itsandylandman]

Hey guys, im wanting to get a feel from the people out there on where you stand with digital content piracy.
As we all know, music piracy specifically has run rampant since the days of napster and limewire. Music is easily downloaded for free and shared, without the content creator ever getting paid directly by those who are listening to the music. Nowdays the artists seem to almost have embraced this (because it is how it is, and they don't have much of a choice), and are paid by middlemen most of the time excluding sales from their shows and merchandise.
Some people do purchase the music they enjoy on Itunes for example, and that price is dramatically higher than it could be in order to account for all the illegally downloaded music. So some pay the burden, while everyone else listens for free. Its been this way for awhile because the tech was never there in the past to protect artists.
Ok, so THAT said, the tech is here now to encrypt digital media and protect artists. My question to you is:
Would you pay for the music you enjoyed if the price were a matter of a few cents so that your favorite artists could be compensated by you?
If an artist made it impossible to download their new content, and you did have to pay a small fee to get it, would you just stop listening to them?
Do you feel like completely free music is something you are entitled to at this point?

I'm just trying to get a feel on weather or not it would be worth it for the music industry to offer this to musicians... I feel the widespread free music over the last decade might have ruined the consumer end of the industry, as everyone may feel they shouldn't have to pay for music... which is wild to me... back in the day you had to wait for your songs to be on the radio, or you could buy their CD's...
Personally, I feel like artists have a right to be paid for the content they produce, and it shouldn't always mean a middleman decides how much they get paid. (like streaming services or youtube) BUT what i think doesn't really matter that much.
What do you think?

[MisO69]

I have always listened to music on the radio. Its always been free.. Plenty of channels to switch to during commercials. So yeah all good.. I would never sign up for pay services just to hear music. It's been free since I was a kid. Why pay? Unless of course you wanted an album. So then we would go out and buy vinyl of our fav bands..

As for the artists... I think they are getting paid very well..

[magpie_lover]

This post lays greater emphasize on piracy in the Music industry, but just want to add that it is'nt just the Music segment that is affected. Software, Games, Art/Photography and many others are plagued by piracy. There are tons of indie developers out there, who are already struggling to make a living out of their games (they do not have the marketing prowess of the major studios) affected by piracy. Personally I would like to see this stopped one way or the other.

[Sithara007]

Piracy is not going to effect the revenues of these companies by much. Even if there is no piracy, the sales are likely to remain constant. Those who download music and movies using torrents can't afford to purchase the DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. So even if the piracy is prevented, there will be no increase in the legal sales.

[itsandylandman]

This post lays greater emphasize on piracy in the Music industry, but just want to add that it is'nt just the Music segment that is affected. Software, Games, Art/Photography and many others are plagued by piracy. There are tons of indie developers out there, who are already struggling to make a living out of their games (they do not have the marketing prowess of the major studios) affected by piracy. Personally I would like to see this stopped one way or the other.

I totally agree. I focused on music because most people simply don't think about all the other digital content that is constantly stolen. I think people assume that content creators are raking the cash in just because some artists have done well for themselves, but most of the time the music isn't the thing taht makes them their money. Its how they can turn their popularity into money by merchandising products.
I personally think if you have talent and can create content, you should be paid for THAT. not for how good of a businessman (or woman) you are once you are popular.
I know a lot of good, talented artists who just quit music and got a day job because while they had a lot of people listening, they couldn't get people to BUY their music.
I get that some people cant afford $1 per song, but if piracy were stopped, songs would be a few cents apiece. not a few bucks. they charge that just to account for the piracy. like a "piracy tax"