[non BYJ] a PM that i can't answer
the SS501 fans amongst you might have heard about the leak.... hee, bae-fans, don't be 'scared off', this ain't really a SS501 post, although it stems from an experience with the boys.yea, the boys were supposed to have the mini album Rebirth out yesterday. but a day before the official release, the songs were leaked. yea, they were put up on youtube, some with download links and all that... some triple s were frantically tracking all the sites and blogs and youtubers and doing their best to get these people to take down the links. happy to say that quite a few did have their links removed, some voluntarily and some forced to remove.
but... on that day, we heard fellow fans saying things like 'why can't these people wait just one more day?'...
that actually set me thinking a little. there are really two issues here.
one is about the leak.
and the other? well, it's about were the fans saying that it's A-okay to post the clips and links once the album's out? so it's okay to put up the download links so long as the album's out? i think the crux of the issue is, really, our respect for intellectual property, isn't it? these days, it's so easy to just click and save...
even when there's no direct MP3 download link, it's still possible to save the youtube clip into a .flv file and then convert that into an MP3. there're so many different ways to download, so many different ways to convert... and searching for things is also so easy... (ahhh... search engines are really smart these days!)
anyway, what triggered this entry is a PM that i received last night. mind you, this came from a 15-year-old gal who's a member on the SgTripleS fanclub. and some 24 hours later, i'm still stumped as to how on earth to answer her.
here's her PM, i hope she doesn't mind that i repost it here:
Hey bb,
just wondering, are people allowed to actually put the songs on Youtube?
Even though there's no dl link or what not. I mean, there are still websites that can convert the vids into mp3 and then that'll be illegal dl-ing already right?
Cause someone posted the songs on youtube.... (YT links to green peas & obsess omitted...) Kinda skeptical about all this now cause, yknow, kinda unfair for those that actually went to BUY the albums and painstakingly saved money for it and stuff, but people are getting free dl-ed music online ><
sometimes i think i complicate things myself. is it a straightforward question to you? how come i've a feeling she's really asking me an issue that has to do with the legal framework for internet usage and also about moral values?
i was going to think about it abit before i reply her.
then today, since the boys' Rebirth album's out, someone started a new post on the forum and put up the youtube clips to the new songs. now coz the fanclub is so bloody new, there's no precedent whatsoever. i saw the post, and my first inclination was to delete it.
then i stopped myself... for the 501th time since joining the fanclub, i had to hold myself back. this is not MY fanclub. it was not started by me and therefore not set up with my beliefs and value systems. besides, there're paying members as well, i suppose it's either a case of the presidents of the fanclub making a decision, or we let the members decide. who do i think i am to set the rules, right?
so i did the 'right' thing like any good, well-mannered and respectful committee member (CM) should do. i texted the president and also the other two CMs about the matter. basically, i just thought the fanclub should at least have a stand.
seems like they all thought it's okay to allow the youtube clips to be posted.
then okay, that youtube post stays then.
maybe what i've always suspected is true. the problem is really ME. perhaps i was making a mountain out of a molehill. like what i'd said in my previous post, sometimes i wonder if i wonder too much.
now if you ask me if i'm okay with the decision to allow youtube clips of the new songs on the forum... my answer would be 'yea, i'm okay to accept the decision, no biggie.'
but if i were to run the club, then i would want it to be a fanclub with a conscience (and hopefully, with a difference too!) if i were to run the forum, i would probably allow clips normally, but not for new releases and new albums.
for new albums and releases, i would probably disallow embedding and posting links of clips to these new songs on the forum for the first two weeks following the initial release. of course, the exception would be the official MVs for the songs.
of course one might argue that it doesn't help much in stopping the uploaders and downloaders since everyone can easily search online for the clips. sure, they can.
but a fanclub is not just any club, isn't it? if we're set up to support the artist or the group, do we really want to make it so easy for people to locate the links and just click SAVE? and... even if we might not change the world, but if it can make a difference to just one young mind, then i'm prepared to do it.
remember the starfish story? a man was walking along the beach and he saw many, many, many starfish being washed ashore. he set out to pick up the starfish one by one and put them back into the water, one by one.... another man came along and asked the first man why he's even bothering to do that, since he would never be able to save all of them.
'well, even if i can't save every starfish, it would make a difference to this one,' the first man replied as he pointed to the one starfish in his palm.
well, i know i'm a noona fan myself, but the majority of SS501 fans are young and impressionable. whilst the fanclub is not the platform to be teaching them good things, i certainly wouldn't want MY fanclub to be the place to teach them the not-so-good things.
i guess the right message should be leaking of the songs is wrong.
and... illegal downloading of songs is also wrong, no matter if you do it before or after the release of the album. and referring back to the contents of the young lady's PM... i guess we can't change the world, and we can't control the actions of other people. but we CAN change ourselves, and we do have control over OUR OWN actions.
so it's really up to each and individual of us what kind of person we want to be, right?
the fact that many people are doing it does not make it right. and the fact that you can do it doesn't mean you have to, right? so yea, even if you can download the song into your pc so easily, it doesn't mean you have to. it all depends on what sort of person you want to be.
and... is it too soon to tell the young lady that nothing, really, is fair in this world?
and have you ever thought about why we expect the world to be fair? no one has really told us that, right? so where did the notion come from? it's never fair. the very fact that we all are born with different personalities, different IQ levels, different strengths and weaknesses, into different families, blah blah blah... already tells you that life's not fair. if you go through life expecting it to be fair, then i'm sorry, you're gonna end up sorely disappointed.
but if you think you've it bad, believe me, there will always be someone in a worse-off situation than you. so, is life, then, fair to that someone worse-off? so don't complain, and just take the good with the bad, and try to make your life a happy one, and your existence a meaningful one.
does this post have a point? nope, it doesn't. i've a PM that i can't answer, and i'm just blogging about it, that's all.
sorry... this is really a rambling post.
posted by bb @ 10/21/2009 08:47:00 PM
7 Comments:
Wooah, it took me awhile to finish reading this post! An 'interesting' PM that sets you thinking.. I think it's really a personal point of view and choice.
The most commonly heard quote " Life is Unfair ". Nothing in this world is fair. I think as long as we (greeeeen peas princesses+a pink pea princess!) do what is right is all that matters. I've been wanting to get my hands on the album so i can listen to it officially properly, and of course legally. Whining daily to my friends.. but to them, simply a phrase of : go online download la, or go youtube find, well i guess this is what makes a difference.. ;D I believe, if the members are out to support the boys genuinely from their heart, they know the right thing to do, and that is to wait. And the rest..is out of our control :)
Dear princess,
Of course this post has a point.
Like the starfish story, you will make a difference to at least one, but am sure there are more than one.
I'm with you in controling these easy access, downloading, saving the songs which are just released. These artists work very very hard (days & nights)for these songs, and do not forget this is for their living, so I strongly believe to respect and value their arts, support them by buying their albums, DVDs, etc.
I remember in one interview, KHL said, he wish that he can tell people not to give them expensive presents, instead buy their albums, that's the direct support for them. As blunt and 4 D as he is, that's the truth.
Now I'm rambling .... where am I??
For the fair and unfairness of the life, well ... m'dear, it's all up to you, it's the way you take it.
Just stay with your principal with dignity, do what you believe is right, most importantly "Be please what you did" and end of the subject, it's done. Don't worry about who is doing wrong or right, which you cannot control, so don't bother bring those up in your life. Just do what you belive is right and be happy with it.
My apology for my rambling in your blog.
love,
Y.
Coincidently, on the day of the leak, I too was sharing with a friend about downloading & buying original albums for the artistes I like and whom I want them to be around for a long long time versus those I may play from from what's available on the net. I am not that savvy to download and convert into mp3.... I do realised that there are double standards for IP rights practise by me. Really it is not something I am and should be proud of.
So when I read that I shouldn't even buy from yesasia because of the chart issue, I was really upset. Suddenly buying original CD too has become complicated. I thought the people behind the forum were really doing a great job on the urging.....
Anyway, all I had wanted to say is that I do believe that the action of one CAN & WILL change the action of the many out there.
Hi bb,
I'm with you in thinking that all fan clubs ought to make responsible decisions on how they support the artist their members love - and that would certainly include not harming their careers or, I would even say, not being seen as doing/facilitating/condoning anything that harms their careers or private lives.
I will now step down from the pulpit and regain my humble seat at the back of the congregation.
Woah... that's a long post! lol..
But it's perfectly fine.. ^^
Eh.. nothing is fair in this world.. heh..
So the issue on the songs at YT is up to how one view it..
I have attended the "copyright" class back in Japan and mind u.. I was practically put off by all the this cannot, that cannot.. lol..
Emm.. so how did u reply the pm? XP
Heee..... you sure has a lot to ramble... I have a hard time concentrating with leader smiling beside the post... ^_^ Why do you have to put his photographs beside your post hurr.... LOL
Agreed with you regarding the star fish story, we will just do our part, if we really have to always think that everybody is doing it so we should do it also then I guess the artist who had worked so hard would never get what they deserved.
BTW, I also heard a different view regarding posting in youtube in Soompi where one actually mentioned that since we protected SS501 so much and go around removing all source of music from streaming site, some non-fans do not have a chance to listen to the music and in someway prevented them from buying, as non fans tends to listen to the songs first before deciding whether to buy the album or not.... and they mentioned the other artists who released their album during the same period has better coverage because the songs are available in Youtube. So in someway, posting in Youtube could be a 'good' thing also.
There's always a pro & con to everything.....
heee.... seems like I type a lot also... better go.... ciao...
Dear BB
Finally made my way here and found myself reading this post from beginning to end. I feel the same way with you. Posting the full song with dl link is not cool in my books regardless of whether the album has been released or not. However, having sampler to the album is okay cause the internet is a powerful marketing/promoting tool.
Well, that's my 2 cents worth on this topic.
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