this post was submitted on 07 May 2025
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

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I wanna listen to a particular song by an artist who has recently turned pretty nazi. As I generally use Spotify I now refuse to listen to his music in there, esp as it generates earnings. I kinda wanna pirate the music somehow…I’m not gonna as I’m not gonna down a song or two and then store it on my phone like it’s the year 2000. But short story is this me justifying piracy to myself.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

I would rather own my files on my phone like it's the year 2000 than my devices becoming useless whenever $streaming_service shuts down or changes policy like it's the year 1984...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Absolutely.

Piracy is a tool to fight back against the ruling class and help reduce the disparity in wealth.

That's why useful idiots have been conditioned to hate it or only use it for 'privacy' purposes.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

This is why you should only ever buy physical or DRM-free, rather than streaming. If an artist goes in a direction you don't like, you can still enjoy their older work without giving them active income via streaming.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Honestly, after seeing billionaires buy the US gov and then learning that Spotify is owned by a billionaire and artists are terribly compensated, I have been planning to once again fly the pirate flag. I want to pay the artists, but fuck the current options unless there is a different way idk about.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Might be a good idea to pirate and then contact the artists about setting up donation channels.

Publishers are obsolete.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Bandcamp is decent. If you wait for Bandcamp Fridays, all of your money goes to the artist.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

I moved to Qobuz for that reason. Much better payout for the artists.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Don't forget that they fund the military complex.

Daniel Ek? More like Daniel Ick

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 days ago (1 children)

My wife refuses to let me pirate books for her. She wants to support the authors she reads, which is fair. But she decided she wanted to try the Harry Potter books, and asked me to pirate them for her to make sure JK Rowling didn't get a penny out of her.

[–] AFallingAnvil 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago

Yeah. She doesn't see the value in getting entertainment for free while there are starving children in the world.

She's only interested in getting brownie points from other consumerists.

[–] [email protected] 93 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 40 points 3 days ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago
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[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I periodically delete my Metallica collection so I can re-download it for no other reason than fuck Lars.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I play bass. Metallica cut Newsted's bass line out of And Justice for All. I'll hate them for it forever. I love Trujillo now and still have not listened to a single Metallica album since he's played with them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

metallica are honestly a bunch of babies.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Doing this is not only moral; it's virtuous.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

I'd make backups of my purchases and share them with love for preservation and promotion of their authors hard work. "Piracy" was already shown to increase sales, not reduce them. If you really want to do something against an artist you no longer align with, dont consume their products. Don't purchase, don't download and don't share their stuff. Just look around for other artists you do align with, get hooked to their art and support them instead.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

piracy is always better than paying a corpo

[–] [email protected] 47 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Ripping off Jeff Bezos is a moral imperative.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Why so specific...

Deny all parasites profit and engagement as much as possible where ever possible.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Yeah I pirate all the games that:

  • Require an internet connection
  • Use Denuvo
  • Require a dedicated launcher
  • Require a connected account

If you're going to make the paid experience significantly worse than the free one because you want to implement anti-consumer BS, go fuck yourself

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago

Also rootkit anti cheat.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

You don't have to justify it, really, but it does feel satisfying when you do.

Which song of his out of curiosity? Just use Soulseek. (nicotine+ on desktop or Seeker on Android)

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Honestly there's so much wonderful art out there not created by Nazis, I don't know that it's worth the energy to pirate Nazi music.

I totally understand the moral pirate argument, I just don't have time to enjoy all of the games, movies, and music from artists I support. To waste what time I have engaging with content from people I find morally repugnant is just not where I'm investing

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago

I never needed any moralistic reason to pirate.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If it can't own my media, I'm certainly not going to pay for it.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Eh, it's kinda down to personal perspective. In mine, absolutely a reasonable way to handle things if you love the art, but don't feel morally comfortable supporting the artist.

I recommend people pirate Enders Game, because fuck Orson Scott Card.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago (6 children)

I was a newly out queer teenager when OSC started running his mouth about gay marriage. At the same time I was a big Harry Potter fan.

Fuck Orson Scott Card, but he doesn't seem quite so bad anymore.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago

See, that’s the thing. I don’t listen to music by Nazis.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Spotify only pays for the first few listens I think. Also, the payout is a fraction of pennies.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Yeah. I refuse to give cuts to amazon, spotify, netflix etc.

If I pirate something from a not super rich artist and I really enjoy it. I’ll send them an email and propose to transfer them some money to support them. I don’t want spotify or amazon or google taking a cut.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

My piracy is probably equal parts sticking it to greedy corpos and me just not wanting to pay when I can get it for free.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

Same, but rather than not wanting to pay its more like I can't afford to pay.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

I am the High Priest of Kopimism. Download from where you want, and go in peace my child.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 days ago

When I wanted to revisit Harry Potter via audiobook, I pirated the books, and I will do it again someday.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

If there is an indie game that I like I will buy it

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

A system that allowed one to pirate corporate American made or distributed content while being able to give back directly to creators would be nice.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

Personally I won't even download it, I even deleted music ive had for years because the artist went maga. And let my daughter use the CD in some arts and crafts, because I can't listen to it anymore.

That said, yeah, I'd prefer to download over buying if I didnt want the company or artist to get the money for it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You have commitment issues with subscriptions.

I despise rent seeking behaviour.

we are not the same.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

Yup, if you use Denuvo for your games, you can fuck right off

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