quirzle

I use a similar approach with Tidal and Tidal-Media-Downloader. I use a paid Tidal account to integrate into my Plex library, then scripted downloads to ensure that stuff stays in my Plex library.

PIA is about twice that if you pay for 3 years at a time. It's more, but you continue to keep everything you torrent, which is a bonus over Hulu.

That type I think blurs the line on what actually is piracy versus the guy handing out demo tapes on the corner. It’s a sort of a ‘I absolutely don’t want you to go download my stuff, particularly from this link or this link…’

Not at all. I don't mean artists distributing their own tapes; this was primarily fans copying the tape they bought, recording off the radio, or recording bootlegs of concerts. (see also) There was even the ad campaign driving home that making your own cassettes in such a manner is illegal and "killing the music industry," which is obviously didn't.

As for the rest of what you said, I think it's important to keep that not everyone obtains music the same way. Plenty of people use ripping software, modified client software, etc. to pirate via streaming services too. It's not just filling a niche, but a reliable source of mainstream music too (assuming you do it before they pull it down because of the licensing BS). And as a frequent Bandcamp patron, albums can still be expensive and most songs still cost $1 (though, without the shit DRM).

I'd argue Bandcamp does Artists set the price, and the files downloaded are .flac or mp3 without any DRM.

They got sold, which resulted in layoffs recently...so no telling how long it lasts. But right now, they're reasonable in my book.

How many people really discover new music through piracy?

Everyone I've ever known. I mostly listen to metal, which undeniably became what it is because of people mailing pirated cassettes in the early 80s. 8 of my 10 favorite bands, I discovered by finding someone with good taste on Soulseek and grabbing the stuff I'd never heard of before. Piracy is key in the spread of underground music.

Artists that sell out stadiums wouldn't be affected much, but the ones that actually need the concert income absolutely would.

That has not been my experience.

I certainly wasn't calling him dumb because he makes coherent, logically consistent arguments.

Being a proud pirate is some of the dumbest shit on the planet.

Not as dumb as the people who go to piracy forums to complain about piracy being stealing.

The Plex watchlists seemed stupid and pointless to me...until someone pointed out you can subscribe to your Plex watchlist in Radarr/Sonarr. Now, I can watch trailers on Plex, add stuff, and it shows up automatically when released. Super convenient.

Has showed up at the top of my screen among the random mags disproportionately over the past several months too. It's what keeps me off kbin when I'm in the office around people.

since PIA got bought out

For what it's worth, I opted to wait until I had my first issue with PIA after the buyout to switch and it just never really happened. I've remained on PIA for my sea-sailing needs, and still haven't had an ISP email or other problem with them, other than the client being a little janky on occasion.

I'm not an active advocate or anything, but my experience is that they're still good enough, even years after the acquisition. Perhaps they're using the data for something behind the scenes, but it's cheap and keeps my ISP off my back. I'd at least still consider it in the "good enough for this purpose" category.