The harsh reality of being a nice and reasonable person. What bothers me the most about Ugress being pirated is that none of the bullshit arguments work. No one can say that the money goes to big companies, that there is DRM or that there is no FLAC. Pirating Ugress is blatant theft and nothing else.

Theft? I don't see Gisle mentioning anyone braking into his lab and stealing the masters.

"The music is good enough to copy, but not good enough to pay for?"

No, It's just good. When you're faced with free food vs. food with a price-tag, you go for the free food.

You are a beacon in the norwegian music scene in regards to distribution and production. There are not many norwegian artists doing what you do so well. Your whole catalog is available online, we can buy your music or sample it several different places, you offer blog and twitter as a communication source, letting us get tastes along the way, participate in choosing what goes to the album. The Ugress experience as a whole is a unique one.

What am I saying? I'm saying that you are a digital presence, doing everyting right. Noone can avoid being pirated these days, being independent or signed by the big guys. But I do think that your effort makes at least a couple of pirates out there change their mind and pay for your music rather than steal it. I do think your business plan works. The more I read your online ventures, the more (amount) I want to pay for each release. And even more do people understand the devotion, effort and burning desires behind projects.

Continue blogging, continue twittering, keep up the passion behind your work (ofcourse you do). And forget about those pirates. I think the way you do your business actually converts pirates. If they like your music, they will end up on this page, and perhaps even purchase your backlog.

Naïve regards from shabbytech :)

The people who pirate music are never going to pay for it. It doesn't matter how good it is, or whether or not you are a rich or poor artist. They are thieves, plain and simple, who steal because they can, not because they are doing something that benefits humanity.

Sorry to hear they've hit you already, but they're not lost customers. The people who are your fans will purchase your music regardless of the pirates. You and other artists like NIN have already proven this by making your music freely available for listening/preview and even to use, while at the same time providing an option to buy.

Keep up the good work Gisle, and don't let the pirates get you down!

Tordenflesk, it's sort of "proven" that many people _will_ in fact pay for music if the appropriate conditions are there. Take Radiohead for instance, when they (briefly) sold their newest album for pay-what-you-want. About 30% of customers paid more than the required 5 cents or whatever to cover fees.

Malcolm, personally I disagree, being someone who may very well pirate something and then cough up for the product having found out that it kicked ass (or not pay and not use anymore in the other case). And I feel like there are many (but far too few) who are more than willing to pay the price when they know that the money goes to the person behind the work, and not to office clerks at some brain dead, super-sized, stone-aged record company/film production company/computer game distributor.

Basically: Adequate samples/demos should be provided free for a digital product so that people can make up their mind without pirating first and paying later.

Interesting thoughts and observations from all of you, thanks.

Piracy is a discussion, and a phenomena, that will last to the end of the universe, and then some.

I think, for the time being, I'll be careful to say anything, except observe. Lots of stuff is happening, I'm looking at trees but hunching there is a jungle, but the jungle is being deforested, but does people need paper anymore anyway?

The album is popping up many places (I'm using a few methods to monitor) and as I said, in one way it is satisfying, and to look at the bright side, hopefully this brings in some new fans.