# A solution to internet streaming - finally - ouya



## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

I know we had a Roku thread and a cutting cable thread, but this deserves one of its own. 

*** Please don't confuse this thread by adding other consoles to the mix*** (if people on the forum purchase it, I'd like to offer advice or help them through this thread and don't want it too muddled). I realize that you can add XBMC to other things - like a computer, but I'm only concerned with an actual "replace my cable" alternative.

*What is OUYA?*

A gaming console that allows you to install something called XMBC. The Ouya was one of the highest kickstarter projects in the history of kickstarter - it generated over 8 million dollars

*What is XBMC?*

It's a program (what they call an "add-on" on the OUYA) that is a gateway to streaming content from the Web. Within XBMC there are other add-on that help you find your videos to watch.

*What am I suggesting you do?*

Buy the Ouya with the XMBC add-on already installed. The unit costs anywhere from $64 used (without xbmc), up to $160 (street). I paid the most I could to get every game system from my childhood (sega, sega genesis, NES, N64, Super NES, Neo Geo, etc)

*What can you watch?*

Literally, everything. PPV (UFC, Movies, etc), HGTV, HIST, CTV, CNN, AMC, HBO in HD, 40,000 movies 

*The Minuses:*

1) You have to install XMBC. I can't help you with this, but you can buy a key from amazon and it should be quite easy to do. I say easy, because I've already installed extra software myself, and it wasn't too hard.

2) Buffering. The XMBC software has its own cache memory, so it buffers every 3 seconds. I almost through the unit out the window. After hunting down a solution, I found that I had to install a maintenance tool and get XMBC to start using the OUYA's cache. This solved the buffering issue.

3) you have to let movies or shows pause until enough media has downloaded, so you don't deal with any pausing. I usually wait 5 minutes (where I strum my acoustic), and then we're good to go.

4) Searching. It takes time getting used to how to find things. To simplify it: XMBC -> 1Channel -> 1billionuploads.com (it'll make sense if you have the unit)

5) Some time the servers are down for a particular 'add-on' and you have to go to another. 

6) If a show just ran (a new episode), you have to wait an hour before you can watch it. If it is something like walking dead - EVERYBODY is going to also be trying to watch it, so it's going to be difficult to get a good stream.

Please note that when we did the internet speed test here a while back, mine was one of the worst.

IF YOU ARE ON THE FENCE ABOUT IT HAVING SOMETHING, LET ME KNOW, AND I'LL TRY TO FIND IT. I can't guarantee that I can pull up B.J and the Bear is what I'm getting at.


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## dradlin (Feb 27, 2010)

How do the content owners get paid in this scheme?... or is it a hack?


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

dradlin said:


> How do the content owners get paid in this scheme?... or is it a hack?



You may be confusing streaming with downloading. You can download through XBMC, but there's really no need (everything is there to stream)

Is streaming through XBMC illegal in Canada:

*from law hut:*

No, these are not illegal with Canadian law. 

Viewing a streaming movie does not create a copy of that movie or put it on to any new medium, which are The actions required to potentially violate copyright law in Canada. 

There is nothing illegal with the XBMC software and it has many perfectly legal uses. That it could potentially be used to try and access copyrighted works does not make it illegal to own the software or to sell any hardware with this software on it. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, if they do in fact want money for streaming in the future, this is what I suggest:

They pull it out of the pool of money that Rogers and Bell have been collecting from us for years, or from the people they're currently screwing?


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## dradlin (Feb 27, 2010)

adcandour said:


> You may be confusing streaming with downloading. You can download through XBMC, but there's really no need (everything is there to stream)
> 
> Is streaming through XBMC illegal in Canada:
> 
> ...


So am I understanding correctly that while streaming doesn't break copyright law, it also doesn't pay money to the content owner?


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

Why purchase anything? This is all stuff that can be done on the cpu for free. I ditched cable over a year ago and stream everything from my macbook and just hook up the video out to the tv. Still have to wait for it to buffer though.

projectfreetv.com


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

dradlin said:


> So am I understanding correctly that while streaming doesn't break copyright law, it also doesn't pay money to the content owner?


streaming is inanimate.


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## dradlin (Feb 27, 2010)

adcandour said:


> streaming is inanimate.


I'll interpret that as a "yes".


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Moosehead said:


> Why purchase anything? This is all stuff that can be done on the cpu for free. I ditched cable over a year ago and stream everything from my macbook and just hook up the video out to the tv. Still have to wait for it to buffer though.
> 
> projectfreetv.com




We've been through this on the other Roku thread; I realize that some may not have been involved in that thread, so I addressed it in the OP (perhaps not clearly enough:sEm_oops. 

I have been looking for something that will allow me to control my TV like it's a TV. I've never hooked up a computer to my TV and had it in the same room. I don't like that idea. I also don't want to run cable from one room to another and have to run back and forth. I have my Mac connected to the TV by bluetooth, but it sucks.

So, this is a game system that lets me do what I want without having to pay netflix, Hulu, Crackle, and all that other garbage.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

adcandour said:


> We've been through this on the other Roku thread; I realize that some may not have been involved in that thread, so I addressed it in the OP (perhaps not clearly enough:sEm_oops.
> 
> I have been looking for something that will allow me to control my TV like it's a TV. I've never hooked up a computer to my TV and had it in the same room. I don't like that idea. I also don't want to run cable from one room to another and have to run back and forth. I have my Mac connected to the TV by bluetooth, but it sucks.
> 
> So, this is a game system that lets me do what I want without having to pay netflix, Hulu, Crackle, and all that other garbage.


Computer....game system. 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. Basically it's just another way of trying to get "free" t.v.. That has buffering problems and wait times and server problems etc.. It also seems that since you have had to spend quite a bit of time fixing things yourself, there isn't that much support. How is it as a gaming system? Can you put an original Atari, NES or other cartridge in it or do you have to download those? I suppose that since this is a gaming system, you have a controller instead of a remote. Does it have a keyboard or do you use an onscreen keyboard to find what you want? So many questions.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Electraglide said:


> Computer....game system. 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. Basically it's just another way of trying to get "free" t.v.. That has buffering problems and wait times and server problems etc.. It also seems that since you have had to spend quite a bit of time fixing things yourself, there isn't that much support. How is it as a gaming system? Can you put an original Atari, NES or other cartridge in it or do you have to download those? I suppose that since this is a gaming system, you have a controller instead of a remote. Does it have a keyboard or do you use an onscreen keyboard to find what you want? So many questions.


Yes, I asked a bunch of questions myself (I let my brother-in-law mess around with it for a month before I grabbed it).

You can you the paddle remote (it has a touch-mouse built into it).

Downloading the maintenance tool gets rid of the primary buffering issues. I have no problem waiting five minutes, so I can watch a show consistently through.

I haven't tried watching a popular show the same night, but if you need to watch things right away, this wouldn't be for you.

I spent about 10 minutes looking for the solution and about 5 installing the maintenance tool. Some units come with the tool, so you don't actually have to do it. 

I've spent more time trying to understand how it works, tbh. Now that I know, it takes no longer than setting up a netflix (plus the 5 minutes to let it load a bit). I'm going to an add-on called "genesis" and it pretty smooth sailing.

I've only used the NES and Atari (pitfall!!!). It's exactly the same as the old units. Mine came loaded with every game made. I'm unclear how you would get them, if it wasn't already installed. I would check your kijiji to see who's offering it. It also has new games, if you want to play them.

Yes, it has an on-screen keyboard, if you want to type something in. You can probably use the mouse for it, but I just type it.

As long as any o

I haven't tried contacting support. I _did_ figure everything out on my own (not that there was much to figure out after the buffering), but I had my brother-in-law available if needed.

To me, I'm able to save the $8/month for netflix and get rid of the Satellite (I'm gonna try ouya for a month before I dump satellite). We can finally watch Brooklyn 9-9's second season. I only watched Pawn Stars. My wife wanted to make sure we had teletoon, Disney Jr, Treehouse. It's all looking pretty good. I have to track down Disney XD and I'm golden.

And, further, my wife asked for the whole dumbass boxset of Friends for christmas. Ouya has the whole thing in HD (that boxset is f'n expensive). I had nothing to lose. Also, we also almost bought the new wii, so my wife could play super mario (I couldn't do it though - it was getting expensive).

Hope that helps.


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2014)

adcandour said:


> To me, I'm able to save the $8/month for netflix and get rid of the Satellite (I'm gonna try ouya for a month before I dump satellite). We can finally watch Brooklyn 9-9's second season. I only watched Pawn Stars. My wife wanted to make sure we had teletoon, Disney Jr, Treehouse. It's all looking pretty good. I have to track down Disney XD and I'm golden.


LOL. Maybe you can't afford to watch TV? 

Seriously though, how do you think this stuff gets made? If you're not paying for it, it's going to go away.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

iaresee said:


> LOL. Maybe you can't afford to watch TV?
> 
> Seriously though, how do you think this stuff gets made? If you're not paying for it, it's going to go away.


Haha, I can't take looking at the TV bill knowing the wife and I watch 3 shows (rarely) and my son watches 2 or 3 channels.

People pay for the ouya. I don't know how XBMC gets money, but they've been around since 2002, so I don't think they're going anywhere.


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2014)

adcandour said:


> Haha, I can't take looking at the TV bill knowing the wife and I watch 3 shows (rarely) and my son watches 2 or 3 channels.


$8? Netflix is $8. And that bugs you?



> People pay for the ouya. I don't know how XBMC gets money, but they've been around since 2002, so I don't think they're going anywhere.


Buying Ouya buys you hardware -- full stop. XBMC is an open source software program, built by volunteers. Neither of those companies pay for the content in any way that you're streaming. The streaming your doing is, quite honestly, with no grey areas here, very much not legal. It's super technically cool that it works, but XBMC is just pulling the streaming content off the regular suite of pirated media sites.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

iaresee said:


> $8? Netflix is $8. And that bugs you?
> 
> 
> Buying Ouya buys you hardware -- full stop. XBMC is an open source software program, built by volunteers. Neither of those companies pay for the content in any way that you're streaming. The streaming your doing is, quite honestly, with no grey areas here, very much not legal. It's super technically cool that it works, but XBMC is just pulling the streaming content off the regular suite of pirated media sites.


If paying $8 for netflix bugged me, I wouldn't be paying $8 a month for it. Guess what I do like though - _not _paying $8 for something I can get for free. I also pay about $40 for a season of Walking Dead through the Xbox - I also like not paying for that. I could also do without the $80 bill I pay for satellite. Are yo suggesting I'm cheap or poor? I don't understand what you're getting at in this regard.

So, I guess you've answered your own question - how will it stick around if no one is paying? Volunteers. Thanks, I didn't know that.

Yes, Ouya is the hardware. Should I have told you to go by any of the other units that don't have the quad core that makes it more powerful? Should I have told you to mess around with your $300 xbox to get XBMC to operate on it? Or, to go to pacific mall and grab one of their many similarly priced pieces of shit to run XBMC?

No grey areas? How about the streaming I'm doing isn't illegal and what the pirated media sites are doing is illegal. I'm not exactly sure what's going on, I'll be honest, but that's not the point. The point is that there is no grey area - a lawyer stated that streaming XMBC in Canada is NOT illegal.

Listen, I don't really give a shit what people think about streaming and downloading and whatever, I'm just saying that forumites were discussing this a while back, and I think some people will be interested in the ouya.


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## Guest (Nov 17, 2014)

You can get it for free because it's being pulled from sources that steal it and post it. Like The Pirate Bay and what not. Just because "you're not exactly sure what's going on" doesn't make it not wrong.

This is like sneaking in to the movie theater and saying it's not really bad because you didn't get caught sneaking in. Sure, no one made less money because you snuck in and nothing tangible was really removed, but it's not exactly right either, is it? I'm sure you can see how, long term, if everyone had this attitude, there'd be zero revenue for content creators and it'd all just dry up.


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## Stonehead (Nov 12, 2013)

The big Sat and Cable guys shove all the garbage channels down your throat in those convenient packages that only have one channel that you want in them. That's why they are fighting against a la carte selections because most of the channels will disappear. So i have to buy a package that supports junk channels i never watch. As a consumer the table is *always* stacked against you. We get bent over because we follow the rules and regulation. The only time the corporations stop to figure things out is when we don't follow the rules and regulations.
Look what Napster did to the music industry. The RIAA spent millions to stop them (dragging 12 year olds to court) and in the end they had to relent to the will of the people and restructure their business model to deliver music in a very different format. I would say that Television in its current format is going the same way as the 8 track, it obsolete. 
Younger people are tired of the old business models. They are willing to pay for what they use/want but not for what they don't use/want. 
Is it right or wrong to stream content you haven't paid for? Each individual has to make that decision for themselves. IMO until they listen and change the way they deliver that content...stream away!


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

iaresee said:


> You can get it for free because it's being pulled from sources that steal it and post it. Like The Pirate Bay and what not. Just because "you're not exactly sure what's going on" doesn't make it not wrong.
> 
> This is like sneaking in to the movie theater and saying it's not really bad because you didn't get caught sneaking in. Sure, no one made less money because you snuck in and nothing tangible was really removed, but it's not exactly right either, is it? I'm sure you can see how, long term, if everyone had this attitude, there'd be zero revenue for content creators and it'd all just dry up.


If this is true then half the stuff on youtube and other sites like it are illegal. Which means a lot of the vids posted on this forum might be illegal. So are the VCR, the magic box, the computer and a few other things I have hooked up to my t.v.. And the "there'd be zero revenue for content creators and it'd all just dry up." argument has been around since recording devices have been in homes. That would probably make using software mentioned in other post illegal too. The change your IP so it looks like you're in another country software. 
Adcan...I'm not really interested in this kind of software/hardware combination. I have my own way of watching what I want to watch. Personally tho I can't see why this is wrong and why other ways discussed in different threads are right. As far as the boxed set of Friends go, can't help you there but when the wife had her eye operation a few years ago we (meaning she) bought the boxed sets of Quantum Leap and Soap so that she could watch them.....not cheap, but at least I didn't have to watch them with her.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

Electraglide said:


> .....not cheap, but at least I didn't have to watch them with her.


Some things are worth paying for!!!:sSig_goodjob2:

My wife was all about sex and the city, thank goodness that only lasted 4 or 5 seasons. Friends went for about a decade.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Moosehead said:


> Some things are worth paying for!!!:sSig_goodjob2:
> 
> My wife was all about sex and the city, thank goodness that only lasted 4 or 5 seasons. Friends went for about a decade.


Greys Anatomy, The Good Wife, The Voice, The Amazing Race and The Amazing Race Canada. These and a few others kill the week. It's a good thing we have more than one t.v..


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Electraglide said:


> Adcan...I'm not really interested in this kind of software/hardware combination. I have my own way of watching what I want to watch. Personally tho I can't see why this is wrong and why other ways discussed in different threads are right. As far as the boxed set of Friends go, can't help you there but when the wife had her eye operation a few years ago we (meaning she) bought the boxed sets of Quantum Leap and Soap so that she could watch them.....not cheap, but at least I didn't have to watch them with her.


totally understandable. Everybody has their own way of setting their stuff up (none of which I consider wrong). It just comes down to convenience.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

My $8 a month for Netflix I can live with. It's the best deal out there. It's my $125 a month for Shaw Direct that bugs me. Problem is, I use smart record to record all the channels I watch to my PVR and watch them when I want to. This also allows me to fast forward through the commercials so I don't watch commercials any more. That's a convenience to me that I would miss so I keep paying for Shaw. If they would stop making me pay for those damn channels I don't watch and reduce my bill accordingly, I would be a happy consumer and would stop trying to find ways to get around their dirty tricks. I was hoping the government would intervene when they were looking into it a few months ago but haven't heard anything more since so go ahead and stream anything you like until they stop trying to screw us. When that happens, I'll comment about streaming stuff for free. Until then "stream away". As for OUYA, never heard of it until now but my ROKU 3 works fine for what I want to do.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Guitar101 said:


> If they would stop making me pay for those damn channels I don't watch and reduce my bill accordingly, I would be a happy consumer and would stop trying to find ways to get around their dirty tricks. I was hoping the government would intervene when they were looking into it a few months ago but haven't heard anything more since so go ahead and stream anything you like until they stop trying to screw us.


As far as I understand, the CRTC (and probably the Competition Bureau) is on your side. The argument/challenge to be met is how one can guarantee the survival of things like CPAC and local cable if all anyone wants to do is watch hockey, and HBO. The magic formula that forges a compromise between true à la carte cable, and the paying-too-much-for-stuff-I-wouldn't-watch-if-you-paid-me packages, will take a bit of time to work out, but they're working on it.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Electraglide said:


> If this is true then half the stuff on youtube and other sites like it are illegal. Which means a lot of the vids posted on this forum might be illegal. So are the VCR, the magic box, the computer and a few other things I have hooked up to my t.v.. And the "there'd be zero revenue for content creators and it'd all just dry up." argument has been around since recording devices have been in homes. That would probably make using software mentioned in other post illegal too. The change your IP so it looks like you're in another country software.
> ...............................................................


Hold on now, are we forgetting what's happened to the music industry - both live and recorded - in the past 15 years?

My brother used to make a pretty nice living, gigging several nights a week from the late 80's to the mid 2000's including touring much of Canada, doing on call recording session work, and other associated revenue generating music activities.

Then came file sharing. Let's just say his standard of living has changed, and not for the better. Ask any musician you know what their experience has been in the past 15 years.

Music hasn't dried up, but one man's opinion, there sure ain't as much of the good stuff emerging on a regular basis. I know these days you have to go find it, rather than being force fed it by radio...but I don't always have time to do that. So I'm basing that partly on what I hear on (free) radio.

Normally, I'd say 'it's just the artists being hurt, and the corporations are getting richer'....at the moment, I kinda think neither is true in the TV/movie industry, but it's not a big stretch to imagine it happening.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

keto said:


> Hold on now, are we forgetting what's happened to the music industry - both live and recorded - in the past 15 years?
> 
> My brother used to make a pretty nice living, gigging several nights a week from the late 80's to the mid 2000's including touring much of Canada, doing on call recording session work, and other associated revenue generating music activities.
> 
> ...


im curious, how does your brother think file sharing detrimented his career?
can your brother rap?  if he can, can dance a little and has 6-pack abs, he might still have a shot at fame, because that's mostly what it takes these days 

I personally think, its not file sharing that is to blame, but rather, the kind of music that is pervasive today.
for one, its very youth-centric, so sorry tough to get your big break if youre older than 21. secondly, musicians are a commodity. Its about personalities, dancing, image, cult of celebrity etc. even a former guitar god like Nuno Bettencourt is relegated to being a sideman in Rihannas backing band to make a few bucks.
how many of us can name Beyonces guitarist? or Pinks or Justin Biebers? That's your problem right there.

In short, the times times have changed. a lot of us are carburetors in a fuel injected world.

file sharing hasn't hurt us because most of our generation could put our music out there for free and still no one would download it. 20 yrs ago, there would have been a lineup around the block to get a free U2 cd...this year people angrily rejected getting it on their iphones. theft isn't quite the same thing when its something that you cant even give away. Its like stealing snow from your driveway.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Nah, the entire "information wants to be free" ethic that pervades the net, aided and abetted by the music industry's eager adoption of electronic delivery so they didn't have to deal with all the nuisance of physical objects (production, packaging, warehouses, shipping, returns, etc.), is what did it.

I forget where I heard it the other day, but someone noted that one used to tour in support of an album, but nowadays album releases are essentially promotion for a tour. The idea being that sales of the physical objects were where you made your money, and touring just goosed sales. Presently, few people expect to make much from their recording contracts, treating ticket and t-shirt sales as their primary revenue stream, and recording as a sort of loss-leader to bring people to shows. Consider $150 concert tickets as the consequence of streaming, downloads and pirated albums.


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## JHarasym (Mar 27, 2007)

Diablo said:


> how many of us can name Beyonces guitarist? or Pinks or Justin Biebers?


I can name Prince's guitarist : Toronto's Donna Grantis http://donnagrantis.com/


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## JHarasym (Mar 27, 2007)

According to one reviewer the Amazon Fire TV is the best media streamer available right now : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5WRAL5kgbY


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

JHarasym said:


> I can name Prince's guitarist : Toronto's Donna Grantis http://donnagrantis.com/


as much as I love Prince, again, different generation.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Diablo said:


> how many of us can name Beyonces guitarist? or Pinks or Justin Biebers?


They're usually doing endorsements for non-big-3 guitars, like Framus or Cort or Ibanez.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Diablo said:


> former guitar god like Nuno Bettencourt is relegated to being a sideman in Rihannas backing band to make a few bucks.
> how many of us can name Beyonces guitarist? or Pinks or Justin Biebers? That's your problem right there.
> 
> In short, the times times have changed. a lot of us are carburetors in a fuel injected world.
> ...


Who's Nuno Bettencourt? How many people here listen to rihanna or beyonce or pinks and especially justin bieber? Even my grand daughters don't listen to him. Hopefully when you're mentioning 'our generation' and 'our music' you're talking about people your age. As for your generation rejecting u2....'cause that's not your music. It's your dad's music. Of course my music is now being used as soundtracks for advertising. Hopefully BuffaloSpringfield is still getting paid royalties for, For What It's Worth. My generation taped songs off the radio and then went and bought the 8 track, cassette and record. Your generation uploads, downloads, preloads, reloads and overloads. Then bitches 'cause there's not enough room on your phone and the batteries don't last that long. God, I'm starting to sound like my dad the first time the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Electraglide said:


> Who's Nuno Bettencourt? How many people here listen to rihanna or beyonce or pinks and especially justin bieber? Even my grand daughters don't listen to him. Hopefully when you're mentioning 'our generation' and 'our music' you're talking about people your age. As for your generation rejecting u2....'cause that's not your music. It's your dad's music. Of course my music is now being used as soundtracks for advertising. Hopefully BuffaloSpringfield is still getting paid royalties for, For What It's Worth. My generation taped songs off the radio and then went and bought the 8 track, cassette and record. Your generation uploads, downloads, preloads, reloads and overloads. Then bitches 'cause there's not enough room on your phone and the batteries don't last that long. God, I'm starting to sound like my dad the first time the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show.


lol....for the record, dude. Im 40  so u2 is definitely more my generation than my dads, which was more the Sinatra /Elvis generation.
Nuno Bettencourt was a big name shredder in the '80s in a band called Extreme. So that might be more my generation than yours, but I figured some ppl might have been familiar with them, since this is a guitar site and all.
But indirectly, you made my point. This site, is NOT an accurate slice of the music industry today. The average age here, is what 40 something?

But you've got to be kidding me if you think no one is listening to Pink, Rihanna, Bieber etc. Still cant figure out where youre coming from on that one, but reminds me a bit of a Gilligans Island episode where they came across some lost Japanese soldiers from WW2...
As I said, im 40, so I don't exactly blend in with todays music scene. But I think it does us all a disservice if we don't at least try to understand whats going on in it today instead of putting on blinders and harkening back to the days when "music was good". your generation, my generation, their generation...theres always been shit music mixed in with the good.


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