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CD sales are in free fall. The reason is because people rip the songs and then they get downloaded for free. If people didn't like the music, they wouldn't be downloading it. If you are willing to download it, you should be willing to pay for it, or else be willing to live with being a cheap rip off artist picking someone else's pockets.

Imagine a rural vegetable stand. The kind where they leave a basket out for payment, and trust the good will of people to pay for what they take. Downloaders are basically driving up to the vegetable stand, loading up on tomatoes, and stiffing the farmer. It's not right.

or the download pricepoint is just not there yet.

look what happened with the itunes 99 cents made a difference.

The problem is the consumer is buying a song, the industry THINKS they are selling a recording in a particular format.

There has to be a “convenience price” that works. IOW something that has no DRM and is not draconian to use. (ie not slaved to itunes managment software)

Here's my take. First of all, I've don't think I've ever "illegally" downloaded a song.

20 years ago...I used to make hundreds of tapes of music I liked and give them to friends. They would do the same for me. This is essentially the same as is going on now.....now it is just more efficient.

Now, here is my experience. 20 years ago, a friend of mine gave me an Enuf Znuf CD on tape and Janes addiction on the other side. I fell deeply in love with Enuf Znuf....didn't really like Jane's Addiction. As a result, I have bought 11 or 12 Enuf Znuf CD's since that time. I think Chip, Donnie and the guys would say that is a fair trade-off for the "original" stealing....as I would have never heard of them otherwise.

Next, I am now almost 50 years old - and I still love and listen to LOTS of music. I do not have time to go searching for free crap and download it and burn it...blah, blah, blah. If I want it - I buy the CD. Unfortunately, the record companies prefer to cater to Teenagers who have nothing better to do than sit around and download....so they produce crappy music I don't want to buy in order to cater to folks who are going to steal it from them - pretty damn stupid business model if you ask me.

Third, take the Grateful Dead....they ENCOURAGED people to "steal their music"....taping live shows and trading. And, I don't think any of them ever went broke because of it.

Last, I am also a musician. And, although I make a little money on the side, I really do it because I love music. I write originals. I share them. I encourage folks to give them to others. Because, what I found is that - if you make GOOD music - people will buy it. If you make crap... people won't - they'll just steal it. So, if one is not making any music off of one's music strictly due to online piracy....then you probably ought to find another vocation anyway....

If you are willing to download it, you should be willing to pay for it, or else be willing to live with being a cheap rip off artist picking someone else's pockets.

Downloading from the Internet without paying the copyright owner of the item downloaded also applies to things other than music. So Huck, have you ever downloaded a photo (perhaps of a sexy actress or supermodel) without first getting the permission of the copyright owner of that photo? If you have, then I guess that makes you (in your own words) "a cheap rip off artist picking someone else's pockets".