It's the Music

I don't think I would have found out about a lot of bands with out file sharing.

Back before the record companies started suing people for downloading music, I was downloading music. Now I use itunes to buy my downloads. I have always gone out and bought Cd's that I really wanted though. I like having that hard copy and the booklet it comes with. I still enjoy going to the record store and buying music (YES, I do buy records too, mostly Cd's, but I am building a collection) and today I do buy most of my music. However, if one of my friends is going to send me something, or burn me a CD, I'm not going to refuse. A CD compilation is much like a mix tape. I like to compile compilations of music for myself or my friends as a gift.

The record companies may be losing profit, but the way I see it, they are thieves themselves. They rake in a ton of money and leave minimal money to the bands. It's robbery. I did a search on Google to see what I could find on that point and I was surprised at what popped up. Courtney Love wrote on this subject back in 2000. Her opening statement is "Today I want to talk about piracy and music. What is piracy? Piracy is the act of stealing an artist's work without any intention of paying for it. I'm not talking about Napster-type software. I'm talking about major label recording contracts." Courtney Love maybe have had her "incidents" of drunken displays, but she is an artist and she has a point. I found it to be extremely interesting. Maybe Courtney Love does have something intelligent to say.

Despite the thievery of the record companies, the artists do make some money off of the album sales. File sharing is a useful tool though and we should be able to use it. I like being able to preview new albums or check out new bands before I buy the album. I'm sure I am not the only one who feels this way.