Do you remember the 80's? The smell of vinyl, the lure of cover art, the art of noise? Less than £1 a single, and £5 for a LP? I'm sure you do, and that you've just floated back on a wave of nostalgia (hopefully not shouting "WIILLSONNNN!")... Do you remember the kick up that was made about taping music on cassette? "IT'S PIRACY!" they screamed, and oh, how we laughed, 'cos we knew better...
Times have changed. The digital era is here, and music is available anyway you want it - CD, DVD, direct download to your IPod, and it's all free...
Of course, it isn't. Times have changed, but the music business hasn't. The record companies and the artists still want to make money, so they charge for their music - the only fair way to do it. You go and by the CD - that's fine, because you're paying for the privilege of listening. You RIP that CD to your IPod - that's fine (I think), because you've paid for the original. You give the ripped files to someone else - now the problems start, because that's illegal.
Downloading music is fine - provided you have either a) paid for it or b) the artist says it's free to download. Everything else is piracy - period. No ifs or buts. Download music illegally and you may as well steal a copy from a store, because that's what you're doing - stealing.
By the way, this argument also covers Software for your computer - unless it says it's free in the license agreement, you gotta pay for it somehow pal...
Bottom line - if you like the music, go and BUY it. If you don't your favourite band may not be here for long...
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