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I read both of Midget101's articles with much interest. I
download music quite frequently, and I relish in the fact that I got that music
for free. I'm willing to bet that many other Whyvillians download music
"illegally" too, and were smirking gleefully when reading Midget101's articles.
Not smirking at Midget101, but at the fact that they are getting music for free.
And nothing is going to stop them.
Downloading music has, unfortunately, gotten harder to do thanks to that "evil"
band that we call Metallica and several other heartless people. Thanks to these
bands that I consider greedy, Napster is gone. Well, not gone, but now you have
to pay. BOOO! Napster was the quickest and easiest way of downloading music. I
miss it dearly.
Anyway, now I have some responses to the Times Editor's questions at the end of
Midget101's article. There was a study done by the Yankelovich Partners. They
surveyed 16,000 Americans between the ages of 13 and 39 who said they listen to
more than 10 hours of music a week and have spent at least $25 on music in the
past six months. Among the findings: 59 percent of those who said they heard a
certain piece of music for the first time while online ended up purchasing that
music as a CD. Even though I download music for free, I usually buy the CD,
especially if it's a new artist that I can't get enough of.
The Times Editor mentioned that the radio was free and legal. True. But a lot of
my favorite indie music is not getting played on the standard radio. So, I go
online and download some songs. If I really like the sound, I buy the CD. I
didn't even know that I liked indie music until I discovered it on an
underground downloading site.
The report I mentioned before also found that nearly 60 percent of those
surveyed said they would buy the music if they could buy it then and there.
According to this evidence, downloading music isn't hurting record sales.
Technology is evolving at warp-speed. The business rules are changing or are
supposed to be changing with it. Downloading music doesn't benefit the music
industry. But it benefits the rest of us. It's time for everyone to realize that
the music industry is a small, small percentage of our world. The majority will
always win. This whole case with the music industry is no exception. Sure, they
are richer than rest of us. Sure, they have monster-sized "cribs" and are
sitting on chrome, seven times platinum. But majority rules.
My point is, I don't see anything morally wrong with downloading music for free
online. It benefits me greatly. I really don't care if Lil' Kim can't afford her
new Escalade because I didn't buy her CD.
Anyway, I have to go look for new songs to download with my renewed energy.
SaMgIrl21
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