Music piracy is the new black.

Unless the artist says "during the period of so and so until so and so," or "I am giving this song away free," it is not right to download songs and not pay for it. True I know it would be a bother when the song costs 99 cents, but I am sure if one waits until he wants to pay for enough songs to make it worthwhile on his credit card, he can do so. It also gives the idea that taking something from a creative person is all right, because they are doing it for love, but never take something from a business person. Pay for it. It saves a lot of hassle.

Yeah, you are right. Still, many people are doing it, because no one wants to pay. It is a trend, and people after people, they continue to do it.

I agree. "Piracy" is stealing no matter what excuse you come up with. No matter which argument I use, people who find ways to unlawfully download music won't change their minds. They will steal music at the same time they tell me it's wrong for someone to steal money from them. They can't seem to be able to make the connection and think all musicians with cds out are rich. I think it's because we've become an entitlement society where people think they deserve things and should not have to earn them.

I've had quite a few conversations about this in my daily life... and I find that people pretend to be ignorant with regard to this topic! It makes me quite angry because they download their favourite songs by their favourite artists and think that they're somehow supporting them? It's rediculous. I mean, if you like someone's music and you'd like to own a copy of it, then you should pay them for it. How else do they carry on touring etc. It's like going to their concert etc. without buying tickets and thinking that you haven't stolen money from the act. I guess there aren't enough punishments for downloading music illegally... ?? Or is it that people don't really care about the industry like you say? Have we become that "cyber-ized" that we don't consider the people behind the industry. We always see the final product in music, and not the work and creative elements which go into making it happen. Such a shame. Thanks for posting anyway... good subject to talk about!

You have all provided good reasons for why music should not be stolen. It is an intellectual property and is recorded by artists that give us a "good" which we should pay for. But I'd like to suggest a different perspective on what a "good" is and what it's become in the technological age. A "good" used to be a material possession, food, clothings and tools. Now that things are becoming more and more digitized, a lot of what we consume in terms of information is through the internet. All these pieces types of media is stored as data. We're not really listening to the artist but rather a reconstruction of data from speakers. Though this maybe a very hard and blunt look at music, I know. The internet is a place of free expression and access to a lot of content offered mostly for free. Innovation has been driven because of this type of open source ideal. Since things are free, people are able to share content more easily. Might they be able to share music like this too?

Hi Olisaur, the whole music piracy thing is causing many producers I know a nightmare. I have actually developed a tool which is aimed at bands and producers to allow them to protect their music. I just hope it helps heal this problem! www.audiolock.net I would be interested to get feedback from anyone who has the time to try it out (it is currently free).