Warning: Long Rant
The heads of all of the major record companies have said that they recognize that the music industry
cannot surrvive in its current model. In the next couple of years, I believe that you will see drastic changes in the way records are marketed/sold. I have a friend who owns his own small, independent label and he is searching for a new business model that will use file sharing technology rather than cringe in fear from it.
This being said, you are still stealing from the artist when you download their songs. If you don't have a problem with theft, I'm going to have a hard time convincing you to stop. I think that one of the big reasons people don't see downloading as theft is because of the nature of intellectual property. If I steal a loaf of bread, the owner is now short by 1 loaf. If I were to download a song, the original is still there. The industry/the media/you and I need to explain to those who haven't figured it out that taking intellectual property is the same as taking bread from the grocery.
Yes, the record labels are greedy bastards that exploit artist. If you know anything about recording contracts, you've heard phrases like controled composition clause and cross-collateralization. When an artist signs a record deal, they are giving the label a blank check saying, "Rape me!" Things are already starting to change, though. In the last year all five of the big music companies have granted provisons to NEW artists (who have no name for themselves yet, none of the all important clout) that I never would have imagined. Artists are now compansated when labels under pay them. The labels are now paying for the audits that uncover these errors. This is but a small bit of what's going on behind the scenes.
If you don't want to pay $20 dollars for a CD, (and I don't blame you at all. That's a lot of money.) support artists and labels who are looking for a new business model. Boycott anything from the big 5. Stealing will only make it worse. The labels then have a big target to point at saying, "They're taking all our money because they won't pay!" If you don't download, then no one listens to the artists and it might grab their attention a little sooner.
/end rant
