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We all enjoy music. We get in the car, slip in our favorite CD and suddenly traffic doesn’t seem so bad. We attach certain songs to memories, good or bad. In fact we choose the soundtrack of our lives. Music seems to be an essential element to the human psyche.
The internet and the magic of downloading changed the music industry forever. Illegal downloading became popular with programs like Napster and Kazaa. Then they were immediately shut down by the music industry. Record companies began to point a menacing finger at these companies, suggesting that people will steal from them and their artists without ever paying for another song.
In recent years online music has changed quite a bit. Napster has started offering a monthly service in the UK. Streaming music sites like Pandora and Last.FM offer “online” radio. A number of radio stations started streaming their shows online, as well. Or if you’re like me, you just listen to music on YouTube (though that avenue is quickly disappearing).
These sites may have the right idea. A Rasmussen Report shows that over sixty percent of adults rarely or never download music. The fraction of people who do illegally download music apparently spend the most money on legal music as well. An independent study by British Ipsos Mori found that those who download, download everything, paid or not.
So where will music go from here? It seems like the majority of people expect music to be free. We used to get all our “free” music on the radio. We still expect free music, just in a different medium: online. Obviously the fines and the threats of hurting the music industry are working to keep people from “stealing” music.
Do you think that downloading music should be illegal? Do you download music, free or paid?