First of all I think a musician's sole source of income should be through live performances only.
Recorded music should be free of charge, via downloading to anyone that wants it and has the means to download it.
After all, music has been available for copying on tape from radio stations for decades and no one ever made an issue of it.
And you know what? Stations that play music basically provide advertising for these bands and musicians so that when that band comes to town there is a fan following, giving them an audience to play to and enabling them to earn a living through ticket purchases. Recorded music is another form of advertising, plain and simple.
Just because you can play a guitar and sing a song does not entitle you to become a millionaire. Good musicians can make a very good living by actually earning their money via live performances.
The truth is that music will become more popular and innovative than ever through file sharing because little known but still very talented musicians will get their break without all the politics and payola that goes on in the established music industry. This instead of a very few established acts that record company's choose to promote.
I take personal delight in witnessing the greedy music industry executives singing the blues, especially after they have screwed the general music loving public for decades with high prices and recordings with two or three listenable songs.
In Canada where I thankfully live, both file uploading and downloading has recently been deemed to be perfectly legal. I feel very fortuante to live in such an enlightened society.
Regardless of how many lawsuits are launched, the music industry won't win this one. Already prices for CD's have been reduced to more realistic levels. But purchased CD's are living on borrowed time, the only recourse the Recording Industry has is through pay for download systems like Apple's iTunes Library.
My links
The Canadian File Sharing Legal Information Network
My Mustang Page
My Favorite Top Thirty Songs
My Personal Home Page
