Explain, Kas, how downloading music is going to kill the industry. You're just saying it will. You're not offering any ways as to HOW.

You post in the thread, but some how you manage to not read it.

Incredible ability, I must say.

Aside from all of this , I think there is a deeper fear in this 'Music Industry' and that is control or the lack of it to be more precise. These execs have realised (too late perhaps?) that ,suddenly , musicians don't necessarily need them anymore. Suddenly musicians have a platform with which to get their talents recognised, and they can do it themselves, without having to compromise , or 'sell-out'.

Agreed. Very good point.

Kas, you haven't explained anything. All you've said is that legal downloading of free music will kill the industry, because they'll be springing up from holes in the ground and advertising in every concievable form.

You haven't addressed the fact that a company providing a free service won't be able to afford multi-million dollar advertising, or the fact that it's easier, faster, and better to buy a proper album than download each individual song and burn it.

You've just stood back and told us that it will kill the industry. Now tell us HOW.

*sigh* You're thick. You are assuming that if downloading were legalized, there would be no innovation or deviation from the current methods of file sharing.

Don't you think companies like KaZaA would introduce features that would allow people to download entire albums with two or three clicks? Or someone could setup a high-quality music website, and host only high bitrate songs, and charge a nominal fee for downloading each. There are numerous other things that could happen if downloading was legalized. When there's money to be had you can count on innovations.

You also obviously don't know how P2P file sharing works, either. The makers of KaZaA do not run some big network, they don't host all the files, everything is hosted on the client's computers. There is relatively little overhead cost for this kind of operation, when compared to a 'traditional' method of sharing files (server-client).

Sharman Networks would undoubtedly add easy to use features and countless new bells and whistles to their Pro version of Kazaa. People pay for the Pro version, and then proceed to use the free service. That's how things are paid for. If music sharing were completely legalized, the 'music industry' (the big companies) would have no chance of making enough money to stay afloat, because their product could be found everywhere, via high-quality copies.

You're still not addressing the point. Paying to download music is already legal - and nothing of what you've said has come to pass.

The music industry will always make money, because people will always enjoy having the actual CD in their hands, as opposed to a copy.

You still haven't addressed any of these points.

"You're not addressing my points! You're not addressing my points!"

*sigh*

Drayson... whatever. I've explained it three or four times, but you still miss the point.

No. You haven't.

You've said "If downloading music were legal corporations would launch multi-million dollar advertising campaigns (somehow affording this on what money they bring in through selling "Pro" versions and ads) and would change so that the entire music industry would die! No, there's no altnerative! What? Paying to download is already legal? And my ideas still aren't true? Not listening... not listening!"

I see iTunes. I see Napster. I see others.

I see a recording industry still making money.

You forgot time.

Kas. People said the recording industry was done for when casette tapes came out.