MUSIC: That's a very tricky question. It's fashionable to point the finger at a paranoid music industry, and granted, they have certainly not really handled the changing face of musical consumption very wel (...)

Whohub

That's a very tricky question. It's fashionable to point the finger at a paranoid music industry, and granted, they have certainly not really handled the changing face of musical consumption very well, but anytime you make the consumer feel like the enemy, you're never going to come out with anything approaching victory.

The problem is that young people know that they can get a lot of what they want without paying, and I think parents probably don't think it's all that crucial to sit down with their kids and say "you know, just because you CAN get something for free doesn't mean it's always what you should do." I think people see downloading music as this grey area because it's easy to blame someone else either for doing it first or making the music available.

Personally, if there is an album I think I might like, I try to listen to it first to make sure. Then if I do like it, I'll buy it, typically used unless it's brand new and I'm crazy about it. Remixes in particular are very hard to come by today in the marketplace, but incredibly easy to get online. Part of that is because so many are made by non-professionals or semi-professionals who are doing it for fun or to get noticed and not under contract. And they're often as good or better than the ones that actually get released commercially.

Even when remixes are commissioned by an artist, they don't automatically get released on a CD. A larger and larger percentage of music is sold digitally, obviously, and for some people that's fantastic. Others who are more old school like me still value holding a tangible product in our hands. It will be a sad day when the music industry decides that CDs are dead and everything goes digital.

Bottom line, a solution is going to involve a lot of critical, intelligent thinking. What is best in the short term for the industry may not be what is best long term. If you give people a reason to do something legitimately, a lot of them will if you make it as simple as possible for them. But if you make the consumer jump through hoops, or disrespect them or rip them off, they know they will always get the last laugh.