Let's make this *very* clear.

Music is not at risk here. If the music industry dies, Music will not.

This is all about saving the music industry, not music.

The music industry is scared because it has no idea how to exist in this new paradigm.

Still. I would be more than happy to pay a subscription fee for "all you can eat" music. having this would allow the music industry to actually push good music rather than trying to capitalize on the lowest common denominator.

The only way they could run that system though is if *everyone* jumped on board. They'd win from people like me who very rarely listens to music but may buy one album every other year. (And no - I don't download music)

If they lost all the profits from people who usually spend more than $50, but then didn't make money on the people who normally spend less, they'd be worse off.

The only thing wrong with the music industry is it is too top-heavy.

The labels, the distributers get way way way too much money. The artist get too little.

There is no reason CDs should cost as much as they do.

Bands need to embrace downloading and learn to profit from it.

It is so cheap to make your own CDs that labels are not as needed as the days of vinyl

Coutney Love, of all people, made some excellent points in this regard:

Yeah, loved what Courtney said on this... Also the point that electronic files aren't 'stealing' in the classic sense.

Love is not divided, only multiplied.

We spend more than $50 per TRIP to Amoeba Records,, but that includes dvds and videos too...

They also sell used cds for low prices, yet the RIAA isn't freaking about losing those profits for shared music...I'm confused by that!

Music industry doesn't get a penny of sales of used cds, so why is it 'legal'? And if it is legal, why then is file sharing not legal? Same monetary 'loss' to the recording industry...

Not to mention how damn hard it is to find a good selection of music in the usual stores. Stuff I like either isn't carried or is out of print. Sometimes downloading is the only choice you have.

You know what would be nice would be a burn-on-demand thing where you could go into a store, listen to some music, pick what you like, and download it AT THE STORE, and then buy the CD. The recording industry would still be getting paid, the listener would still be getting quality, but you wouldn't have to pay $30 when you only want one song on an album.

That's basically the i-tunes or puretracks method at the moment though - no?