One other thing to note, when VHS tapes (pre-recorded) first came out - they were far over priced, now they seem to be within most buyers price range - perhaps the same is true with CDs? If Videos were the same price ($99) for a pre-recorded I'm sure more people would take advantage of renting and copying more often... Same goes for the music - $20 for a CD is too much, but $5 - well worth my money... You think the RIAA will ever understand this?

They will understand it, sooner or later, in a painful painful way.

Comparing digital and broadband methods of getting copies of music to VHS cassettes and 8-tracks doesn't hold water for me... never has. I will agree with the RIAA when they claim that there is a difference between taping an album for a friend and putting the album on a network for 30 million friends to have at their disposal. The difference is huge, huger than the difference in sound quality between CD and MP3. I doubt it's true to the extent that they would have us believe, but I'm certain that file sharing can and will hurt the record companies.

My take on the whole thing? Good. The difference between taping and downloading is huge, yes -- so huge, in fact, so absolutely all-encompassingly huge, that -- and here's the real kicker -- record companies as we know them ARE NO LONGER RELEVANT. That's how big the difference is. And I'm all for it.

Humble addendum, riddled with rich irony:

I love record stores.

That's a 408-word excerpt of a 1,306 word post. So, suffice it to say, you're not viewing my full arguement here.

The segment of the post on audio quality was building up to discussion of the new post-CD formats, Super Audio CD and DVD Audio, that will probably alter, in some people's minds at least, the current assesment of the tradeoff between convenience and quality.

But, more importantly:
"Right now, MP3 is essentially a parasite on the recording industry -- the few indie artists that have broken through thanks to Internet music delivery pales in comparison of intellectual property theft it's facilitated -- theft of intellectual property that was produced at the expense, and made well-known enough to be sought by downloaders, by the recording industry.

...you can't make a living wage off of putting songs on KaZaa or LimeWire. It doesn't pay. And if there was a way to make it pay currently, the labels would be doing it. If there is going to be a way for recording artists to earn a living through downloadable songs, it will be because the recording industry manages to resolve the copyright protection and legal issues involved, as well as a workable payment scheme.

...

Buyers choose what sort of music sells well, and is therefore chosen by the music industry for further promotion, as well as finding new acts to promote.

One sure way of not making an impact in those decisions is to stop buying at all -- and that's exactly what intellectual piracy theft is, people who choose to opt out of their voice in what sort of music recieves commercial success."

And here I am plagarizing myself. Somebody just shoot me.

"Buyers choose what sort of music sells well, and is therefore chosen by the music industry for further promotion, as well as finding new acts to promote."

Well, sure, but you're forgetting that this isn't necessarily a good thing. It's that whole intrinsically-antagonistic capitalism jive... you know the one. The one that goes on and on about systematic lowering of standards, and how anything for profit will always gravitate toward the middle, become hegemonized, to the benefit of no one. That whole John Nash thing about the two gas stations... I'm rambling.

Confession time:

Look, honestly, I'm torn about it all. Torn between a future record industry that will bring me incredible fidelity sound, and one that will essentially "rent" this music to me instead of selling it. (For instance -- "This CD will expire in ten days. To purchase another ten days, goto www.buyitagain.com....")I'm also torn between the record industry that makes N'Sync possible, and the one that makes Sleater-Kinney possible. It's the same industry, I'm afraid, and the same process, and claiming that I want one half of the industry to die and not the other is just blind elitism. I'm torn between a centralized industry that will inevitably bring me fewer and fewer choices, and an industry with a collapsed center that will bring me too many choices to ever be able to sort out. Some days I'm adamant about hating the RIAA, and other days I'm just lost.

I'm not alone, either. At least I have that.