[jihadjoe75]

There are so many things I'd like to make comments about and I appreciate all of the responses you guys have given me. This forum is filled with many people who have made a honest living out of music. You are the people who have taken the dive into professional art and I respect that very, very much.

I suppose I'm just trying to represent my generation, because in my generation stealing music is acceptable. It's incredibly easy to do, for even the most technologically illiterate person can download a song. Second of all, you have a very, very low chance of ever getting caught. To us, it feels like it may as well be a one in a million chance. Might I also add that everyone does it -and I mean everyone. Stealing music is socially acceptable, even to the extent where people brag about it openly. I can honestly say right now that I do not know a single person my age that does not have a substantial amount of stolen music on their computer.

It seems that a lot of people here are comparing my generation to yours. I've even heard a few people say that possibly my generation may be lacking morals. This may be true, but what did your parents think of your generation. Hell, in a little over five or so years I'll be at the point where I may be considering having a child of my own and I'm pretty dang sure that I'll be questioning the morals of his generation at some point or another. The culture of my youth is very, very different from yours. I have trouble understanding the culture of your generation, just as you have trouble understanding mine.

Now, lets just say your fifteen again and we'll say it's... say 1975. One day, a new technology comes out that gives you a way to get any music you'd ever want for free. It ends up being illegal, but absolutely everyone around you is doing it and you know you wont get caught. I even remember the first time I stole music. I was in sixth grade and cd burners were the hottest new piece of tech equipment available. Kids used to charge other people to burn CD's for them. For $5, some kid burnt me Quadrophenia, Dark Side of the Moon, and a Dave Mathews band live album. Everyone was buying cd's off these kids, that is, until burners became more and more commonplace. Now, If you guys can honestly say that as a teenager you would not take advantage of a situation like that, well... I have a great amount of respect for you. Unfortunately, I guess 98% of the 75 million teenagers that inhabit the United States right now do not share the same moral standards.

The music industry will not die. There will always be musicians looking to be recorded, maybe even more than ever. From the artists, to the music, to the labels and everything else in between, things are thinning out and will continue to do so. When I look at the artists that surround me here in the Michigan folk scene, it never seems like anyone is ever focused on making money, which is probably due to the fact that it is very difficult now to make any profit at all. I'm getting the opportunity to make a run in a small midwest tour this year with an unbelievably talented and passionate group of songwriters. All of us are just as pasionate about our art as anyone else on this forum, yet we all have substantial amounts of pirated music. Also, while we've been booking shows over the last few weeks, not a single artist has come up to me and asked if they will get paid for this. In fact, most of us will lose money on this tour. It doesn't matter though, because we just want to play. I guess the satisfaction of knowing, say... two hundred people downloaded one of your songs and are listening to it overrides the fact that most of us young musicians will see very little cash for our efforts. Maybe one day, granted I'm blessed enough to see an opportunity to pursue my art professionally, I'll appreciate the money that I could possibly make.

I think a lot about how I steal music and I certainly don't like it. Listening to the insight you guys have expressed here has made me question it even more. There are many genuinely intelligent people on this forum and like I said before, many of you have taken the dive and succeeded. I cannot tell you how much I admire that. I've been buying cd's here and there over the last few months simply because it makes me feel good. I want this art to thrive and flourish and to do so in a professional standpoint, it obviously needs to see revenue. I feel like I've learned a lot from your responses, but in all honesty I'm going to keep occasionally downloading music until it's not the worth the risk, or maybe when I'm a bit more grown up. Although, I do plan on buying a record player here pretty soon. Simply nothing beats vinyl and I'm seeing more and more of them pop up in my friend's homes lately. You can certainly count on me spending money on good records.

I'm tired of writing now, so take care and keep making art.

Love, Joe. stike