file sharing

In general, I think that downloading music is a pretty acceptable thing to do these days, although there is a lot of controversy associated with file sharing. When file sharing first became big in the public eye, it seemed a lot worse than I actually think it was/is. Here's my rundown on what I agree/disagree with in regards to file sharing, etc:

I, Cathleen Murphy, download music. In fact, I am downloading music this very second as I write my blog. I am also currently listening to music that I downloaded. Illegally. Do I feel bad? No, not really. In my opinion, if you can easily find a band or artists songs on a major downloading network such as LimeWire, BearShare or some other bit torrent program, chances are the artist isn't struggling and they don't need your money... they just want it.

In regards to struggling artists, I wouldn't try to scam them somehow so that I could get their music for free, but I guess I really cant think of any struggling artists I'm even into. If I go to a small show and really like the artist, I sometimes will buy something to support the artist, if I have any money. But I guess in regards to going to shows and supporting and artist, I think that simply going to concerts is a good thing. It gives the artist money from the ticket sales, and gives you an experience that you can't recreate via downloading.

Shoplifting from a music store probably isn't that good of an idea because I can only assume that you would get caught, seeing as how every CD has one of those little magnet alarm things in it. Also, at places like Amoeba, they're really really really strict about loss prevention. I don't really think that stealing a physical CD/record/cassette is the same as file sharing because a CD is a thing that has physical value, and a file is essentially worthless because you can easily generate another one, or copy one and it will be the same. With a CD, it probably wouldn't make a difference to the artist selling the CD because the store bought it already, so the only one you're stealing from is the store itself.