Do you guys download music? If you do, any justifications, shameless? If not, why?
I never download music. The only time I can think of that I’ve ever done so was once when an aquaintance who’s a designer of audio equipment and an amateur musician posted a link to a demo song he’d created. He invited anyone to download it freely and it was a cool instrumental.
The RIAA has been very agressive in prosecuting file traders, even casual downloaders taking a few songs (although they mostly go after the people that download thousands of tracks). It’s not really worth the risk, which of course is why they’re doing it. However, that’s not why I don’t do it.
First, I have no wish to screw a band I like out of their money. Musicians make their living by selling records, publishing music and by touring. Obviously if you’re taking their music and not paying them, they eventually won’t be able to afford to keep making it.
Secondly, most of the music you download is mp3, and I don’t consider that a viable high fidelity format. You need to go with very high bitrates to get decent sound and no matter how good the MP3 it’s not the equal of the original CD version.
Yeah poor old mom and pop music industry… 
You have my answer in your very post, Phaedrus; people are still going to buy CD’s. Know how I know? Because everyone shares music, and everyone is still buying CD’s.
I use iTunes, but I usually upload some of the rare music from CD’s that I’ve purchased from Best Buy. Like the 99x Live X Collections (For those living in the Atlanta area). The rest is either dowloaded legally from the iTunes Music Store, even though it is a lower quality.
But then again, If I’m looking for some free music, then I usually find it on a file sharing site, but it’s never 1000 tracks, just 3-4.
CD sales have actually plummetted like a stone over the last few years, Gobbo. People really aren’t buying as many CDs as they used to. I don’t really think downloading is the real issue; I think the really sorry state of music today is a big part of it. Not to mention all the competition for our entertainment dollar. When I was a kid, there was no cable tv. No one had computers, the internet was just a fantasy, and videogames were something most people had to go to the arcade to play. Forget home video- I remember when a neighbor had the only vcr I’d ever seen, and it was 5 times the size of modern ones! I had 2 channels of TV to watch, over the antenna, plus my music. So obviously music took on a different quality to me than it does to most kids now.
Look at what the average person has nowaday- Xbox, P2, Gamecube, Gameboy, a bazillion channels of cable & satellite TV, high speed internet, big screen tvs, DVD players, DVDs in their SUVs, cell phones, etc etc. Who sits on their couch in the ‘sweet spot’ and listens to music anymore? Kids don’t listen to music so much as consume it like they do mountain do. It’s on their iPod or PC- when’s the last time you saw a CD walkman? If you wore one in public you’d be rediculed.
I can’t think of a time I’ve ever downloaded music from the internet, but I’m going to assume I must have at some point, so I’ll say once or twice. I am not at all in favor of piracy at all.