i had a student ask me today why he should pay $15 for 10 songs on a CD when he can download 20 by the same band for free. then he said he can buy 100 blank CD-R's for his $15.

i asked about the booklet and the artwork, and he said that if you find the right website you can download most of that for free too.

i asked about the artist making money and he said they make money when they play live.

i had a hard time arguing with him.

renny

p.s. catalog CD's should sell for the same prices as catalog DVD's. i really think it would help the music industry immensely.

Renny,

I wouldn't go so far to say that your student "proved" that downloading is "better" than buying physical CDs.

1. Why should he pay $15 for 10 songs when he can download 20 for free?

I'm certainly no expert on downloading, but I would be a little more than skeptical about the legality of downloading for free. Then, of course, there is the issue of sound quality.

2. If you find the right website, you can download most of the booklet for free.

IF you find the RIGHT website you can download MOST of the booklet for free. Downloading and printing large amounts of text can be an iffy affair. Some or much of the text may not print properly.

3. Artists make money when they play live.

Artists make money when they play live AND make more money when they sell CDs. I would suspect that when people download from free sites, the artists don't see a penny of that money. This sounds to me like a weak rationalization ("We're not depriving the artists of making a living - they make money when they play live, anyway.")

Obviously, I'm not questioning the sincerity or intelligence of your student. All I'm saying is that his perspective is skewed differently from many of ours'. Just because much of the younger generation doesn't see the value of owning something physical doesn't mean that their outlook is "wiser."

it's very hard to justify spending money on music to these kids.

they see nothing wrong with downloading, "it isn't stealing if it's on the internet" is their arguemant.

i weep for their generation.

renny

It doesn't help that the parents are downloading illegal software(music etc) also.

Thing that bothers me is my 17 year old sister knows that mp3's sound inferior to lossless or cd, but despite knowing that she doesn't really care & prefer mp3 format.

Don't know if she's representative of other kids or not.