['97ventureowner]

Having been around when vinyl record albums were the most popular format of music, which was followed by the advent of 8 track tapes, cassettes, and then cds, I think what's happening now is just the next generation occuring in the industry. Couple that with the explosion of technology which allows us to put "billions" of songs on an iPod, and you have changes happening like they never did before. What's happening now in the music industry is very similar in a lot of ways as to what went on in the '70s & '80s. There was complaints by the music industry giants of consumers copying the music for their personal use from records and cds, and now that has transitioned to the internet. There will be a lot of things to be played out in the public domain as well as in the courts as to legalities, and whether or not what is occuring today is moral. A lot of laws were written decades ago and with the use of new technologies , and even more uses being found everyday, these laws will have to be updated to reflect current thinking/ standards. I could never have imagined things would be like they are today just 15 years ago. Home computers were not used like they are today, the internet wasn't around, so they weren't such a big part of our lives as they are now.
On the subject of free music. I think the general public has come to expect things like this. It started years ago and snowballed from there. I don't think many people realized to what extent the impact would do to the industry. People now expect items like that and the growth will only continue. It seems now that the industry is more consumer driven, than in the past where the big companies and label dictated what was bought and sold. With the advent of the internet, it has opened more doors to smaller bands, and companies who may have not had a chance or been able to make it just a few short years ago. Look what technology has done to the movie business. Movie ticket sales are down and even some video/dvd rental businesses have closed due to the ability to gain more access to the media (movies) that customers want. You can rent online, and not have to worry about getting it back on time. That has taken a big cut of the business from the theaters and brick-and-mortar rental stores. The same could happen even further in the music industry. I know people in my area complain at the cost of concerts, and if the prices were to increase to try to make up for lost profits, then these companies and artists will suffer even more as the consumer will not put up with it and find alternate means to satisfy their needs/ desires with the new technologies available to them.