Should Downloading Music Be Legal or Illegal?

Some people believe the illegal downloading of music is harmless. They claim that musicians don't make money off of the success of their CD. People who are in favor of the illegal downloading of music, instead, insist that musicians are all making cash mostly for doing concerts. This may be so, in many cases. But these same people often claim that musicians should not care if everyone downloads their music... Should the illegally downloaded music be made legal?

Well, it comes at no surprise that most of the people making such claims are not putting out music on CD. I think if anyone knows how the illegal downloading of music is affecting them, it would be the musicians themselves. Why then, if the illegal downloading of music is so harmless, would many musicians be so against it?

Could it be that the illegal downloading of music is causing harm? What sort of harm, though?

I've also heard people complain that CDs cost too much. Why should someone pay $20 for a CD they might not like? The illegal downloading of music allows people to preview a CD before buying it. At a glance over this reasoning, I would have to agree, that illegally downloading music might seem like a prudent action to take.

However, if six billion people were to gain legal rights to download free music, how many would preview and delete those music files? Why would anyone delete a music file that they legally downloaded? After all, it wouldn't be illegally downloaded music at this point. There would be no reason to go out and buy the CD.

Six billion people would have to do no more than burn the legally downloaded music onto a blank CD completely free. They would get into no trouble, but music CD manufacturers, and anyone responsible for the production and distribution of these products would quickly miss all that money in sells.

But how would this effect the musician, who seems to be, by this whole line of reasoning, the only important entity involved in the production of music?

The illegal downloading of music is an issue no musician could take a neutral stance on. We'd have to assume that musicians should find it totally acceptable...if indeed the illegal downloading of music should be legalized.

But eventually there would be no profit in the production of CDs. Without a market for music in stores; one would have to wonder whether recording companies would support musicians. Would there be any new mp3s to download at all? With the surplus of musicians that don't have recording contracts today, it is likely record companies would sign with new artists.

We'd have to deduce that these new artists would not support the legal downloading of free music? That the price of music is ridiculously high, these days, is beside the point. With almost any other product, if it is too high, we don't get it at all. Why should music be any different, just because anyone can gain access to it illegally

Most musicians with recording contracts are well aware of the benefits that producing a CD will give them. That is why most of them take a negative stance in regards to the illegal downloading of their music. If indeed it were harmless, there would be no fuss raised over the illegal downloading of music.