Sure, sales of 'product' are down, but plenty of people still buy CDs and even vinyl (my preferred pressing plant is United Record Pressing in Nashville, TN). I don't like downloads for a number of reasons: compressed sound; hard-drive crashes; nothing to look at or hold, etc. And the playback format - ipods, etc. - seems tailor-made to turn everything into background music. I don't need music all the time, I need a certain amount of silence to help me appreciate the music. Like white in a black-line drawing.

"eventually all music will be free. You pay a yearly subscription and you get all your music free."

Yes, and my housing is free - I pay a monthly mortgage and I get all my housing free.