Pip said a few posts back; "I agree 100% with the second argument, but not with the first one. Someone who buys Nic's first album from Celtic is doing absolutely nothing illegal, and neither is Celtic by putting it on sale. But Nic's still being ripped off, and I think that's what really matters. "Always try to make sure the artist gets paid" strikes me as a better policy than "Never download, copy or tape" - it's more workable, too. "

Absolutely. I dont agree with ripping off artists and dont advocate downloading albums, but one has to ask who is ripping off the artist more, the downloaders or the music industry who pays the artist a matter of pennies for an album which sells for anywhere between £5 and £15.

I know this is not always practical but I would like to see folk musicians (especially) produce & market their own material so that ALL (or very nearly all) of the revenue goes to them rather than some fat-cat producer (sit down, have a cigar). Obviously some sales would be lost due to downloading, but I still reckon they would get more from the people who pay than they would if they went through the music industry. I would far sooner buy directly from the artist (as I did just recently from Mary Humphries & Anahata for some of their excellent albums) than buy something off Amazon or go into HMV.

And if I were to download It would be nice if the performers of past material had websites with a paypal link so that I could then make an appropriate donation.

This is obviously a complex area, not at all black and white, but I do think things need to change for the future. I think a lot of people who have downloaded in the past are now getting the message but I still think a means of getting money direct to the artist, rather than relying on the royalties system would help.

Ged