Music Industry

From my own experiences, the online music industry has actually helped the recording industry make a more ideal consumer out of me. Aside from how easy it is to dirty your computer with a slew of viruses, adware, and spyware that can be embedded in .mp3 files, the constant threat of RIAA lawsuits for pirated music has instilled a healthy and robust fear and apprehension toward iTunes, Limewire, or any other file-sharing program on the Internet. Not only that, but for me at least, it would take little for online music consumption to get out of hand. By avoiding downloading music myself altogether, I've actually found myself going to purchase more music than I did when I actually did download. Spending $12.99 all at once is a lot easier, and a lot safer on my wallet, than the idea of constantly clicking for $.99 songs. However, I also consume music a lot differently than most consumers. I buy just as much used vinyl as I do new CDs, and it makes a hell of a lot more sense to pay $3.98 for a used, 12-inch copy of Live at Fillmore East than it does $18.99 for a new one, regardless of how important the extra Elvin Bishop track is to me. The online music industry has actually de-revolutionized music from my perspective - while practically everyone scrambles out to buy Apple's newest, Jetson-like iPod, I'm perfectly happy sitting at home like a Flintstone watching the grooves spin by.