First, you should specify what you are referring to. iTunes, Amazon and others provide digital music downloads at a cost.
Surely you are referring to piracy.
Stealing and Piracy are not the same thing.
Stealing would involve someone grabbing something off the shelf and walking out with it. Piracy involves copying digital data. The company that is selling the item in question loses nothing. No bandwidth, no boxing, no materials, no physical property.
Now it could be argued that the company would lose sales revenue because the pirate would be unmotivated to puchase the product in question. Unlikely, people who download music do so because they wouldn't have paid for it in the first place!
Being a musician, I understand that bands need to make money too! A band whose music can be spread amongst the community freely gets more recognition than one that stands behind a price tag. If I loved a bands music and they came to my town, you bet your ass I'm paying $60-$100 to go see them at the show!
Many bands wouldn't even be known without Internet pirates.
Surely you are referring to piracy.
Stealing and Piracy are not the same thing.
Stealing would involve someone grabbing something off the shelf and walking out with it. Piracy involves copying digital data. The company that is selling the item in question loses nothing. No bandwidth, no boxing, no materials, no physical property.
Now it could be argued that the company would lose sales revenue because the pirate would be unmotivated to puchase the product in question. Unlikely, people who download music do so because they wouldn't have paid for it in the first place!
Being a musician, I understand that bands need to make money too! A band whose music can be spread amongst the community freely gets more recognition than one that stands behind a price tag. If I loved a bands music and they came to my town, you bet your ass I'm paying $60-$100 to go see them at the show!
Many bands wouldn't even be known without Internet pirates.
