[polarbear]

So what do you think? I think I paid $18 for the last cd I bought. Is that piracy as well, or is that a reasonable cost for a small collection of songs?

[jenjen]

Honestly, given the actual price of producing a CD? I think $5 is a reasonable price for one. IMO the record companies are really making a mistake actually going through with these cases.

[MCaver]

I haven't bought a new CD in over 2 years thanks to the RIAA. I refuse to give them any of my money. I only buy used CDs now, usually after downloading the album first to make sure it's not a typical one-hit wonder.

[peppersteak'n'ale]

I haven't bought anything in a while either, there just hasn't been any good music out in the past few years. The radio stations aren't helping much either since they've all been bought out by corporate entities, they just keep playing Led Zeppelin tunes over and over and .............

[Malachai Constant]

[Dayhike Mike]

The RIAA has always been lame, but their actions lately have really stooped to a new low. Regarding the 12-year old in New York, the fine folks over at [H]ardOCP put together $2000 tonight for Brianna and her mother, to cover the amount required for the settlement. She and her mother will be well taken care of. The RIAA, on the other hand, will rot in hell.

[sarbar]

I also have quit buying cd's. The price is ridicolous! And a lot of modern music just bites I buy classical cd's and new agey stuff from independt labels but that is about it.

[Slugman]

The RIA has brass balls. Did you know the costs of producing a CD is exactly the same as a cassette tape? Anyone who has ever paid more for a CD than the tape costs has been ripped off. Also, their figures on losses are ridiculous. They assume that every downloaded song was otherwise going to purchased at full price. Not only that, but a downloaded song is a compressed file, about 1/10th the size of the original. No way can that be valued the same. I have never file-swapped, but it seems to me they would be better served trying to figure out how to embrace the technology rather than to attack their own customers, or former customers. With folks like Orrin Hatch ready to subvert the constitution on their behalf, I am glad they can't get me!

[jenjen]

Maybe people would be more apt to buy a CD if they could be sure they would get more one song that was listen-to-able. I stopped buying CD's by major artists because I was sick of spending $15 to figure out only one song on the whole flipping thing was worth listening to. Now I only buy CD's from artists not heard on commercial radio. I figure I can listen to Bruce Springsteen every day for free, Gillian Welch I don't hear often enough so I'll buy her disk.

[Newt]

Thank God for the Grateful Dead. So much out there that was recorded live by the concert goers. They allowed folks to record their live concerts and even set up an area for some to do so. Some is poor quality but some is pretty dang good. Some goes waaaay back. What a class act. Guess it all depends if you're in it for the money, or the art. They're only in it for the money. I might feel different if it was really screwing the artist, but I've heard that they get very little of the record sales. With the price of concert tickets I don't think they miss the nickle and dime stuff very much anyway. Hope record sales fall because of this action. NN

[treewalker]

speaking of how much the RIAA sucks... I have a 40 Gigabyte MP3 archive. Anyone have a similar sized collection they'd like to trade? Here's a list of the artists in my collection: http://www.undertone.com/mp3s.html Best way to trade would be for one of us to bring our hard drive over to the other's place and just transfer away.

[Dayhike Mike]

[whistlingmarmot]

It's difficult to shed a tear for these mega-stars when I see them on shows like "CRIBS" prancing around in their new mansions. Then their trade representatives over in the RIAA go and sue college students and 12yo girls. With all the new technology it seems it should be easy to find ways of hearing music from artists who don't get picked up the the major record labels.

[Brian Curtis]

I buy a ton of CDs, but it is a very unusual day when I pay more then $5, and I rarely pay more then $3 for a CD. I'm not getting the latest hits, but I get a LOT of fantastic music. There is so much good music available it is unbelievable. You have to turn off commercial radio and be willing to explore. Take chances. Universal just announced they are lowering the top list price of their CDs to $12.98. Article here.

[Tom]

There is a lot of quality music out there. The problem is you never hear any of it because a handful of media giants have gobbled up all the large radio stations and control the play list - in effect, a few people decide what is played on all the large stations across this country. If they don't like it, you don't hear it. About a month ago I go so tired of the "cookie cutter" stuff I was hearing of the local "alternative" rock, "classic" rock, "soft" rock, "contemporary" rock, etc. I started hitting my seek button and was amazed by some of the stuff I found on the smaller independent? stations.