retzam said:

Well, Spaldino, you do make a good point, but, this final statement: "if the cd is worth buying, i will buy it... if it isnt, then the fact that i downloaded their album is null and void because i wouldnt have bought it anyway." That is kind of false. If the second situation is the case, then the only reason you're not buying the CD is because you heard it already and are not into it. There's still a small chance that if you didn't DL it you would have bought it. Maybe the reviews wouldn't have been so bad to keep you from buying it; maybe you would have heard one or two of those three songs that you liked and ran out and bought it. The fact is, that many many more albums would be sold if it weren't for downloading and burning.

thats not very true, because i like to hear the whole thing before i buy. thats just how i am. i borrow cds or have a friend burn it for me, listen to it, and if its the 3 song case, then i wont buy it and i will keep the burned copy. if a band is good enough, they will get my money. besides, if you see an album in the stores, the band already made their money from that cd because that store bought it from the label at a wholesale price so they could sell it at a price that is almost twice what the store paid for it. too many instances to arise that can make both sides of the burning thing look good and it will jsut go on and on and on. burning isnt terrible, most people that burn cds are... and fucking cheap. i havent bought a cd in a while because im absolutely poor and the only way i can listen to new albums is by burning them. also the abilty to have so much music readily available has changed my life forever. i am 9000% more musically diverse because of mp3's and burning. if i had to only buy cds and not really listen to them before hand, i would probably be just finding out about Death and Dream Theater and Kamelot and stuff. so again, there are too many pros on each that eclipse the cons so its pretty much a stalemate (thats oly because of lame legality issues though, i personally think burning is great, as long as those people go to shows, thats all that matters)