[Regular_John]

I've said it before on this site and I'll say it again. It's too late to put the genie back in the bottle. Napster reached critical mass 12 years ago. That's a decade of "free" music, a substantial portion of which the music industry spent on dead end tactics and p***ing all over the same people they we're trying to maintain as paying customers.

Much like video rentals & home milk delivery, the business model & product being offered are no longer relievent or valuable.

This isn't to say artist/musicians are not entitled to make a living off their wares, but the reality is that the market/public can not maintain the same number of artist at the same level that it once could. And "making music your life" may require more sacrifice than you're willing to make.

However, I still believe the cream will rise to the top and many performers will make a good living for years to come. Consider this, The Arcade Fire released their debute album, Funeral in 2004... two years after Napster got shut down. Justin Bieber was 10 years old at the time. Both artist are making a comfortable living despite starting after the flood gates had opened.

For the record, I subscribe to Rdio (an "all you can eat" service) and I still purchase recorded music from time to time... direct from the artist website.

It's time to stop focusing on the 99% of users who won't spend a dime on your album and start focusing your effort into adding value to the 1% that will. Give me the limited edition on red vinyl, offer me meet & greets, heck even just sign some autographs onto the 1,000 CD's you will sell and offer them at your shows. But the days of spending $20 for just the music are over... and have been for longer than Bieber's been shaving.

/rant