Legal Music Downloads Increasing

MacWorld UK is reporting that legal downloads of music are on the rise. It's been literally years since I bought a CD. I request iTunes gift certificates for presents rather than CD's. I just don't buy them anymore. All the folks out there who complain that the sound isn't good enough (because they're audiophiles, so they ought to know, and we ought to trust them) betray their ignorance. Digital files are simply a bunch of 1's and 0's that are getting transferred from one location to the next. Saying that the sound gets degraded when digital music is transferred is like saying that words to get misspelled whenever a Microsoft Word file gets transferred. Puh-leeze. There are different levels of quality based on the bit level you have, but once you've downloaded a file, that quality will stick over time.

Of course, there's also the question of price. I buy online because the price is fair. I was in a Christian bookstore yesterday (which actually has far more useless trinkets than books, go figure) and could not believe the price variances on cd's there. They ranged from $10-$20. I know I'll pay the same, and I can just buy the songs I want if I buy online, so I'll stick with that. If the music labels get their way, and iTunes has to raise prices to feed the rich and greedy, then the music labels should assume that the numbers in the MacWorld article will lean toward an increase in pirated music next year. It's a shame, because they really do have a good thing going in online music sales.