I used to buy music, but now I don't do anything but steal from musicians. I get the greatest satisfaction from thinking about how much time, heart, and soul they put into the creation of their art and then how much money they spend on recording, mixing, mastering, hiring graphic designers to create the album art, distribution,etc. only to have an asshole like me steal from them.

Sorry, let me put my dripping satire to cool on a separate plate. I buy music from digital retailers but if it's an artist who I have an affection for I'll by the actual CD for artwork and to get the album notes, players, engineers, etc.

It drives me straight up a tree when I hear people say, "music should be free, advertisers should pay for it...blah blah blah". So basically what these fine thinkers are saying is that we as a people, a culture, should be free from obligatory support of our artist community by making that support the responsibility of some other party. Really? I WANT to support artists and their forms whether musical, print, sculpture or otherwise. I feel like it's my obligation because I have consumed something that has made me think or feel something that I might not have otherwise.

I think I'm going to go to a restaurant tonight, have a meal, and then tell the proprietor that the advertising on their web site should pay for what I've taken.