I work for an artist management company (i.e. we manage and work for musicians) so that will colour my opinion slightly but any illegal download is THEFT.
People seem to easily forget that this is the music BUSINESS and if you download music or movies illegally then you are taking money from the musicians (and yes the record companies).
It's all very well saying that you'll download it illegally and if you like it then you'll buy it but HMV don't have a policy that you can steal CDs and then come back and buy one if you actually like the music so it should be the same on the internet.
If some musicians choose to upload their own music and let people download it for free (or give away CDs at the concerts like Meat Loaf has) then that's their choice but if you are downloading illegally then you are taking away their right to choose how their music is distributed.
Of course, I realise that it is hard to police illegal downloads nowadays but just because something is easy to get away with, doesn't make it any less illegal.
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