The quality thing is the biggest issue, i remember recording stuff off the radio onto cassette or copying someone elses onto cassette. But the quality was never great so if it was a band i really like then i had no other option but to buy it so yea the copyright infringement was always there but was more tolerable because the poor quality of copies drove sales anyway leaving those who had copies probably wouldnt have bought the real thing anyway. The like for like quality of sharing a file causes problems with the sales because people feel why should they buy it when they get the exact same quality for free.
The current problems are caused by two factors, the consumer not reliasing or caring the impact they have and the industry not reacting early enough possibly even back as far as when cd burners came about. The industry was complacent, they thought that people actually would notice and care about the lesser quality of the mp3 compared to cd, thinking the whole download era would be very short. Huge misjudgment to say the very least. The irony is that Vinyl sales are rising and even approaching the popularity of the cd, problem is now it's more expensive to press vinyl than ever.
p.s i think we agree lol even to the point where i may have said exactly the same as you, apologies, i don't exist on forums very well anymore ;0)
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