Music sales have decreased for a 7^th consecutive year and industry big wigs are citing that blame for this lies with illegal downloads. I would argue they should look closer to home; it is the greed of the industry itself that has caused the popularity of unlawful software.

Most of us have such a strong connection with the music we listen to that we place value in how it represents us a person. We accumulate our choices based on its connection with moments in our life, who it reminds us of, where we were, how it made us feel.  A product of your peers/influences/experiences, every track purchased an expression of your individuality, a part of your history.

Yes, the rise of the mp3 player has the masses consolidating our collections to cold digital 1’s and 0’s, giving us access to every track wherever we are.  The hardware, in turn, letting folks download their dishonest music, removing the shame of having dirty black market copied cd’s hiding at the end of a proud collection.

But a proud collection it is. We want those original albums displayed neatly next to each other, some of us going to great lengths to ensure meticulous order on our shelves, each album cover imprinted on our life. We want our friends to be impressed with the character in its content. We want it to help find common ground with our love interests. As we get older, we want those memories in reach and hopefully pass on.

While mp3 sites (illegal or otherwise) are great for getting a quick fix for what’s happening right now. It’ll never replace our kinaesthetic need for hard copies of the things we love. We want to pay for the music we are attached to, we want to support the artists that have imprinted themselves, all we ask from the record industry is to help us afford to.