[erman]

It’s really sad what’s happened to music business. People dont’ buy music anymore. How is a musician supposed to make money? Why bother making music? So you can sell ringtones? It’s just sad. And it’s sad that people feel no responsibility towards paying the artists for their work. They just glom it off the net. Cheapskates.

First of all, how many times do I have to buy "The Best of the Eagles"? or say.... Dire Straits? I bought them in the 70's, bought some more of the same songs, again, in the 80's, copied them to cassettes and then even bought some CD's, now their on my hard drive. But it's a pain in the neck.

So I've bought some songs 2 or 3 times.

How about some old Johnny Winter stuff?

Some music is difficult to find and some stuff I've found like a live version of Hendrix and Billy Gibbons is impossible to find in any store or web site.

Finally, the musicians are making money the old fashioned way... performing. They get a cut of the gate, the T-Shirts, posters and whatever else they can get a hold of.

Now I have to admit it would be tough for a band like Steely Dan to "tour", but that's how musicians make money now. Performing.

[Huck]

I agree. Stealing music has made the sound recording a lost art. It’s a terrific loss.

[razorboy]

Steely Dan is touring Europe this summer. And really touring has always been the primary source of income for musicians, most of the money for recording sales stays within the system (the store and the record company), that’s one of the reasons 70s bands toured pretty much non-stop.