Nic
Given your livelihood, you have an understandable bias on this. As a result, I'll allow you personal attack to slide on this occasion

As a long term consumer, I can see BOTH sides of the argument.

I can most certainly see the artists side in this and I'm aware that THEY deserve the money for their efforts.

I am a constant pain in the ass to my relatives and friends, using every available opportunity to discourage them from music and movie sharing via bit torrent etc

For the exact same reason, I refuse to subscribe to either Spotify or Rhapsody. Services that have been mentioned here on several occasions. See below for reasons why

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2010/03/05/the-sinister-side-of-spotify/

On th either hand, I was already a prolific LP Buyer before CD and they were usually priced in the region of �7 to �8 at the time. CD came out, but were priced at �15. The Music Companies used the "Economies of Scale" argument as CD was in it's infancy. But the prices never came down, except of course, when they want them to come down during sales etc.

I don't think I have to tell you about the multiple times that Music Companies renege on their commitments to the Artists themselves. Many times releasing albums without the Artist's permission and not paying royalties.

The Movie situation with Companies releasing the Standar Version, then the Deluxe Version, then the Director's Cut and demanding full price for all versions. And then repeating the process with Bluray releases, when there is Zero justification.

There are thousands of examples. However, the Media Companies have been Screwing the Consumer for Decades. In the past 10 years, the Consumer has started to Screw the Media Companies a little

This is not a one way street here and both sides need to recognise that

I have HUGE Respect for the Artists, but minimal respect for either the Media Companies or the "Sharers" who try to rip them off. Both sides need to work together to come up with a Pricing Model that suits both and not just the Media companies

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