I remember the first time I heard about Napster. It was in 2001 when a friend told me about a website where I could download virtually any song I could ever want for free. I was in total awe at this concept and never thought of the ramifications.

Fast forward to 2008 Napster has been converted to a store but countless sites with this concept have sprung up in it’s place. As we all know now this is illegal. The legality seems not to matter to many people and the RIAA and MPAA are taking action. All of this information is common knowledge but no one is really discussing why so many people are downloading.

I think the first reason is obvious, It’s free. But that’s not the only reason. Another reason is availability. I recently read a report that 60% of music downloads are indie label. That means the worlds largest music retailer, Wal-Mart probably does not carry most of these artists’ music. Best Buy has a little better selection but not much. The next option is the the net. In witch you need a credit or debit card to pay for anything. How many teenagers and college students have a bank account let alone a line of credit? Not many, I’m sure. Amazon and iTunes are great sources to get non top 40 music, but not if you don’t have plastic. Small record stores have all but vanished and most major retailers will not do special orders. I know this from experience. This leaves this largest age group of music consumers with little options to get what they want. I believe this is a major factor in the popularity of peer to peer file sharing.

I can’t cay that I have a good solution for this issue. Not that I haven’t given it a lot of thought, but I think I understand it.

In closing and for the record, I do not download music illegally. As a professional DJ, I have to account for all of my music and pay royalties to ASCAP. I guess I’m lucky that it’s a tax write-off anyway.