Yes, I've seen the USA Today section cover page article that says that the music industry is swirling in the toilet. It does worry me a bit, since that's the industry that hands me a paycheck every two weeks, but I'd like to say that I have faith that, like a recession, things will turn around soon. My father is probably cutting out sixteen copies of this article to mail to me in order to prove that yes, he does know what's going on in the music industry, and once again, I've taken a path that isn't so secure and will probably afford me some more time "on the beach," which is the industry term for being unemployed. Unfortunately, in this music lover's eyes, the record and broadcasting companies are the ones who have their heads in the sand. Either that, or they're just sitting there with their eyes squeezed tightly shut and their fingers stuck in their ears singing to themselves in the hopes that it'll all go away. They point their fingers at people like me who download music and scream to anyone who's listening that we're the problem, we're the reason why they're losing money. We're the hooligans.

I disagree. I think there are many reasons why the music industry is hitting the skids, and downloading is only one of them. The main reason why many people are downloading music is because the CD prices are just so damn high. I made the compromise of buying CDs again, but only at places like Best Buy and Circuit City where all the CDs cost $12 (or less, when they're on sale) because I'm just not willing to pay $18 for a CD. I'm especially not willing to pay that much for a CD when the music is just plain mediocre, and that's how I could categorize a lot of what's out there right now. Record labels aren't putting out great music at all, there's no explosion of artists that are blazing their way up the sales charts or the music charts. It's simple economics: The demand is there -- music is a staple of the American way of life -- yet the supply is lacking. To the same extent, radio stations aren't helping. Every week, I see stations adding fewer and fewer songs, yet increasing the number of times they play the old ones. There's something in the industry we call "burn," which is basically how sick of a song or an artist the listeners are, and I've got to tell you -- my own burn rate on just about everything out there right now is through the roof, so I can only imagine that I'm not the only one who feels this way. And to bring in economics again: If you want the demand, you have to deliver the supply and make people believe that they should demand it. When you're not supplying them with anything new to demand, of course the demand will go down. I can barely listen to the radio anymore, and that says a lot coming from a person who is addicted to it. And it's not like there's no artists out there to be discovered, on any given night, I can go to a local bar or small music hall and see a new band who I've never heard of before -- regardless of what city I'm in.

And finally, downloading. Yes, it's a problem. But I'd like to say that I have faith in my fellow people when I say that if downloading cost money -- albeit a reasonable charge -- we'd pay for it. I know I would. I do feel bad about hurting the artists by not buying their CDs (which is one reason why I've started buying them again, but I needed that low price compromise to be able to rationalize it in my own mind), and I think that they do need to be compensated for their work. Work is work and needs to be paid for, regardless of whether it's creative or mental and doesn't produce any physical results. However, on the flip side so as not to make people think that I am saying people ought to be paying the $18 per CD, salary offers are negotiated and can't be outrageous. If I were applying for a job at McDonald's as a manager and told them I wouldn't take anything less than $30 an hour, they'd probably tell me that they'd consider it if they managed to keep a straight face while I was still in the room. You can't ask outrageous prices for things, and I think that given the fact that a CD only costs a few bucks to produce, an industry standard of $12 or $13 per disc won't kill the music business. What they lose in profits from dropping the price, they'd probably make up in sales volume. I won't say that downloading will stop -- because it won't. Napster opened a Pandora's box that won't shut. But it can't be an all-or-nothing deal, because that just creates enemies -- consumers will view the record companies as Evil Controlling Corporations and record companies will view downloaders as Freeloading Thieves.

But that's just one man's opinion. Next on this channel: How Burger King and McDonald's are suing the grocery stores for making real meat available to the general public at a lower cost than the meat-based substitute they provide. Stay tuned...