I think it was Bon Jovi that once said 'I don't mind people downloading our music as long as they visit the concerts' That's where the real cash and recognition lies for the artists. Not the cd sales. I tend to buy all my original cd's but when some artist/band gets a 'best of' release that contains one track not available on the other albums I download that.
Movies is another story. I actually download all my movies first OR go see them in a cinema and buy the good ones on BluRay later. And if you know you're way around the internet it's as safe as visiting a forum. I do honest labour and I need my bills to pay. The internet downloads are a great option for me to spend the bit money that is left on products I'm actually gonna like. So Andrew's statement about 'it's a time of waste' is not a fair one. In fact it's a good time investment if you have not that much to spend.
I agree on Andrew's final statement but for a complete other reason. Too many times the 'honest' comsumer gets screwed by the greediness of music compagnies. And too many times (new) artists get screwed by the same compagnies. It's too easy to blame it all on the downloaders. In the end it's about the popularity of an artist that decides his success. And it's not unlikely that many downloaders have helped 'new' artists on their way by listening to a cd that they would never buy in the first place. Yet because of that download fall in love with the music and actually go to the concerts.
As for non-official releases I'm very clear. If it exist make it available for the fans to get it for free. And let those fans decide if they want it or not.
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