Music Piracy...

This is becoming way more common in the modern day... It is becoming easier and easier to illegally download music, or to avoid paying for it.

To most people, it may not seem like that big a deal, but to the artist, especially if they're not able to make a living off of their music, it really matters. 

Apps are available that allow you to listen to music anywhere, without paying. for it, and it is so easy to download a song or two off of YouTube. 

What I don't understand is, why are people willing to pay £5 for a cup of coffee, that costs just pence to make, and is gone quickly, but won't pay £0.99 to legally download a song from iTunes? It doesn't make sense. This song cost the artist thousands to record/promote/produce, took hours of time to write/record/practice, and will last pretty much forever.. Buying a song costs so little, why not invest? 

The next thing, and I do this, a lot, is using Spotify Free.. I get it, hundreds of thousands of free songs to listen to, whenever you feel like it.. It's brilliant, and an awesome way of discovering new music without wasting money if you don't like it.. I'm all for it.. BUt what sucks is that the artist gets such a small amount of money for all of their hard work. I completely understand why some artists (e.g. Taylor Swift, who is all for sticking up for the little guys when regarding music streaming) have removed their catalogues/new releases from this streaming site. 
Now I have every intention to purchase loads of physical copies either vinyl or cd) of albums, but I currently have no job (due to anxiety, more on that another time), and no money. But I never illegally download music. 

We need to support the music scene, and smaller artists, because I've seen so many bands break up, or come close to it, due to lack of funds due to people streaming or pirating their music. It's wrong.. 

As I was saying earlier, this is only something that has become more common with the growth of the Internet, because, well, you wouldn't just walk into a record store and take a 12-inch vinyl, would you? It's becoming easier to basically steal music, so people do it. 

If you respect the artist, you buy the music. 
End of. 

- Dottie.