> Digital audio killed the industry. Why buy an album when you can...
As someone that jumped on the Napster and, to a lesser extent, Limewire and Kazaa bandwagon, their value for me wasn't so much that I could get something for free that cost money at the local record store, but it was stuff that couldn't get at all at my local record store.
That said, and much later on, the ability to legitimately listen to music on-demand via Spotify and its ilk pretty much ended my trips to the store.
The bands I love now are all ones that I discovered by downloading tracks. They weren't played on radio (or the songs that had airplay didn't really represent their catalog). I was a teenager with little ability to go to the store let alone afford to buy albums. I have no moral qualms about getting those tracks.
As someone that jumped on the Napster and, to a lesser extent, Limewire and Kazaa bandwagon, their value for me wasn't so much that I could get something for free that cost money at the local record store, but it was stuff that couldn't get at all at my local record store.
That said, and much later on, the ability to legitimately listen to music on-demand via Spotify and its ilk pretty much ended my trips to the store.