Originally Posted by Veridical Fiction

I can't believe some of the complete bullshit I just read in this thread... Especially from you, Heliophobic.

If you think bands are tirelessly touring across the country night after night and working endless hours in a studio to cut their next full length JUST because they like doing it... you need to get your head out of your ass and let it dry off in the real world, because that shit is work. While you're flipping burgers at Wendy's, they don't have time for a job because they're busy making music that YOU love and you're not even attempting to contribute to their ability to stay alive long enough to see some kind of pay-out for their trouble?
Bands can't stay alive without an income. And they can't give you the music you love if that income is in the form of them having normal full time jobs. Their music is their job, whether you twist that little stick up your ass to the left or the right.

I'm not saying that all downloading of music should stop in all forms... But I'm saying we need to use some fucking judgment in this. Yea, your friends send you over some albums you may have not bought in the first place.. no big deal.
But if you head over heels love and get something out of a band and have been forever and you're intentionally skirting the responsibility of paying for the labor that you're benefiting from, then you're fucking your favorite band in the ass. It's not just because YOU'RE doing it, though, but us collectively. All our dicks, together, just so happen to be big enough to do some unrepairable damage...

Make a fucking effort to support the bands who've been supporting you all these years. It's a matter of principle.