Retail stores don't do much to cater to niche markets. I can't remember the last time I bought a CD from a chain outlet; they're usually overpriced and the selection is bloody awful.

File sharing only kills the enormous markets for music, the people who can't be bothered to leave the comfort of their home to get the latest Britney Spears album. And when it comes down to it, the people that suffer from it are the major labels, not the musicians or the independent music stores.

The point being that the people who care enough to listen to some unknown band's music are more likely to buy it after they know they like it.

Not to go round in circles, but thats precicely why there is a need for the independents to flourish as said previously, but the margins are less for those traders and as such they will be hit hardest even by a modest drop in sales in favour of file sharing.

cough...

Personally, I think it depends on the artist.
If it's some guy you listen to on Myspace, and he has a cd he made himself, just give the extra support and buy it.
Now, for mainstream bands like Fall Out Boy, it's different. They're already making enough, if not more than enough, money from stupid stores like Hot Topic, selling albums for 15-20 dollars. It's too much.
Also, what about the bands that don't exist anymore? I think it's fine in that case, because since they're no longer together, so pretty much all of the money ends up going to the music label.

Although I have a feeling that the Virgin Megastore or HMV opening down the road will have much bigger effect on it.

It could have been anywhere but when I arrived in Oxford in 2005, there were four independent record stores to complement the high street retailers, including a dance-based one for DJs and the short-lived UK chain Fopp which had an amazing selection, typically a third the price of the larger retailers.

I've since moved but on last visit in 2008 all of these stores had disappeared, this was particularly disturbing as I had bought a lot of records there during my stay that were the soundtrack to a great time in my life (I didn't buy a desktop until 2007).

This is not like other forms of piracy down the years that have boosted innovation and ultimately benefited the industry (pirate radio, bootleggers etc) and from what I can see it's on it's way to killing hard copy music, as there are always young kids getting into music through high-speed broadband connections and not from walking into a shop and looking at the artwork or asking for that song they heard...
I'm sure some of them have never even bought a CD or read
the liner notes, pored over every record to get their money's worth

I try out an album, and if I like it, I usually go out and buy it, not only to support the band, but because it's the right thing to do.
I don't agree with this. All of what I listen to came from music blogs and websites with free album downloads. If it wasn't for all this, I wouldn't be listening to The Sound Of Animals Fighting, Mogwai, CaP'n Jazz, Joan Of Arc, etc.

No I saw it, dont worry :)

I just respectfully disagree, as I said in my first "essay", file sharing is easy, no one would do it if it was not. I dont think there is anybody who has a record for free on his/her c drive would then go out and buy the real thing, or at least not enough folk would to keep a small niche label/record shop going.

I dont know whether its a cake and eat it scenario for some, but there is an arguement to say there is a downside to it, God I've argued it, which I believe is detrimental to a whole sector of the music industry who I feel deserve better treatment.

But I'm not going to repeat myself with my view, I think I've written enough (seriously, have you see it all, its like a journal) to outline what I think from the point of view of the Independent Retailers and the Niche Record Labels, and strangely have even attempted justify it.

So thats me on the subject, unless anybody wants a cuddle or anything.

*Raises hand.