There was a time when the mention of "Japanese music" would have brought to my mind only the sound of Koto from Japan's feudal age. I did not always know of hide and would never have thought to listen to music in - God forbid - another language. We, as Americans, are very elitist and isolationist like that without realizing it. Few are aware that the Japan of today has such modern and varied musical tastes that as a result, that small East Asian country has the second-largest grossing music industry in the world. Because of this, the only music we see on MTV is American, the only music that is ever played on the radio is American, and the only music many of us ever were exposed to up until now was American.

All that changed however, with the introduction of this wonderful thing known as the Internet. Not only could you talk to people in other countries, but be exposed to their own interests, hobbies, ideas and culture overall. Thanks to the Internet, I came to know X-Japan through a Japanese friend of mine; and thanks to the eventual introduction of Napster, became acquainted with hide's solo work shortly thereafter.

Now, several years after first downloading "Pink Spider" only to follow it up by downloading every single hide song I could manage to find, I own all of hide and Spread Beaver's albums, mini-CDs, concert tour DVDs as well as lives and other works. That's really saying something, considering I have to import this stuff from halfway accross the globe.

My point? If you like an artist enough to actually download a whole album of theirs like that on a 56k modem connection, then obviously you're going to lay down the money to actually purchase their music for yourself eventually. Not just because that's ethical, but because there's a huge difference between listening to an original CD in your stereo in contrast to some badly-encoded mp3 on your computer with shoddy headphones.

Artists get more advertising through the internet, and that doesn't "hurt" them at all. I've heard of artists (and genres of music) I normally would never have heard of within the US, being exposed to just what the record companies want me to listen to and like (which consists of Avril Lavigne, Ricky Martin and the Backstreet Boys). I listen to everything now from Japanese pop idols (Ayumi Hamasaki, Maaya Sakamoto) to Japanese rock (X-Japan, hide, Luna Sea, J, Oblivion Dust) to all kinds of different forms of Trance (Chris Hulsbeck, Ayla) and even artists from countries like India (Daler Mendhi). I would never have heard, or had a chance to be exposed, to any of this music if it hadn't of been for the Internet.

Now, the real arguement here I'm assuming is that .ogg and .mp3 files can be burnt to CD. They can of course, but that doesn't make the quality of what you are getting anything worth listening to. When you burn a .ogg or .mp3 file to CD, you have to convert that compressed data into a raw .wav file. The result is a .wav of even lesser quality than the file it was rendered from. That inferior .wav is what you actually burn to CD.

Obviously, there is a large distinction in quality between an original music CD and one which was created from burnt .mp3 and .ogg files downloaded online. The sound quality of a burnt CD is incredibly flat and noticable in comparison to an original one. There's no arguement that an artist's latest CD is of far superior sound quality to any "custom" a punk 13-year-old could make from files ripped off of KaZaA. I think for this reason, most people would rather buy an original album rather than a blank CD-R.

Just think if there was such a file sharing program as one that would offer a listing of CDs it could order for you based on the artist who's music you happened to be searching for or downloading mp3s of at the time; like an online record store. There would be real convenience, and you'd be more inclined to buy the CDs then rather than go on some type of easter egg hunt searching for a place to purchase them from. I download mp3s, sure, but it doesn't mean I don't want to buy the original CD of the artist myself. There's a big difference between the sound quality that's on a CD and the quality of a compressed, outdated media file.

The majority of people out there who download and listen to mp3s on their computer usually are the same types of people who go out and spend their money on purchasing the artists CDs for themselves eventually. File sharing simply offers them more exposure to varying artists and genres, along with the ability to pick and choose their music.

In my opinion, that is what the RIAA is scared of.