Burning CDs = burning out music in general

When it comes to downloading music, I feel we've made great strides in getting music out there for folks to listen to well before it hits the shelves of places like Borders, Best Buy, etc. But I also have misgivings toward downloading/burning CDs as well & here are some of them:

First of all, it hurts your favorite artists & I don't care who, whether it's 50 Cent, Rihanna, Kenny Chesney...I know, I'm going to get a lot of flak for this. But like any business/financial corporation, the main premise of the music business is to rake in the dough. You see, if a product like a compact disc isn't selling up to expectations, chances are likely that it'll be discontinued if not sporadically available. That's the whole thing behind a lot of record labels nowadays: if their rosters of performers are selling product at breakneck speed, the companies will take the time to put money into the artists on such-&-such label, be it in terms of marketing, promotional deals, distribution, touring dinero & a tenable budget for them to work with for their next proposed effort(s). So going out & actually buying their CDs is an imperative here; it not only helps boost your fave artists' cause but also keeps them on their respective labels' active roster. If not, & we choose to burn/download their music instead, we're putting them on tenterhooks with their label (who more often than not will show them the door) & not only that, that distinct possibility of never hearing any music from them again.

Think about it; just consider the downsides that come with downloading. Here's a little math for folks to look into & the next issue I'm taking concerning downloads/burning music onto CD:
If a group/singer sells about 40,000 records they're given $40,000 to work with on their upcoming release(s).
Via downloading/burning CDs, however, we can see drastically different end results: 20,000 in sales = $20,000.

When it comes to making a properly mixed, packaged & produced piece of music, $20,000 doesn't amount to much dinero by any stretch. And that's where the artists suffer greatly when someone else decides to infringe on music which they worked long & hard to complete.

In essence, burning/downloading music is the equivalent of taking a CD without paying for it...& that's saying a great deal for the musicians/performers who put this stuff out in the first place. Not only is it robbing them of hard-earned pay; it's also putting them at odds with their label in every aspect of the business: the boss, A & R, on down the line.

This also factors into live performances & if you love seeing your favorite bands/singers live, buy their music (among other merchandise like T-shirts) so it could help give them money to stay on the up & up (& keep them from getting in the hole as far as touring expenses go). As one will discover, by going to see, say, DMB playing live & taking the time to buy who knows what (CDs, shirts, etc.), you're doing your favorite group(s) a favor; rather, you're helping their cause & keeping their cash flow going strong. But if you deliberate a little more, your support is helping these same groups stay alive in one way or another.

Here's the bottom line: by burning CDs/downloading music of your favorite artists, what are they gaining from all this? Well, here's the rundown:
If they don't sell product, naturally they won't be given money for doing another record.
And if they don't sell product, they can't go to places like Conseco/Verizon & perform (BTW, touring is another means for musicians to get paid).
If they don't sell product, how can your artists promote themselves? How can they get the marketing funding which tells you when their next releases will hit stores/the next time you'll see them live? They won't be able to do either of the above if they're not making any sales.

The best thing you could do here, if it hasn't been done already, is go out, buy a CD of your favorite artist(s) & show that you do care about music in general. By burning their output on CD, though, chances are you could burn them out of a label deal - worse yet, you could burn your fave performers off the musical map for good.