A Self-Replicating Treasure Trove of Oddities

I have many convoluted justifications for sometimes downloading music for which I have not obtained the proper licensing (e.g. music that's not readily accessible, who cares about record companies, will pay later in other ways...etc.), but at this point I've given up on the defensive position.  Instead, I've come to the consensus that anybody who complains that downloading is destroying music just doesn't like music.  They may think they like music.  They may have a couple albums of Herbert Alpert and the Tijuana Brass in the attic somewhere that they like to play in the background when company's over, but they don't actually care about music.  Because if they did, they would be giddily hoarding it like the rest of us. 

Say for instance that you do love music.  You collect it.  You identify with it, you actively enjoy listening to it.  Then one day you discover a lost cavern filled with all the musical riches you could ever imagine and almost infinitely more; a giant warehouse that goes on for miles.  You then realize that when you take an album from here, it replicates itself.  Nobody's guarding it.  Why would they guard it?  It's run by a million other random fans who didn't care about money but just thought everybody else should hear what they found.  And they eagerly offer, "here, listen to this amazing thing that I found".  To say that you would refuse out of concern for the industry says to me, "I have no joy in my life". 

—May 6th, 2010

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