If you are actually a consumer and using MP3, you would know it takes hours and hours and hours to download one song and the quality would be really quite poor. Such fiction illustrates why the recording industry has no one to blame but itself for this crisis. Music distribution via the Internet was pre- dicted years ago by many, but the recording companies refused to acknowledge the new reality. They were fixated on their total control over the distribution channel of CDs and music stores. But the logic of the Internet can't be denied.
CDs are expensive and force people to buy a dozen songs when they really want only one or two.
Downloading individual songs from the Web is overwhelmingly more logical, practical and cheaper. What the recording industry should have done is taken the initiative and developed the systems and technologies to sell songs via the Web and prevent unauthorized duplication. They're scrambling to put in place such a system now, but it may be too late. MP3 technology will be hard to dislodge, and many kids have become accustomed to the good life of free music. This sorry episode should be a lesson to all business decision-makers.