For the last ten years I have been on the streets of Las Vegas working behind the scenes of our local music biz. Chances are, if you have gotten a flyer for a concert, it has come from me or someone on my team. While we are out and about, we get to hear about a lot of cool stuff. Lately I have been talking to people about the effect downloading music is having on the music business. Over the next year we will see a handful of major record labels close their doors or be absorbed by other labels. We will see several of the record label chains close down as well. I hear different reasons for this. The biggest one seems to be a result of down loading. Others point to stores like Best Buy and Walmart who are undercutting the chain store prices. Or maybe it is because we have the option of buying used CD’s at cheaper prices. With all the buzz about downloading, I decided to ask you about that. Here is what you told me:

Sarah Miller-18-Cancun Resort
SMASH: Do you Download music? SARAH: “Yes”
SMASH: Legally or illegally? SARAH: “Illegally. I think everyone does it.”
SMASH: Do you still buy CD’s? SARAH: “Yes. I download songs but if I really like the music I will buy the full CD”

Tiffany Soto-22-Student UNLV/School Teacher
SMASH: Do you Download music? TIFFANY: “Yes”
SMASH: Legally or illegally? TIFFANY: “Both but mostly illegally. I use Buymusic.com a lot”
SMASH: Do you still buy CD’s? TIFFANY: I buy about 1 CD per month. I download songs and it makes me want to buy the whole album”
SMASH: What was the last CD you bought this way? TIFFANY: “AFI”

Annonamous-24
SMASH: Do you Download music? ANNONAMOUS “No”
SMASH: Do you buy CD’s? ANNONAMOUS: “I buy about 1 CD a month. Mostly my friends burn them for me.”

Tyler Brady-21-Rox Management
SMASH: Do you Download music? TYLER: “No because I manage bands and I support CD sales”
SMASH: How many CD’s do you buy per month? TYLER: “About 4”

Kitty Rubt-17-Cimmeron High School
SMASH: Do you download music? KITTY: “No, because it is illegal.”
SMASH: How many CD’s do you buy per month? KITTY: “I buy 10 or less per month.”

Chris Fraley-23-Student UNLV
SMASH: Do you download music? CHRIS: “Yes.”
SMASH: Legally or illegally? CHRIS: “Illegally”
SMASH: How many CD’s do you buy per month? CHRIS: “0-2”
SMASH: Does downloading music effect your buying habits? CHRIS: “No”
SMASH: Do you think that downloading of music is having an effect on the music business?
CHRIS: “My opinion is that it is not having a huge effect monetarily. What is effecting it is their reaction to the downloading more than the reality of it.”

Justin Smith-21-Student UNLV-member of local band, Endemic
SMASH: Do you download music? JUSTIN: “Yes”
SMASH: Legally or illegally? JUSTIN: “Illegally”
SMASH: Does downloading effect your buying habits? How many CD’s do you buy per month?
JUSTIN: “No it does not. I buy about 5-6 CD’s per month. If I like a band and I like multiple songs Ill buy the CD. I like to get all the packaging that comes with it.”

Walter Kelly-18-My room mate
SMASH: Do you download music? WALTER: “No”
SMASH: Why not? WALTER “I don’t have a computer. If I had one I probably wouldn’t. I would rather support the artists.”
SMASH: How many CD’s do you buy per month? WALTER: “About two”
SMASH: Do you feel that downloading is having an effect on the music business?
WALTER: “Yes. Most people feel like ‘why go buy music if you can download it for free.”

So there you have it. I admit I was a little surprised by some of the answers. I would love to hear from more of you on this subject. You can e-mail me at NShoestring@aol.com.