Yes, I've definitely noticed that I've started buying fewer CDs. For some reason, the low-bitrate musical samples on CDNow are just not enough for me.
Then again, I've stopped listening to modern rock music and techno. Perhaps the collection of jazz (and classical) MP3s on Napster was far lower. Still, Napster was what allowed me to try new music before buying it; because I felt bad about listening over and over to MP3s that I didn't buy, I bought the CDs of music that I enjoyed.
But still, whether or not MP3s increase sales is irrelevant. MP3-distribution of copyrighted material without the express consent of the owner of that material -- the labels, not the artists, usually -- is still an illegal practice and concept. In fact, we've run into this issue several times before.
Before Metallica's rampage against MP3s, Led Zeppelin was very much against the idea of cassette tapes which could be used to copy and distribute their music. Reasonable? I'm not sure -- it seems very ridiculous to me, probably because by the time I was growing up, this practice was extremely widespread. But I believe this is why we have taxed blank media.
Then there's the issue of rented CDs. In Japan, you can go down to a video rental store, if I'm not mistaken, and pick up a CD for $1-2. People take these CDs home, get out their MiniDisc recorders, and just copy entire CDs onto MD. This is one reason MiniDisc is so much more popular in Asia than it is here. But anyway, the reason that the Japanese got into this state of affairs is that their equivalent of the RIAA is very weak, and can never get what it wants. Of course, the idea of renting CDs seems silly in America, but that's because our recording-industry lobby is so powerful.
But overall, I think that I haven't felt the loss of Napster so much. Most of us here consider ourselves "audiophiles" of some degree. Listening to our CD players free from most of the EMI/RFI of computer-innards is ideal (especially if you've got a computer as loud as mine). Also, just like it's often possible to buy the right audio equipment online based solely on the reviews given by fellow Head-Fidels or professional reviewers, buying music can be guided by other members more-experienced in the genre. Sure, it's tougher to experiment and discover music for yourself, but hopefully you still have some friends that live near you! And there's always the public library -- mine has quite a decent collection of classical music, in fact (despite having a poor collection of books
).
So how is DataPlay going to affect us? I seriously doubt the recording industry would back such a ridiculously useless invention -- I agree with everything grr said about it. It would only be viable as a hardware complement to pay-for-a-pop MP3 downloads which would avoid writing any information to the hard disk, but only to the DataPlay disc itself. This could very much reduce copying. But nobody would ever buy these, since MP3 files are still easy to obtain, and they can be used along with MP3s ripped from one's own CD collection in an MP3 player (or CDP). So again, I think DataPlay is already doomed, and has no more chance of surviving than the Dodo bird of flying again.
