[AfanforXX]

don't defend stealing, it's just plain wrong. if you like an artist a lot, you can still spread them around, but at the same time encourage people and yourself to buy the cds. the advertising thing is just plain wrong, if an artist relies on advertising to get money over music, there's no musical integrity *coughHKpopcough*

if there's no one buying cds, there's not gonna be many companies that would want to deal with the artist. perfect example, sonim. she has fans, many fans, but she got dropped from her label because of poor cd sales due to leechers.

the fact that you can't afford something is no excuse to download. if you can't afford something, you shouldn't be able to have it, it's a slap in the face to the artist that worked hard to make the track and to the fans that actually bought the product. jpop, and music, is not a right, it's a luxury. if you can't afford it, i guess you should be listening to your radio or internet radio stations. the people that buy it and share it are very nice for doing it, but they don't seem to understand that it hurts the artist more than it helps them.

ps, excuse the lack of capital letters, it's early =P