Is it just me or does it seem like everyone “caught” for downloading music are only downloading popular music. I mean stuff like Akon, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Insert Boy Band Here, etc etc etc; your basic sounds exactly the same as the next one music. Is this because lables only target people who download today’s “hit” music, or is there something more in depth I’m missing?

Most of the techy people I’ve met listen to basically the same music or have very similar taste. Most of these people use the more digital deviant side of P2P (Bittorrent) to get there fix of screamo, hardcore, heavy metal, techno, dubstep, and even alittle reggae, while the average computer user uses Frostwire or something similar that also requires no thought process to use. Now with most of your average users downloading pop and redneck rock, most of the people attacked by the RIAA and the like are these people.

Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing if you look at it like this. Having these people removed from the Internet for awhile may actually promote some creativity. With that said, attacking these people only fuels the ever burning fire that rages within the tech savvy. Even though a majority of the time these users aren’t even targets, they take these blows as personal attacks. They hate the music but the hate for the companies that attack their less tasteful comrads even more.

The reason these folks are attacked (in my opinion so take it only as that, MY opinion), is because these musical “artists” will make their cause more mainstream; stopping pirates at all cost. By making this a public knowledge, it makes pirates look like evil people who will steal candy from children if given the chance. Trust me, this is not the case with pirates at all. In a recent study, pirates actually purchase more hard media (DVDs, books, music, games, and software) as well as technology to listen or play them on while the non-evil non-pirates buy way less.

Still, pirates are targeted more than these people. Why? Most artists would rather give away music and have more concerts or swag sales than less fans by taking legal action against a few of them. It’s almost like the companies are biting the mighty hands that feed them. So the next time you read of someone having to fork out a ton of money for 24 illegally downloaded songs, look at that list, because chances are they are or were chart topping hits.