Every now and then I see a commentary on the music industry that notes reduced CD sales (especially to young people), and then goes on to blame the RIAA’s attacks on Napster, lawsuits against down loaders, etc, as the cause. The basic idea is that young people are so angry with the record companies that they’re refusing to buy CDs, and that the music industry dug its own grave by not embracing file sharing, suing people, etc. While I respect many of these commentators greatly, I think they’re missing the boat as they’re not considering how young people actually listen to music these days.

The problem with the above argument is that it basically assumes that CD/DVD players are the preferred music listening device amongst young people, or that the preferred method of acquiring music is via a CD. In truth: iPods/MP3 players followed by personal computers are the most popular listening devices. A lot of people my age don’t even own stand-alone stereo systems, as they listen to all of their music on their iPods or on their computers. Even if they own CDs the bulk of them are burned from their digital music collections, as opposed to being pre-recorded.