> I was never a fan of the band, but didn't the Grateful Dead at some
> point dump their record company and encourage their fans to share
> bootleg recordings? Whatever they lost in royalties was amply
> compensated for by revenues from live performances. It seems to me the
> Dead anticipated the current state of affairs.
I don't know about their history with their record company, but the Dead has been encouraging people to tape their shows and share tapes for a long time. The Dead's policies on recordings have been a frequent part of arguments for file-sharing.
Yes, another solid reason to support file-sharing is that bands and musicians can still charge for live performances. The only problem with this is that fewer people may go out to see live music because they stay at home playing video games. I think this is minor given that many people love music and given the fact that there are hundreds of millions of fans out there to support bands.
Myspace has turned into another argument against the hegemony of the recording industry. Thousands and thousands of bands are using Myspace as an effective way to reach new fans and to inform people about performances. Myspace has been effective in lessening the importance of the industry as middleman and promoter.
Personally, Myspace has increased the number of local bands that I see live on a regular basis. It's also gotten me more hooked into the local music scene. This is interesting to me because I've never been a big music buff.
Chuck