Radio pays royalties. Piracy is the true nature of humanity, most people will steal something if they can't get caught and especially if "everyone else it doing it". For singer/songwriter we just need to make the best of it and know that if our stuff is really that good, enough people will get financially behind it and make it worth while purchasing more than just the music including merch, signed memorabilia, ect. If the music get popular enough for the mainstream to get behind it then royalties will get payed. Why would the mainstream get behind you? It's ALL about numbers, how many people will will tune into a station and listen to their commercials AND THAT'S IT. So the more people listening to my music irregardless if they payed for it or not IS WHERE THE TRUE COMMERCIAL VALUE IS. I'm likely preachin' to the choir but I've gone and preached myself HAPPY!!!

I hear what you're saying, but:

From my experience, many listeners, including a disconcertingly large number of musicians & engineers, can't even hear if something is on pitch or not, let alone wether this or that representation [recording] of something is superior or inferior.

Almost anyone who's worked in, or run, a recording studio (with the exception of the afore mentioned), willl know this is true.

Stuart

Wait a minute, poop isn't peanut butter!!! THOSE DANG KIDS!!!!!!!

I run a studio, and I know those people are out there, but they're not the majority, (an estimated 20-25% are tone deaf, they're the reason we dress for a gig) and among music lovers/buyers, they're an even smaller minority. I can honestly say that as far as I know, I've never worked with an engineer, musician or producer who couldn't recognize pitch problems or tell a CD from an MP3, given a proper monitor situation, which, heh, hasn't always been the case.



*Um, unless you count the guitar player in my sixth band who couldn't tune his guitar; in his defense, I should mention it had a Floyd Rose on it, and they were new, back then. (plus a wrench was required, so...)