Honestly, I don't think the biggest threat to the music industry is pirates. I think it's bands leaving to start their own label or move to great indie labels l

Honestly, I don't think the biggest threat to the music industry is pirates. I think it's bands leaving to start their own label or move to great indie labels like Vangard. iTunes has truly lowered the barrier of entry for a band. I'm not going to say any other bands are like this, but a couple years ago I was at a Carbon Leaf concert and the lead singer said "Here's what we want everyone to do: go buy our new CD outside after the concert, then go home and burn a few copies for your friends...just don't tell our record company." Well I did as I was told and I now have several friends who have bought many of their other albums , attended a few concerts, and bought some T-shirts and whatnot all because I shared that one CD with them. I'm sure at least a few hundred other fans were gained with this method. Oh, and I was turned on to the band because my father shared with me a CD his brother burned for him. The band has since switched to their own private label. I've noticed a few semi-big bands producing their own records lately. By the time piracy gets "stopped" (never) the record companies will have died from natural causes.