File Sharing

The more I think about it filesharing, the more uncertain I become about its effects on the music industry. Lessig writes that roughly 28% of Americans older than 12 had downloaded music. I doubt a significant number of people over 55 download anything, which bumps the number of actual to potential users up to maybe 1/2. So who are the people who are downloading music, and who isn't? Everyone I know who is extremely into music downloads almost everything, and buys only the best of the best albums, having listened to a much broader selection. If everyone did this, it could have a natural selection-esque effect on the industry and force artists to constantly come up with innovative music to meet the higher standards. But my friends who really don't listen to too much music still buy all their cds, because they just don't care enough to get a downloading service. And I would guess that the majority of the population falls into the latter category, lowering the quality of albums that sell. But then there's the fact that avid music listners go to shows much more often than passive listeners, helping artists monetarily in that area. A geographical look at where the most cds are bought, which cds they are and which artists get the most revenue from concerts could probably help clear up the question of the effect of file sharing. I'm sure there's a good study about this somewhere but I couldn't find one on the net.