Income vs. Consumer

I've been reading about the music industry's problems with illegal downloading for a while now trying to figure out where it's all going to lead. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any particular allegiance to the labels -- their executives have been making money hand-over-fist for years while the artists have made most of their income on gigs. In the history of record companies and recording artists, there are few musicians -- even big name musicians -- who made any kind of substantial income from their royalties. By touring, musicians employ people, create a one-of-a-kind experience, and make a decent buck for themselves along the way. And, who wouldn't want at least a couple cross-country trips on the band bus? Seems like a win-win. Shaking their fists in the background are the labels who've been cut out of the loop by free downloads and file-sharing. Are they just being spoiled sports?

You could say that consumers getting free music is just trading one tyrant for another. Will there ever be a time when artists can make the majority of the money from their own work -- all aspects of their own work? Musicians -- who will serve as my example here -- have, in essence, conceded the possibility for making money in royalties because of the bad behavior of labels. Now that consumers can download their work for free, musicians are getting the short end of the stick again. They're the ones that wrote the songs, created the arrangements, hired the band, worked and re-worked their sound into something identifiable and attractive -- at least to their fans.

Often when I hear someone talk about putting an event together, someone will say, "And we can get the __________ for free." (Insert: band, actors, poets, dancers, etc.) Why is that? What will have to happen for the public -- yes, you consumers -- to value artistic output as worth at least the price of a download? (Which, honestly, isn't that much).

Some say that artists will create no matter what -- even if they can't make a living at it. But I've known a number of artists by this point who have become other things -- real estate agents, bankers, lawyers...and they were really talented people -- because they couldn't make enough money to rent even a crappy apartment. All swore to keep up their art on the side. Most are lucky if they jam a little in their garage now and then.

Are consumers who want the product for free any better than the greedy record executives? Is there anything to do about it?