Why Kids Feel Stupid Paying For Music

I read a blog post written by Paul Resnikoff today that had to do with kids feeling stupid paying for music. The blog post is here.

Being raised a certain way with certain beliefs is a very strong force. Religion is proof of that. Almost in my mid thirties, I grew up in the cassette days. The way you spread music, was to make a mix tape with a bunch of songs from different artists/albums and then give it to your buddy. Then in the mid 90s, the compact disc phenomenon hit and those were some exciting times! The record store experience was still the default method of buying music and it was fun flipping through those big cardboard sleeves. Then, in the early 2000s Napster came along and drastically changed the music sharing game - the industry was scarred for life. It was a huge turning point.

Think about kids that were born in the late 90s early 2000 era. They never had to suffer through fast forwarding a cassette or lugging around a huge Sony Discman. They were born only knowing the internet as a music buffet. Add to that, the fact that everything now a days is so accessible and fast. You can book a reservation at a restaurant from your phone or order a pizza online, within minutes. Texting, tweeting and blogging are all mediums that are instantaneous with expected quick feedback. This is just normal ways of doing things for the younger crowd; they don't know any different!

Being born into music sharing and then learning that you have to pay for music must be a shock for these younger people. Why pay, if in the time it takes to drink a can of Coke, you can download an album from the privacy of your bedroom at 1am in the morning, from a sharing network?!

My opinion, is what has happened, is that the young crowd doesn't understand the VALUE of music. It's not that they choose not to understand, but that they were born missing the psychological makeup that realizes there is value in music.

I can prove this way of thinking that music has value. Do an experiment. If you've got music in your computer or iPod that you received for free, think about that music. What if you lost the tracks? Would you feel sad or disappointed? Probably not, big deal. Now, go to Amazon.com. Search for an album you always wanted, but don't have, in their MP3 download section. Purchase and download the album. When you open up your computer's music player, look at the cover art and all of the song titles while you listen. Take note of how you feel now. There's this subconscious feeling of ownership. In a weird way, you feel proud that you own this chunk of digital music. It's official. It has value. It's yours. If you lost it, you would be disappointed, because subconsciously, you would revert back to the experience of searching the album out, purchasing it and taking ownership. Note the feeling of knowing that an artist is getting paid for their hard work. It's about the experience.

It will be harder for the young crowd to realize this sense of ownership. Even though CDs are on their way out, I have realized the sense of proud ownership can still be experienced, maybe scaled down a bit, but it's still there. I think there is still hope for the young crowd. If digital music security can get tightened up and digital music stores can standardize fair pricing, that value can be saved.

Do you think there is still hope for the younger crowd that expects everything to be free?