At the moment New Zealand music artists are holding 6 of the top 10 positions for record sales, here in NZ.
Judith Tizard, Associate Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage, says that piracy and copying of CD's is costing the music industry $40 million a year.
She may be right, but perhaps a politician is looking at this all backwards? Perhaps NZ artists are selling so many albums because of the extra exposure they receive from people sharing music. You download part of a song, like it, then buy the whole album. Perhaps the industry would be out of pocket by $40M if there was no sharing??
But who is to say for sure?