I can remember when some of the stores in my area that sell CD's used to have listening stations and some have just added them back such as FYE. They were very influential on the CD's that I ended up buying.

Just as a car dealership knows that you will want to test drive a vehicle of theirs before you purchase it, the R.I.A.A. (and all record labels, really) should realize that most consumers want more than just one song on the radio to persuade them to purchase an album.

Over the years I have lucked out in that I have like most of the songs on albums that I buy. But I know many people that have bought an album after hearing a song on the radio that they like and then they completely dislike the rest of the album because it doesn't reflect what was heard on the radio.

With the cost of living and the average price charged for CD's, not many people can afford to buy a CD for only one good song.

Since many places no longer offer listening stations (and those that do such as FYE charge too much per album and I don't want to go all the way to their stores just to listen to what I may buy somewhere else), I have turned to downloading a few different songs from an artist that has caught my attention with a particular song.

Generally, if three of their songs are similar enough, the rest of the album should be as good. Of course there may be a song or two that you don't like as much, but that's a hell of a lot better than liking only one song.

For my purposes, I believe that filesharing is a necessary "evil". It helps me make an informed decision. I am more likely to purchase albums because I wouldn't be as skeptical of whether or not I will enjoy the album. Therefore I will buy more albums as long as decent albums are released.

Another reason that I download songs myself is that labels have a tendency to repeatedly push back the release dates for albums that I have been grealy anticipating and downloading a song or two helps me wait until it is released since it has most likely been a minimum of a year or two since their last album had been released.

And it should also be stated for the record that a decent sized portion of mp3 collection is completely legal. The RIAA should not forget that it is perfectly legal for someone to purchase an album and transfer it to another medium or make a copy of it for their own personal use. As a backup in case of damage or loss to the purchased original or if they want to listen to the CD in their car where they have only a cassette. Therefore my digital copies are my CD's in another medium. I just had the backup copies before I owned the album.

As many have said before me, use the internet, P2P and emerging technologies to your advantage. Don't view it as a loss of revenue and see it as the profit machine that it could be. Hell, the radio could have been viewed as a way for people to hear the music without paying and they could be recording straight from the radio. But that doesn't stop record labels from pumping cash into radio stations and their parent companies to pimp their bands/investments.

Use the power.