12 Young Adults from across the Country Selected to Join Kanye West, Mark McGrath, Earth, Wind & Fire, and JD Natasha on First-Ever What's the Download Interactive Advisory Board

Business Wire, Feb 1, 2005

What's The Download(R)
                  Interactive Advisory Board Members
                               Quotables

"An avid music fan and musician, I have been involved in the music
business for years.  Having gone through the experience of releasing a
self-funded independent CD of my own, I understand the issues of
artist's rights in respect to the pirating of music."
                                  Matthew Annerino (22), Chicago, Ill.

"Most people don't understand how artists make money. They equate fame
with wealth and don't feel that unauthorized file sharing really takes
anything from the artists. They don't realize that artists receive
recoupable advances to make an album and that the money is paid back
out of their royalties."
                              Jill Apelgren (24), Jamaica Plain, Mass.

"Downloading cannot be left in the past. Unlike in Japan, for example,
methods of streaming and renting music are not the current answer
because in the US market ownership of a song, whether in a tangible or
digital form is important. Also, the notion of paid subscription
ignores the fact that younger generations do not have the funds to
seek such methods."
                     Bahareh Batmanghelidj (22), Mission Viejo, Calif.

"Since I come from a generation of downloaders I also understand the
many reasons people give for illegally downloading music. Some people
just don't understand that it is wrong. Educating future generations
will be key to curbing some of this illegal activity."
                               Brittany Frey (22), Murfreesboro, Tenn.

"Times have changed and even in the last 10 years Internet wasn't as
huge a part of promotion as it is now, and corporate radio didn't rule
all the airwaves."
                                     Andy Guerrero (23), Denver, Colo.

"I myself am a former chronic-downloader who developed a love for
music mostly through artists that I solely discovered through Napster
back in 2000.  Since then, music downloading has gone through many
phases and my own opinions and views on it have as well."
                             Robbie Halperin (22), Murfreesboro, Tenn.

"Record companies need to know that the Internet is the greatest
advertising and promotional tool they have. If online music
distribution business models that allow streaming and/or downloading
for set fees do not succeed, or if illegal downloading continues to
run rampant, I believe that computers, MP3 players, and CD-Rs should
be added to the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. In that way record
companies, artists, publishers, and songwriters can all make some sort
of profit off of the downloading, ripping, and burning of copyrighted
music."
                                Joy Mitchell (19), Los Angeles, Calif.

"As my appreciation of music increases, one controversy in the
business prevails -- the ethics of downloading music. I represent the
demographic I like to term 'the middle of the road' when it comes to
this issue.  I have downloaded a significant amount, but this has not
prevented me from spending money on the music that I love; rather, I
spend more money than ever on CDs and concerts."
                              Christie Osborne (19), San Diego, Calif.

"It's great that you can download music from your favorite artist or
your favorite song, in good quality.  It's great that new artists can
get exposure through downloading music.  But, hopefully there will be
ways to make it more convenient for artists as well as audiences so
that people won't have to steal and that neither the artists nor their
audiences will have to end up on the short end of the stick."
                                  Brian Vickers (18), Washington, D.C.

"Record labels have not fully embraced digital technology and they
have hurt the business, artists, and consumers. Downloading is here,
it is old news and so what's next?  This is what we have to be talking
about."
                            Spencer Williams (23), Coconut Grove, Fla.

"I have started to write, record, and perform music with a band. I now
understand the artists' perspective. I know what it is like when you
count on your record sales to finance the record itself."
                            David Wurzburg (23), San Francisco, Calif.

"I feel that it is up to young people, like me, to voice our opinions
concerning the future.  With important changes happening each and
every day in the music world, it is crucial that we do not let these
changes pass us by and dictate our future in terms of how we listen to
music, what music is available for us to listen to and how loudly our
voices are heard."
                             Katherine Zimmerman (19), Broomall, Penn.