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Total music sales for 2007 were down by 9.5% in comparison to 2006, digital downloads included. The music industry as a whole has been in a state of decline in the years previous. The discussion on music piracy’s hand in this, and the music industry in general, is one of the most divisive and frustrating to be a part of this side of debates on health care reform and foreign policy. On one side, you have the RIAA – as expected, much of the information is true in a certain context, though not the context in which it’s presented. On the other hand, a host of people who are only united by their general opposition to the music industry or its representation in some aspect; whether it be the aforementioned RIAA press releases saying the sky is falling when it just might be a bit lower than it used to be, disdain for the status quo of the label, producers, and engineers getting paid before (and often more than) the artist in the end, or the more wobbly argument that torrenting is not, by definition, “stealing”, and therefore not wrong. Regardless, in the end, like all complex discussions, this is one where people can agree with more than one point of view, or none at all. It starts to make the “9/11 Conspiracy” debate look simple in comparison.