Historically, consumers have been getting music for 'free' for basically forever. Not that long ago you'd have been laughed out of the room for suggesting you owned a song and everyone had to pay you money for it.

Bootlegs didn't just exist as soon as recorded music became widely available: they were an essential way to distribute music and since then poor kids have found ways of listening to music without paying for it. By the time cassettes became popular it was only a matter of time before we got to where we are now.

And with digital music it's really not a given why I should be paying much of anything to listen to a song. When you buy a digital album you're really just sending a cheque to support the artist.

I don't feel entitled to 'free' music. The reality is that the digital file of an album is basically a worthless product because I can get it for free very easily and it's not offering me much in practical terms.

People were never really willing to pay for recorded music. They were just willing to pay for a conduit to listen to it. Right now that is coming in the form of services like Spotify which puts creators in a really weird position because they no longer have a product to sell.