A good article in the Guardian, making the point that the main obstacle to people buying music downloads is probably the lack of a trusted brand in the marketplace – and it is this, rather than the threat of legal action by the music industry, which promotes illegal downloads. This makes a lot of sense. It’s a bit like the appalling attempts at anti-drug campaigns by the Australian government.

Telling a teenager to stop doing something because it’s bad, is like holding a red rag in front of a bull. But look at the way teens affiliated themselves with ‘cool’ brands, from $300 sports shoes to the latest mobile phone. The arrival of trusted brands like Apple (which is saying it’s selling a million tracks a week from its USA iTunes web site), and announcements from companies like McDonalds and Wal Mart that they too are embarking on paid download music businesses, and it’s easy to see how the current 8% of music downloaders who do pay, will inevitably increase.