Warning!! radical answer ahead!!!!!!
I agree that cds are expensive, and I often download just the tunes I've heard on the radio or single tracks I like - but if everyone stopped buying cds and paying for downloads where would we get the investment for new bands, original music and fresh ideas from?
The recording companies all cry about cost and investment in new groups etc, but how many times do we see them back new bands that have no track record? If these bands disappear without a trace the investment is lost. There is already a huge gap between what we pay for a cd and what the artiste ends up with because the recording companies want to claw back all they can from those artistes that make them money. Free shareware sites are adding to this problem. The question we need to ask ourselves is do we want new fresh, original material, or are we happy to kill off the recording industry so that all we are left with is reworkings of old material and greatest hits compilations from 30 years ago. Before you ask - no I don't work for a recording company and, yes, I do play in a band.