BY CASEY  MONTANA
Photo Editor

Do you steal? If you illegally download music, you have to accept that you are stealing.

Due to technology and easy access illegal, downloads have become more popular. But whenever someone illegally downloads a song, it is thievery and it is unethical.

The artist’s music is not sacred anymore nor is it respected. Anyone can illegally download the latest catchy Taylor Swift song and post it on Youtube for everyone to hear for free. This completely downgrades the value of the artist and their music.

Some kids try to defend staling music by saying, “They make enough money already” and “Everyone does it.”

Yes, some artists do make more than enough money to get by, and some may not deserve it. But most new artists don’t have the luxury of touring across the world to make their money; they rely on the small income that comes from selling their music on iTunes or Amazon.

Artists spend the majority of their lives writing and perfecting their art to sell and share to the world, but it is stolen by their “fans.”

Writing and selling their music is their career and income. Illegally downloading their music is robbing them of a paycheck.

Furthermore, music is an art, and it has value.

Some people don’t want to pay $1.29 to buy and run a song forever, but they have no problem with spending $4 for a Starbucks coffee that will be gone in less than 10 minutes.

Listeners could go onto Spotify and listen to an album. The artist would receive some money for their work. The arrival of online services like Spotify destroys any argument for illegal downloads.

Spotify is free to listeners and pays artists based on how frequently their music is played.

At the end of the day stealing is stealing and no one should take advantage of artists or their record labels. Artists should be respected and paid for their work.