The recent storm of digital music has swept the nation. With the impending holidays, sales of Ipods and various Mp3 players will no doubt skyrocket.

Vinyl records were the first main form of music sharing. In the mid ’70s, vinyl records were overtaken by the ever popular 8-tracks and a new wave of portable formats began. Almost immediately after 8-track cartridges first hit the scene, thinner and lighter cassette tapes overwhelmed the market.

Several years later the compact disc [CD} format started. This would be a long-lasting and more permanent form of music communication.

The ability to upload songs from a compact disc onto a computer started an amazing trend of digital sharing and listening. The quick transfer of an Mp3 to a portable player like an Apple Ipod has consumers clamoring for more.

“I love my Ipod,” Derek George, ’06, said. “I think that the digital format is much better than a plastic CD I have to carry around. I can fit hundreds of songs on one playlist.”

The new generation has seen the demise of CD sales. Near the end of the ’90s, downloading music on programs like Kazaa, Grokster and Morpheus set the tone for a new era of music sharing.

“Music sharing and downloading is wrong and has ruined the music world,” Nic Westburg, ’05, said. “I am one hundred percent against it and think it should be banned. I am an avid supporter of the RIAA [Recording Industry Association of America] and their lawsuits against users. If I recorded music and made it my career I wouldn’t want people stealing from me. It’s a different way of shoplifting, but ultimately equal.”

The RIAA has countered the influenza of music sharing with various lawsuits against downloaders. While some music patrons support the anti-piracy movement, others tend to disagree with the RIAA’s logic

“I think the RIAA’s movement against users is ridiculous,” Nate Weis, ’07, said. “Music artists aren’t starving. I don’t feel bad if rappers are losing a few dollars so they can’t buy more gold on their shoes.”

Whatever the opinion on the use or misuse of digital music, music lovers around the world agree the vast uses of online sharing will change the world.