Not Buying New Tunes

I was thinking about buying some new CD's today. But I have a problem with it. Every time I spend money on new music, I give the RIAA companies more cash to bribe our congress with and push their DRM/Non-interoperable Microsoft/Apple only, mandatory packet sniffers everywhere, broken internet world. I just can't do that in good concience. I'm not going to jump up and down and yell RIAA sucks or anything like that. The most effective action that I think I can take is to not buy their merchandise. If I went to a restaurant or store and was treated wrong by the management, I would not go back there. This is not really any different. I would also tell everyone I knew to not go there. It's that simple.

So, I have this dilemna. I want to get some new tunes, but I refuse to give RIAA companies any of my income. These are the options that I can think of:

1. Buy used CD's from the used cd trader places. They usually have some decent stuff, and I can get rid of our duplicates.


2. Buy music from independent artists that sell their tunes directly.

Those are the only options that I can come up with. I haven't heard too many RIAA encumbered artists lately that I like anyway, so I don't think I'll be missing out on much.

There was a time when recording companies were needed for distribution. That time is long gone. Why any artists still sign with these guys is beyond me. If you compare the minute royalties that artists get from sales vs. getting close to 100% by selling independentley, it only makes sense to sell independentley. Even with the potential reduction in sales by being independent, I still think the artists would come out on top financially.