I did miss your point, and took it exactly backwards. Sorry.

One more thing -- some of you have said, in effect, that who am I (or anyone) to determine how much money Madonna makes? Fair enough, but with filesharing, I can determine exactly how much money Madonna makes from ME.

It's sort of a moot point, because I can't think of any music I have that was written/performed by anyone I loathe, like Lars Ulrich or Madonna. Still, I believe an artist (or the RIAA) can respond to filesharing in a positive way, rather than being a spiteful baby about it. U2 made filesharing work for them -- what's Lars' problem?

Let me try and put it another way (I feel so hopelessly innarticulate on the internet at times).  
In my personal experience, many wealthy artists have their own bottom line. If they feel their income has dipped below a certain level, their commitment to hiring musicians, hiring technicians (roadies to you and me) and working on side projects dips too. I've been on tours where the PA or lighting rig has shrunk as the tour has progressed. In this equation the 'artist' safeguards their bottom line and the people who suffer are the sacked technicians. Any sidemen (musicians) may find their wage structure also under severe pressure.
To add another aspect...........
David Bowie encouraged and supported Iggy Pop at a time when Iggy was out of favour. Bowie produced Iggy albums that went on to become landmark projects in that genre. I'm sure Bowie made a personal financial commitment during those sessions.
Peter Gabriel has used his wealth (gained from album sales) to found and support the Womad foundation. Every year, concerts are put on, records are released, all by less well known (and funded) artists, who would have very little exposure (and income) without Gabriel's involvement.
Ry Cooder has always championed musicians on the fringe of the industry, many of them hispanic.
He has sought out and collaborated with these musicians on his own albums and produced albums of their own music - as was the case with The Cuban All Stars.
Those are just three examples.
Break down the system of musicians royalties (and copyright) and the big name artists will suffer a little. The real casualties will be the less well known musicians, the technicians and the self-funded side projects.  

Interesting website:

Home Recording Rights Coalition

http://www.hrrc.org/

As the starter of this post......I have to say, in conclusion, that there's really no way around the bottom line of this from both a legal or a moralistic standpoint. Tony...as a "legal authority" (The Man) , and an all around  musician/ authority figure ( no disrespect meant), I find your arguments and personal experiences compelling...Thanx.
I'm not an unreasonable person, and I can very well put myself in the artists shoes in question,( whether I care for them or not) and............well, bottom line, I just cancelled my file sharing service. I'll pay the .99c a song. I TRY to treat people the way I would want to be treated and taking their blood, sweat, and tears for free is not the way I would want to be treated..(even tho I'm older, I might someday be recording music again,nobody knows what's going to happen) especially after reading some of the links Bart put up earlier about horror stories of second tier artists.
This is an intangible intellectual propery we're talking about here. I has to be protected somehow. I also don't think a person's 1040 has much to do with it. I do believe the free market will find a way to sort this out. My only question now would be to Tony or anyone in the know....where did the the original uploaders who started these sites get the material?? What source?...purchased of ripped?? If it was purchased,how does that change the complexion, if at all...A very complex issue. Thanks all and to The Drummer Cafe for a place to air this intelligently.

                                           Pete

On a television interview, The Dixie Chicks said they have sold $250,000,000 worth of music, and claimed to have not made any money off the sales.

Can this happen?

hyperbole, sure.  but it can happen on a smaller scale.  see my previous post:

i seriously doubt that.  They're probably just throwing around numbers because of how many times said song was downloaded, but whose to say the album would have sold anyhow?  

Here's something to ponder, 10-15 years ago there were hardly any sources of p2p file sharing forums available.  Let alone being 10, 11 and even 12 i had hardly any money to buy cd's.  I remember paying 54 bucks for Handsome, Stick and Mutha's Day out.  54 bucks.  

Now fast-forward to the present.  Young kids have access to content with one click of their mouse.   Could the "hit' the music industry claims be partly contributed to 10-13 year olds who at most make 80 bucks(as i knew a few kids back then who did) a month off of allowance?  and possibly inflating x profit from x artist, as stated above by drumwild?

I dont know, i find it all too funny how the record industry is losing money, yet artists like 50 cent keep shattering record sales...

Another question, what about people who buy used cd's?  Are they, technically not supporting the artist?  I do believe that no money is given back to a cd store or the supplier for a returned cd or does the store have to send a percentage back to the artist?  If thats not the case, what makes that any different from file sharing?

What about the consumer themself?  What if an album purchased has two good songs? Excluding other forums of selling that album or exchanges/returns.  And even so, if this person is selling a used album for 20% less than they bought if for, lets say on ebay.  Are they in essence the uploader? and the buyer the downloader?

A solution - stop given out promo's to employee's.  How do you think cd's get put up days - weeks before they come out?  I realize this wont stop all sales, but it would help.

As far as uploading is concerned, the RIAA will target the providers of an upload before they go for a downloader.  Think about it, do they go for the drug dealer first or the drug buyer?  Most likely they go for the throat of the supplier.  Makes sense, i believe.

is good, depending what you share