From an 3 Myths About the Recording Industry Debunked by Alec Hanley Bemis in the LA Weekly:
MYTH NO. 1: The prevalence of file-trading services and free music on the Internet indicates that recorded music may no longer be an economically viable business.
MYTH NO. 2: Record sales are down. The situation is only growing worse.
MYTH NO. 3: Musicians no longer need the record industry. The Internet and other new technologies make this a new era of