Posting Taylor Hicks New Music Online: Will It Create or Replace Sales?

Free downloads of Taylor Hicks' new music keep popping up online and I'm not sure how I feel about it. The thought of saving it to my computer makes me uncomfortable since the new CD has only been out for a couple of weeks.

I know many in the fandom think youtube videos featuring the new music are a form of advertising which will lead to sales, but I've never bought music that I can get for free.

I also realize that the folks who hosted cellcerts believe it was OK because nothing was being recorded, but I thought it was blatant disrespect for Taylor's wishes. Now there are downloads available of the entire show recorded at The Roxy.

Again, I'm not sure how I feel about it. Enlighten me, people. I already bought the physical CD and the iTunes download. Maybe Taylor's OK with the online freebies, but it would be nice to get an official statement from him regarding this type of thing. Maybe his policy has changed but back in January he said here:

"You have to create demand for yourself. You have to have a business sense about the whole thing. You want people coming to your shows. If everyone heard a cellcert on the Internet than people might not go.

That's what's crazy about the digital age, people can come in with a device and the next thing you know they go home and put it on their computer. They rip it, they burn it, they put it on a CD. But an artist has to thrive off of his work.

And it's all about the buzz. What if I play a different song from the album in each market? From a live aspect, when people do come to see you play and you're promoting your record, you want people to be like, 'I wonder what he's going to play?' Maybe they'll go away with something that nobody else gets to have. You have to create a buzz to stay in the game."

Posting the new music online takes money out of Taylor's pockets, it seems to me. As for cellcerts and downloads of the live shows, I understand fans wanting to share the experience of seeing Taylor Hicks live. But let's face it, he'll sell more tickets to his shows if the only way to have that experience is by being there.