BBC Radio is NOT free. It is payed for by the taxpayers of Great Britain. Take away that support (like the US tries to constantly do to PBS), and watch that quality and level of noncommercial excellence disappear...

The game has changed quite a bit in the music industry from Sir Mick's day. No-one had home recording studios back then, but sadly, just having a home studio (or working in a budget semi-pro studio) is no guarantee of quality. The current sad state of affairs vis a vis recording quality is a direct result of this. Back in Sir Mick's heyday, no-one batted an eyelid at a total studio buyout for a month or two to make a TOTL album. Of course, no-one brings THAT up when they are pillorying the music industry, but the sad fact is, without expensive studios, expensive studio production personnel, and lots of time and patience, the end result is badly recorded, rushed out albums that quite frankly, don't even come CLOSE to matching the quality of product from the Stones' best years.

You don't expect a great chef to make you as great a meal if you only pay him 10-20% of what you USED to... Why does anyone expect music to match its' zenith when the cost of making it has been decimated? I believe there's a direct correlation between current recording budgets and the appalling state of modern rock music. For all its' faults (and I'm not defending them), the music industry managed to make a bunch of drug-addled egomaniacs a LOT of money, and, oh yes, make some of the greatest music of the 20th century at the same time.

I just feel that, if we condone and become resigned to intellectual property theft, why not go the whole hog and make ALL property fair game? There's this really nice Porsche down the road I've got my eye on... what's so wrong with going down there and 'downloading' it? Hey, maybe Sir Mick won't mind if I 'download' a house or two of his?