From what I've seen written by many people who download music, there is a belief that artists should be rewarded for their work, but that the system is currently rigged in such a way that both the artist and the customer are exploited. It's accompanied by such comments as F- the RIAA and the issues that come along with it. The idea that the music itself should be free and that artists deserve no reward is less common, though I won't claim it's not there.
I think the problem is that the medium for selling of music has failed to keep up with the changes in technology. Anyone can log on to the internet and get anything they want with a little downloading time, and the honest can simply download it from iTunes or something like it. Barring some juicy package of CDs and extras they really want for their collection, there's not a good motivation to shell out alot of money for a CD that doesn't even necessarily have all the songs they want on it. For example, I may happen to love all of Loreena's music, but I don't love all of Richard Marx's and there's only a few I really want to listen to.
What I foresee (and this is a prediction, not revolutionary thinking) is music store technology shifting from CD format to memory card format, where a person walks into the music store, deposits cash or swipes card, and downloads the song(s) they want from the store's database. The artist gets their money from the prearranged cost of a limited number of downloads.
It will radically transform the market for music, and the sooner it happens, the better.
