Today’s world of lightning fast internet makes finding music easier than ever. Whether you’re into metal, rap or the Biebs, we can all enjoy our jams.

But do we enjoy paying for it? Oh, don’t look at me like that. I know what you’ve been doing on your computer. I’ve seen all of the albums on your iPod lacking cover art.

‘But I only did it once!’ you say, or ‘I only got one, or two, or 12 songs!’ or ‘But it’s not hurting anyone!’ Sure. No, I totally believe you. Huh? What am I doing with my phone? Oh, just calling 911 to report you!

Or I would… if almost every other teenager in the world didn’t do it as well.

A 2009 study done by the British Music Rights organization found that in the average teen’s iPod, about 49 percent of the music was illegally downloaded.

But it’s hard to imagine the number is that low. And why is this so-called crime that bad? It’s apparent teens are doing it—and in mass numbers.

Obviously, it’s stealing, illegal, and therefore a big societal no-no, but with so many culprits and a visible lax on law enforcement, it seems as if teens won’t stop the downloading any time soon.

Besides the fact that it’s illegal, is it really killing the poor artists? Are we forcing a pop musician to go hungry every time we illegally download their music?

Honestly, we aren’t, because the actual percentage an artist makes from his sale on iTunes or Amazon or one of those things called an actual “store” is pretty small. They make literally nickels and dimes from each ($9.99) album you get, and mere pennies from the ($0.99) singles you buy.

So how do they make the big bucks? Well, besides TV appearances and product endorsements for the *cough* sellouts, they mainly make their money from swag: t-shirts, hats, posters, stuff you’d buy directly from them at their other big money maker, concerts.

And who goes to concerts? For the most part, the fans who really enjoy the artist in the first place.

Plus, I don’t think people realize all of the places on the net where you can legally listen to as much music as you can handle.

This nifty site called YouTube contains basically any song ever made, and the majority of them are set to fancy homemade music videos that no one wants to watch in the first place.

Also there’s Spotify, a free music-streaming site based out of Sweden, allowing users to stream basically any album they can think of, for free. Want to hear Barney’s hit dance single “I Love You?” Neither did I, but that didn’t stop me from finding it on Spotify just to see if it was there.

So, is illegal downloading such a serious crime? Should we send every teen with full iPods off to prison? Or is it a bit of an overblown issue, one whose negative effects are thrust into the spotlight, while its, albeit lesser but still helpful advantages, are ignored or disregarded?

Think about this: how did you find your favorite author (if you even have one)?

Did you go to the bookstore, spin around in a circle and then randomly throw a dart and buy whichever book the dart hit (or apologize to whichever patron had a dart in their leg)?

Or did a friend mention how great this one book was, and how you just had to read it and let you borrow the book he had bought? And after reading it you thought, “Wow, that book was great. I can’t wait for the author’s next one.” Right there, a person just became a possible lifetime reader of the author.

Of course it’s slightly different with music, but in reality isn’t that what pirating music is? Just friends loaning music? I know some of my favorite albums in my library were burned on a CD for me by friends, or at the very least recommended by them.

And those who pirate an album from, say, Kid Cudi, were most likely otherwise not going to purchase the album. Instead of not getting the $9.99 (or nickels and dimes), Kid Cudi instead got a new fan, and a potential concert goer/t-shirt wearer.

Or, maybe I’m completely wrong, and stealing is stealing, and teens should get a month in jail for every track on their iPod they didn’t pay for.

Well, good luck with that, officer! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to listen to my Justin Bieb—I mean, Animal Collective.

What’s that? Why’s there no cover art? Uh…