RIAA should learn from Microsoft Model (Score 1)

Microsoft (and others) put our a ton of shareware, free demos, and really turned a blind eye to piracy for a long time until they were in a position to understand the market start to clamp down. There is no doubt that their open approach led to sales and eventually to dominance. They should be viewing YouTube, MySpace and others as the new distribution model. They should allow free, or at least economical, views of appropriate videos (videos over 5 years old, etc.) Personally, I just hit YouTube up for some old 80s Vids and it induced me to actually PAY for an album I had not thought of in years. I still have the vids on my 'favorites', but it led me to buy the CD as well. Someday a record company is going to break out and offer a model that allows for fiscal gains without the strangle hold on artist and retailers. Someday....