It might not seem like a big deal when you download your newest favorite song or album to stick on your mp3 player, but the truth is, when you take music for free off download sites, you're actually stealing. You're taking something that isn't yours, doesn't belong to you, and that you should be paying for. The rights to that music – to reproduce it in any way – belong to the artist, their record label, the songwriters… anyone who put their own hard work and effort into making that song you claim to love so much!

What does that mean? That means that when you reproduce a song or album without paying – that includes downloading and putting it on a portable music player or laptop – you're stealing. And stealing is illegal, right?

First of all, downloading music illegally is just that: it's illegal. It's stealing. Would you walk into a music store and take a CD off the store shelf and walk out without paying? No, and just because the CD you stole isn't sitting in a bricks-and-mortar store – making it harder to get caught – doesn't mean it's okay. That doesn't make it legal. The music you download is protected by a copyright law, and when you take it off the internet without paying for it, you're breaking that copyright law and, if you're caught, you'll be paying stiff fines and heavy penalties for it.

Also, when you download illegally, you're basically telling the artist whose song you love that their music is worthless. It has no value. Think music is only made by rich people that don't deserve more money anyway? Think again. What about the guy who wrote the song, or the technician who helped to put the sample tracks together, or even the receptionist who sat at the front desk of the studio and took phone calls every day?

All these people were involved in the creation of that song you stole, and every time you refuse to pay, you're telling them that their work is basically trash. Someone might not be able to put food on their kids' table today because the studio couldn't pay their salary. Why? Because somebody would rather steal the music for free than pay a few dollars in appreciation for hard work.

When you download music illegally, you're damaging the music industry's ability to make music. And if the music industry can't make music because you've illegally downloaded it instead of paying, there's going to come a day when no one can afford to make music anymore. Then what will you listen to?