Guys, you are not getting it...

It is obvious that, at the current price, few people actually ARE downloading the Premium Styles legally (or there would be a LOT more of them ), the best, most skilled writers aren't making enough to want to make a full-time job creating new styles constantly.

I am convinced that, for every person that actually PAYS their $7, AT LEAST ten or twenty (who knows?) end up with the styles eventually from trading around, style sites, etc.. And that, to be honest, is a VERY lowball estimate, IMO.

So, let's look at the math. ONE sale at $7, or TWENTY (conservatively) at $1... If I were making styles for a living, guess what I would choose

I would happily make a $5 a week impulse purchase to get five TOTL produced styles. And, I'm pretty convinced that thousands worldwide would to the same thing. Not sure I would pony up $35 a week, though.

BTW, you can transfer a protected iTunes MP3 from one computer to another. I can't think of any reason why, with Ethernet jacks on them (how does IDC connect now?), one arranger can't be hooked to another transmit their ID codes, and allow a one way transfer to your NEXT arranger (program would automatically delete styles from the source arranger, so you can't sell it with the protected content still on it after transferring).

This system has generated billions for the recording industry. I don't see any reason why it can't for the arranger one. We all complain there is never a lot of fresh, exciting new styles, but never wonder WHY. Piracy makes it impossible for writing styles to be anything much more than a marketing tool for the arranger. Yamaha underwrite the Premium styles, to coax the best style writers to make a few more. But if they could make an honest living selling styles, they would make them 24/7.

Maybe the system could be set up like iTunes, where ANYONE could post their styles on the site (in a special, non-manufacturer section for instance) and the 'store' takes a cut of the $1, but the writer, if he makes GOOD ones, makes a fortune.

What better way to encourage the growth of what is, essentially, a pretty stagnant industry, right now?