[thatstacey]

There are some artists--like Ayu--whose new releases I buy no matter what. Others I download first to see if it's worth the steep importation cost, then delete it if it's not.

My opinions on this have changed a bit over the years. I used to have a very black and white opinion about downloading music. Now I've become a bit more lenient, if only because companies like Avex has made it abundantly clear that they aren't moving into markets outside of Asia. If there's no consistent way to buy it legally, then... there's no consistent way to buy it legally. When artists I like do release material in the US (or in the UK when I lived there), I'll usually go out of my way to buy it to show that there is a demand outside of Asia. Otherwise, I stick to importing what I like and deleting what I don't.

I do still side-eye the self-proclaimed ~biggest fans~ who illegally download her entire discography--especially when they add some inane excuse like they're saving themselves for the Japanese version instead of the much more affordable Korean/HK or even local digital versions available. But I admittedly haven't seen much of that recently.