Downloading good for music??

Sigh...So I broke down and downloaded an advance copy of both Curtis and Graduation. I tried holding out until release day but the snippets I have heard have been to crazy to ignore, so I yielded to temptation. Burned both copies onto discs and then hopped in the car and just started driving. Kanye West's album is absolutely crazy. INSANE. From the opening track to the ending ode to Jay-z (big brother) with some mean soul sampling in between. Possible album of the year ish behind UGK's underground kings. Cool. Popped in Curtis and yawned my way through all the tracks except ayo technology and I get money. It's another 50 cent disc, he just did what he always does. Will it sell? Yeah, it'll go platinum within a week or two. Is it good music? Ehhh, that could be debated. The real point of this note is whether the internet and the abilithy to get music for free weeks in advance is in the big picture a good thing for hip hop and music. I'm sure sales have declined since burning a cd became an everyday thing, but I think it also gives the consumer a powerful tool if they don't want to pay 12 dollars and get garbage. They are now able to grab tracks and listen and see if they like them, and then go buy them. Of course, anyone thats into music has probably abused the privilege of downloading and has many more burned cds then the real thing. After hearing both albums, I'll still be buying kanye and burning a couple more copies of curtis. Still not a really big 50 fan, but he writes good hooks, so why not? Anyways, I want to hear what you all have to say. Would we better off without downloading and burning music? Thoughts on the upcoming 50 vs. Kanye album battle on 9/11?