[teach]

I agree with you that you are never "forced" to pirate; you can simply not listen to the missing album.

But many many many many excellent albums are not available for sale anywhere at any price. They essentially do not exist, except in the hands of a few collectors.

The bands themselves, the creators of said music, want their music to be heard.

The fact that they aren't available for sale or streaming is often because a rich bureaucrat can't be bothered, not for any legal reason.

[marysol5]

Disagree on the last part, there's plenty of bands that only ever released on CD. Films and Documentaries that only went out on DVD, or even worse. Only ever shown at film festivals and never had actual releases.

I've never understood that last one.

[charcircuit]

It's okay for media to reach its end of life even if they are excellent. All good things come to an end. There is continually other new good things you can find instead in life.