“Entertainment is part of our culture, and as consumers of music we need to continue to support artists. Go out to a concert; on payday, go to your favourite music store and if you like that song that you burned off the Net, buy the album. As a creative city, let’s demonstrate our cultural values.”

What Galera’s letter to the editor underscores is a new reality for music lovers and the music industry: Buying an album is now a political act.