Just why is music free?

As I gear up for worldwide pop superstardom with the pending release of my album, free music is on mind.

Why has such a fate as FREE befallen music? I mean, can you think of any other commercial thing in this world that is anything like music from the standpoint of value? I really tried the other day, and got nowhere. Even poetry still commands a price, though no one buys the stuff.

So what is it about music? Other things can be copied, right? A book? No sweat. A famous painting? Easy. In fact, fine art is an odd one. If you were to put a copy of a famous painting on your wall, and frame it so it looked reasonably authentic and not just like a poster, your friends would think you quite tacky. Put up an honest to god forgery and the police will want to have a word with you. But music? Christ, if you're so lame as to have bought a CD, people just look at you and say, "Dude, I coulda got that for you for free."

Yet music costs more to produce than almost any other art form. Sure, architecture might set you back more than a song, or large scale art, but, damn, music is COSTLY, if you want it to sound good and are incapable of playing everything yourself, as I most assuredly am.

Any ideas anyone? Please share your theories on why music is free, not whether it should be or not, just WHY is it?

I don't to die in a trailer park outside of Phoenix.