The pop culture gods graced us with the hottest celebrity buzz Sunday night when Drake’s album, Take Care, was leaked.

Within minutes after the first illegal download, Drake tweeted that he was glad the album did not leak a month before its Nov. 15 release date. Drake fans were put to the test by the ultimate trial of loyalty when the leak was released: to download the highly anticipated album, degrading the music industry, or, resist the temptation and endure seven more days before purchasing the album. Unfortunately for Drake, many of his fans caved.

This type of theft happens every day to every artist. As college downloaders, we are all to blame.

Having thousands of songs at our fingertips available for download at any given time only gives in to the “instant gratification” culture that our generation so heavily relies on. It makes paying for music seem wasteful when with the click of a mouse, more music can appear in our iTunes libraries than a lifetime of savings could afford.

However easy, convenient and accessible it may be, it is still wrong and detrimental to the musicians that we supposedly adore. We spend ridiculous amounts on their concert tickets, decorate our walls with their pictures, post their videos on our Facebook walls and consider ourselves the truest of all fans. Can we really be considered fans when we are stealing their product?

According to the 2011 International Federation of the Phonographic Industry report, usage of Peer-2-Peer (P2P) music sharing sites are increasing. Such sites include Megaupload.com, Mediafire.com, and The Pirate Bay, where usage has become 17.5 percent of the Internet bandwidth in the United States.

Discovering eclectic music blogs that StumbleUpon.com introduces us to and devouring every downloadable track that thissongissick.com and hiphopearly.com have to offer are weekly, if not daily actions of most college music fiends. Yes, we have these blogs to thank for matching us with our musical soul mates, but giving in to these blogs and P2P sites only downgrades the music industry and stabs artists in the back.

The IFPI report also reveals that sales of debut albums have dropped 77 percent since 2003. Artists have come to terms with the realization that their music will most likely be leaked. “Listen, enjoy it, buy it if you like it…” was Drake’s Twitter response to the fans that gave in to those piracy temptations.

Illegal downloading and pirating music, is out of any artist’s control. It happens several thousands of times a day and will continue to in a world where everything is not only digital but also accessible at any second. As college music lovers who spend an equal amount of time listening to music as we do breathing, we should try our best to resist the temptation of downloading leaked music. Music motivates, comforts and parties with us, ultimately making every aspect of life that much better. Spending $13.99 on the album is much more than obeying the law; it is acting as a true fan of artists and music in general.

— Caroline Nachazel is junior studying communication and Spanish. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.