For music, a lot of people do download torrents for free, and while I don't go that far, I do subscribe to Rhapsody for about $70 a year and can stream unlimited music. It's wonderful, I can listen to almost anything I want and it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to do so. I can go as deep as I want in my 70's and 80's metal obsession and also explore other musical styles, and I don't have to have bulks of CD's around my house. Save money, save space, what's the problem?
I look forward to the same thing with movies. I'm not on Netfilx yet, but I plan to be someday, and I look forward to the day where I can watch pretty much anything I want and again save the space and money. E books, same deal. My physical media buying has gone WAY down over the past few years, and my bank account is better for it.