As the music industry continues to grow the recording industry is now providing listeners with numerous genres, artists, songs, and albums to choose from. With technology continuing to advance internet users are now able to access, share and download music at the click of a button. What is interesting is that we are able to access music illegally or legally, depending on whether we purchase the song or album from itunes or from a store like HMV, or whether we download it for free from a torrent or by other means like limewire. However when an audience is no longer purchasing songs and albums from the record company they are now not making as much money, but the audience is still winning because they have the product and did not have to purchase it (McCourt, 337). This is where copyright was developed to protect intellectual property and began protecting music in the year 1831 (McCourt, 337). Copyright suggests that you cannot duplicate or make a copy of any original work without permission from the owner or a licience (McCourt, 338). In McCourt’s article he predicted that over 16 percent of music sales would be lost to online piracy approximately $985 million dollars. This is a large portion of money that the recording industry is losing because people are basically “stealing” their music that they are producing.
In regards to online pirating of music I am on the fence about the subject. I can look at the issue from both sides of the spectrum, claiming that it is convenient and affordable to download music via peer-to-peer sharing and I also agree that it is wrong and is technically stealing. Personally, I know it sounds bad but I haven’t bought a CD in years and I have never downloaded music off of Itunes. I can’t get myself to purchase a song for a dollar off of itunes when it is available through peer-to-peer sharing for free, because I know in about a month there will be fifty new songs that I want to download and I will no longer care about the previous ones I just downloaded. Also in regards to CD’s, I haven’t purchased one in years because I know that if I buy a CD I am going to only listen to two or three songs that are on that CD and therefore I feel as though it was a waste even purchasing it.
However I understand the perspective that comes from the music industry that technically pirating music is stealing. In Condry’s article he asks the question of the difference between downloading music files and shoplifting that CD from a store (Condry, 344). I agree with this statement that it is the same thing, because technically it is stealing. You are taking something that is worth value, and is owned by someone else and not purchasing it legally. However everyone that is illegally downloading music doesn’t think that there are ever going to be consequences so they continue doing so, unlike shop lifting where there are security, cameras, and employees watching you. I think that online pirating of music is going to be extremely hard to eliminate among internet users since it is so convenient, free and doesn’t pose many consequences. Like Condry says in his article in order to eliminate pirating of music from internet users it has to start by educating the younger generation. They have to understand that potentially there could be some consequences involved. I have also noticed that to have your Itunes list populated with legally purchased music and the album titles and pictures is slowly becoming a trend among younger generations, so this is a start.
References
McCourt, T., P. Burkart. (2003). When Creators, Corporations and Consumers Collide: Napster and the Development of On-line Music Distribution. Media, Culture & Society. 25 (3), pg. 333-350
Condry, Ian. (2004). Cultures of Music Piracy: An Ethnographic Comparison of the US and Japan. International Journal of Cultural Studies. 7 (3), pg. 343-363
My opinions are the same as yours when you say you are on the fence about this topic. Although I do not purchase music by buying CD’s or purchasing songs online, I do understand that the music industry is suffering because of individuals illegally downloading music. The reason why I do not purchase songs legally is because I cannot afford to pay $1.00 for every song I want to listen to. With the amount of songs that are produced in a year, it is just not realistic for my income. I also agree purchasing CD’s are not as beneficial because I sometimes online like a couple of songs on the whole CD which is a waste of money.
ReplyDeleteI also understand the seriousness of pirating music. The first suggestion that I think would help decrease the amount of piracy is in Dale Bradley’s (2006) article. He mentions “When taken together, Napster and IRC constituted an online scene for the sharing dissemination of the hacking subculture’s beliefs and practices through the filter of ‘music obsessed’ youth culture” (Bradley, 2006, p. 1). Programs like Napster and other downloading services like Limewire allow users to steal pirated copies a lot easier rather than if they were only provided a CD. I think more control on the Internet where there were restrictions to these types of websites would make it harder for individuals to download music illegally.
It’s really good that you’re looking at both sides of the argument; it’s the only right thing to do. I haven’t bought a CD in years either. It’s hard to admit it now especially after reading this week’s article but it’s the truth on my end. I don’t download music either; I use websites like Sound cloud and YouTube to listen to music. I think the biggest problem this industry is having is that consumers don’t want to pay for something that they can get for free. Finding a middle ground and encouraging consumers to purchase music and albums legally is the problem.
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