At the end of the 20th century, file sharing and illegal downloading through Napster were the biggest hits among audiences everywhere. Because of this, many people started to believe that the music industry was failing due to declining CD sales. Although a valid statement, the music industry is not failing; instead, it is changing in many aspects due to file sharing and illegal downloading. Music is always evolving in new and innovative ways, regardless of the minor comeback vinyl records have made. Today, digital files are the most popular form of obtaining music. When one has a digital file of music, he/she is able to share with others without changing the file, in terms of quality. What makes this possible is the binary coding that comes with any digital file. Binary code is the combination of “0” and “1” that compose a file, much like how DNA makes people who they are. Since binary code cannot be physically damaged, most people would prefer a digital file to a hard copy, like a CD, that can be physically damaged. Obviously, physical albums cost money. The benefit to file sharing and illegal downloading is that they do not cost money. People prefer to obtain music that is free instead of spending ten dollars on an album, so file sharing and illegal downloading are more appealing to the listener. The other benefit of file sharing is that it is readily available. People today have been accustomed to have instant access to almost anything they want. The fact that someone can obtain their music through a few clicks on the Internet, for free nonetheless, instead of taking a trip to the record store is appealing to most audiences because they can get their music with the least amount of hassle and effort. This fits the desires th... ... middle of paper ... ...les ." www.katallaxi.se. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2010. . Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos. Media & culture: an introduction to mass communication. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. Print. Leeds, Jeff. "The Album, a Commodity in Disfavor." The New York Times 26 Mar. 2007: n. pag. www.nytimes.com. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. Mortimer, Julie Holland, and Chris Nosko. "Supply Responses to Digital Distribution: Recorded Music and Live Performances." www.harvard.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. . "Woman Faces The Music, Loses Download Case - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. .
We have all watched over the last year and a half as the controversy over the digital music provider Napster has clogged our television screens and lined our floors in the forms of newspaper articles. We are also well aware of the implications and revenue losses that the service either directly or indirectly causes. What I am going to investigate more in-depth in this article is, more specifically, the effect that Napster has on the operations of record stores worldwide. I am going to try to describe the most profound effects that Napster has on this industry.
Majerol, Ueronica. “How the Web Changed Music Forever.” New York Times Upfront 145.11 (2013):21. MasterFILE Complete, Web 24 Feb. 2014
The Internet—as it did for almost everything—has radically changed the way people get music. The Internet has cut into the music industry's profits. It reduced the demand for CDs, increased the interest in singles and let people decide whether they want to pay for the new Prince album. This alone could be offset if all of the people pirating music would go to their favorite artists' shows. However, the hard economy has rapidly cut into people's ability to spend on luxury items and concerts rank right up there with sports in terms of practicality.
While many suggest that music piracy is destroying the music industry, others claim that it is actually helping. On average, people who pirate music “legitimately purchase 30 percent more music than non-P2P (Peer to peer) users.” This is what Betsy Issacson claims (Issacson). Most of this music is copied from friends and families that bought it from a music store. In 18-29 year olds, this is where they get about 30% of their music from.
Evans, Chris. “Napster, My.MP3.com, Digital Music, and the Future.” Online Article. March 28, 2000. http://www.netfreedom.org/news.asp?item=113.
In this case, there are three main effects of Napster on the recording industry. The first one is that it caused a large decline in record sales in a short time. According to this case, the spending on recorded music in U.S dropped 4.1% in 2001 and the industry’s top 10 albums also sold much less compared to the year before. The second effect is that it cased the sales of CD burners, blank CDs and digital audio players increase and nowadays, most new computers come with CD-RW drives installed, which means people can easily store downloaded music, share music with friends and take it with them anytime as well. The third effect is that it increased the cost of recorded music. Once people can download free music through peer-to-peer software services, they have less incentive to buy original editions, which will make recording industry spend more to fight against copyrights and invest more in new artists and new music. Overall, these three effects make the recording industry go through a hard time.
Croteau, D., Hoynes, W., & Milan, S. (2012). Media/society (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Back in the early 1980’s, record labels controlled what people could hear through airplay, record distribution and manufacturing, and selective promotion of music based on their judgement of their audience. An artist’s only feasible option was to go through this system. To obtain music of high quality, people had to buy vinyl singles or albums or tape, and later, only CDs. There was no practical way to listen to music before buying it without listening to or taping off the radio. Music was very restricted by several different record companies.
Mass Media. Ed. William Dudley. Farmington Hills, MI: Thompson Gale, 2005. 121-130.
Campbell, Richard. Media & Culture: an introduction to mass communication. Bedford/St. Martin?s: Boston, N.Y. 2005.
...uld emphasize the negative aspects of downloading music for free, research shows that the benefits will greatly conquer the drawbacks. By letting people download music for free, the artist will have a better chance to have his music out faster and have his music gain popularity quicker. The local bands can be heard by having free songs. Also, you’ll have your favorite song in the palm of your and. Now it’s up to the record labels and artist to not be greedy and let the music be free.
Production companies took a bold step forward by uploading their content online. People now are not obliged to buy a full album to listen to one song, for a minimal fee you can buy the track you want, the same goes for movies and electronic publications. The downloaded files though will be digitally protected so that only the person who downloads them can use them, and he can’t share them at home or with friends. Even with this step from production companies, a large portion of people who download music still do it for free. Moreover hackers came up with new ways to remove the digital copyrights so the same as before one downloads music and distributes them around.
The music industry started in the mid 18th century with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Through the decades there has been a great increase in this industry; however, the revenues for this industry have declined by half in the last 10 years. This has been caused by music piracy, which “is the copying and distributing of copies of a piece of music for which the composer, recording artist, or copyright-holding record company did not give consent” . After 1980’s, when the Internet was released to public, people started to develop programs and websites in which they could share music, videos, and information with...
Not only is downloading this media illegal, it is also morally wrong. It is our responsibility to know the difference between right and wrong - downloading this media is something that shouldn’t be done. The artists that create the CDs pay a lot of money to make the CDs for our pleasure, and in return they expect everyone to pay for their CDs (its how they make their money). In this respect, downloading illegal music through peer to peer networks is the equivalent to stealing a CD from an actual store.
Now let’s flash forward back to present day when all that doesn’t happen anymore. Instead of saving of our money and begging our parents to take us to the store to buy a newly released album, we simply get on our computer, go to a website and download the album for free. It doesn’t matter what website it is, whether it is Limewire, Frostwire, or Pirate Bay, people will be happy with their free album. There are still some kids to this day who enjoy going to the store and buying and listening to an album the old-fashioned way but we have to wonder how bad things will get as more and more people are getting equipped with the Internet and the use of downloading music. While the internet might be making life easier for all, the growing use of downloading music on the Internet is growing into a detrimental and illegal problem.