There are very few people in the United States that have not heard about downloading free music and many other forms of media. On the one hand, you have the music recording industry, represented by The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), who condemns this as virtual stealing. On the other hand, you have a growing body of people who only download music for free and don't purchase CDs or online downloads. This has been a growing problem for the RIAA and the music industry at large for over a decade, and there appears to be no end in sight.
I have taken a look over the RIAA's FAQ information on their website and tried to compare and contrast it with a consumer's response to the issue of illegal downloading. The RIAA has a strong stance that all illegal downloads are the same as shoplifting from a store and has a negative consequences on the artists, producers, and distributors alike. Music is a product that requires money to produce, and if consumers are illegally downloading the artist's music, than that artist, record company, and the like are being held up like musical robbery.
In comparison, I have looked at a blog post that briefly tackles this issue, utilizing it as a voice of the consumers of illegal downloads. Michael Arrington declares that downloading free music is the wave of the future, and that the music industry will have to surrender to the will of the people. He argues that music should be free, and just because technological advances have given more control the the listeners and consumers of music, doesn't mean that their conduct is illegal. He likens the internet downloading and streaming wave as the new radio. No one pays for radio, except through listening to commercials, and internet streaming and downloading have eliminated those old fashioned advertising techniques.
My personal opinion on the matter has not changed dramatically since reading these articles. I do understand the sense of fear and anger from the music industry over illegal "pirating" of music. At the same time, I am empathetic toward those pirates since I can relate to not wanting to spend $10 to download a digital album from iTunes or Amazon.com when I can get it for free. I believe that musicians barely get any of the sales revenue from their CD sales anyway, therefor they are forced to make their money through touring or other non-traditional forms of earning revenue. I would much rather spend $30 to see live music than spend $15 on a CD that I might not like or barely listen to. I don't think that illegal downloading will stop the entertainment industry, but it has provided some interesting changes and challenges to the world of media production, distribution, and consumption.
Friday, March 26, 2010
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