The music industry of today is one that is in a state of change. On one side of the spectrum there are thousands of artists who use the internet as s distribution channel to get and share their music online for free. On the other end of the spectrum are the large music labels who are attempting to tighten down on music piracy. They recently were able to get the world's most popular peer-to-peer file sharing content Limewire to shut down through a court order. (Limewire shutdown) The internet and file sharing programs are often blamed by large music labels for the downfall of the music industry. Yet the reality is that the internet has been a blessing for these labels. Music piracy has shown them how to create a format to sell music online and turn it into a profit. Itunes, Rhapsody, and Amazon Music Downloads are all examples of this. Despite the best efforts of music labels through legal remedies to stop piracy there is no effective way of even slowing it down. A new peer-to-peer program already is up and running called Frostwire and much like a zombie Limewire is quietly back from the grave. (Limewire returns!)
Music Labels make their money by promoting artists who have signed on to their labels and taking a very large percentage of the artists' album sales. Their control over over the distribution channels of old, such as radio, gave them a lot of negotiating power over artists. Because of this artists never made much money through album sales, they made their money through their tours. (Highest Grossing Tours of 2010) Today the Internet is being used by more and more artists and independent music labels to reach millions of customers without the "help" of large music labels. This is the real reason why the music industry is against "piracy." They are the middle-man in this operation and they are slowly being cut out. Studies conducted by large music labels even show that their "research shows that only 10% of all illegal downloads are considered to be a loss in sales."(Piracy & Sales) So the next time you hear the complaints from the music industry about losses due to piracy, don't believe the hype.
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ReplyDeleteJeff,
ReplyDeleteI too wrote about the lost profits in the supply chain to a similar extent. I argue that the artist is similar to a manufacturer in that it is the on making the music (although the labels are the ones putting them on CD's). The wholesalers, distribution centers, and retailers are the ones that I believe are losing the major profits by holding inventory on CDs and not selling due to online piracy.
I agree that artists make much of their profit from tours, but I think this only applies to larger artists. Small artists can't go on tour because they will not generate enough revenue. However, I think online music piracy benefits this category of artist the best because it allows them to get their music out there in a large P2P networking website.
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-Cfree
Music Piracy. It's Good? It's Better than Good it's GREAT!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou can look at copyright as protection for intellectual property or as a hinder of culturl growth purposed to enrich particular people and music labels rather than the global culture.In 1831, American composers were first to indulge the right to copyright. Musical recordings of their works were now prohibited to reprint and sell without the permission. Then in 1897, music was banned to play without the permission of the author. A copyright, first held for 14 years, was extended in 1908 to the lifetime of the author plus 50 years (!!!). And this is not the limit. Now in Russia and in the U.S. copy rights are protected for 70 years after author's death. But thanks to piracy and with the help of the Internet new albums, singles or creations spread with unprecedented never seen before speed. Fof example, Folk singer from Cape Verde Islands,noone ever heard of and whose label had not even thought to market and sell in Russia becomes a star, that's how Cesar Evora suddenly won a lottery!performing concerts in previously unknown to her northern country. Little-known or brand new American and British pop artists are becoming sansation on daily basis, they come to Russia for millions of dollars in tour profits and recieve royalties, imagine how horrified and surprised they are to learn that the only way people learnt about them and got to love their songs was through "pirate" discs and free Internet downloads. One concert in Moscow gives them more money than they receive from their record label for many years in legal markets. In 2002 a group of 17 prominent scientists today appealed to U.S. Supreme Court, objecting to the renewal of copyrights. Among the protesters were Nobel laureates R. Coase, M. Freedman, K. Arrow, J. Buchanan and George Akerlof. Supreme Court rejected their case.
It is evident that the abolition of copyright and direction of all funds directly into the global cultural landscape would give huge benefits for civilization.