Yianni Patsalos

Computers

Dr. Wolf

May 1, 2006

Online Listening and the Music Industry

Technology is advancing and it affecting music is no exception. We used to have vinyl records, A-tracks, tapes, and CD’s. Now we have digital music. This music has no album case or art. It is a file that your computer can read to play music and it’s available for free on the internet if you know where to look. This has shocked and critically hit the music industry hard. People freely share music online due to their digital format. It’s easy to sent files over the internet especially now that the internet is so fast. This quick sharing of music is supposedly killing the music industry, but its not.

In the article I read was an answer to the question if music kills the music industry. “There is no direct proof that file sharing itself is hurting the music industry. Record companies are touting this single-bullet theory to explain away all the ingrained problems of an antiquated business reaching the end of its life cycle. Indeed, one can argue that file sharing is the cheapest form of music marketing there ever was” (future of music). The real killer to the music industry is piracy pirates and people making money off their products illegally by copying. On the internet, people share music. No one pays each other for music so it is a social giving not a business transaction. Statistics show, “The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimates that the number of illegally copied and/or manufactured CDs increased 14 percent in 2002 and an additional 4.3 percent in 2003, to 1.1 billion units; and worldwide, 35 percent of all CDs sold are illegal copies”. Listening to music online, downloading music online, and sharing music online is not hurting the music industry but it is helping it. By sharing all the music it’s like free marketing. Albums sales haven’t dropped due to internet downloading but from outside factors.

The bottom line is that dealing with music online isn’t bad for the music industry; if anything it should be promoted and rewarded. All the free marketing of music the companies receive is worth the bonus downloader’s get by keeping the song. The industry should focus on piracy offenders and people who seek financial gain in their sharing. They would save a lot of time and money doing that then trying to go after an internet user.

Works Cited

http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/2005/07/is_file_sharing.html