Current Events:
Christian:
Other:
HomeArrow 1 Discussions:Music Downloading

Music Downloads:
Survivial of the Music Industry

Thesis Statement:

The music industry must change strategies and begin to bring alienated fans back into legal methods of purchasing music. They can do this best by stopping their lawsuits and convincing music lovers that new, but legal, ways of getting music are better than file swapping.

  1. Music Industry's Problems
    1. Not anticipating the technology
    2. Lawsuits
      1. Hurt more than help
      2. Alienate instead of educate
  2. Possible Solutions
    1. Pay-per-download
      1. iTunes
      2. Napster
    2. Subscription
      1. Rhapsody
      2. MusicMatch Jukebox
  3. Problems to Individual Solutions
    1. Pay-per-download
    2. Subscription
  4. Perfect Solution Combined

In 2002, the music industry and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed suit to Napster, an online peer-to-peer (P2P) program. The RIAA claimed that Napster was facilitating the use of illegal file sharing, or file swapping as it is known, and was therefore legally bound to what their users did with their software. The major reason Napster was responsible was that they were harboring the illegal content on servers that the company owned. The RIAA won its case but not the fight with their fans' changing views on costs of music, copyrights, and what should be free. The music industry, facing two major problems to overcome, must change strategies and begin to bring alienated fans back into legal methods of purchasing music. They can do this best by stopping their lawsuits and convincing music lovers that new, but legal, ways of getting music are better than file swapping.

The music industry has two major problems that they need to solve in order to win fans' support and increase revenue. The first problem is that they failed to recognize and adapt towards the new online market the internet provided. They saw only the "brick-and-mortar" sales as being important and didn't understand that the market was changing in front of them. In the early '90's the technology was booming and CD sales soared as new types of music hit the charts. Content with their status as leaders in the music business, the RIAA distanced themselves from the fans by offering music at high prices. Fans soon became hardened from buying CD's because they were at such high prices. This encouraged an underground movement on the web of file sharing and free songs. By the time the RIAA discovered the problem, trading had climbed to millions of songs being traded each day.

The second problem was the act of suing the fans blatantly. They did have the right to educate the people, most of who still don't think file sharing is wrong, that file sharing hurts the artists. However, the in the suing of people such as twelve year old teens, innocent parents, or grandparents they have seemly taken the role of the giant bad industry that is intent on getting money from their fans and maintaining an iron grip. The RIAA compounded their first mistake, and further alienated their fan base.

Since 2002, Napster has been reformed to a pay-per-download service but more P2P downloading programs have appeared. Examples such as KaZaA, Imesh, and Morpheus top the list. These programs differed from Napster, because the servers now were each individual's computers. This allowed the owners of the software to circumvent the legal problem that Napster faced. The RIAA could not sue the software makers mainly for this reason but also because they realized that suing the P2P software makers had no effect on the fans' downloading activities. In response, the RIAA changed strategies and started suing anyone caught sharing their files or downloading from others. This tactic may have stopped a few who decided that it was better to be "safe than sorry" but it also increased awareness to the activity and may have increased the downloading. That was the case with me. I had no idea of the wealth of music available to the public, until after I heard the news about Napster. My previous methods of getting media included searching search engines for sites that offered downloads to music, which were rare. Afterwards I began to explore the Internet and discover new ways to get music; I practically stumbled on KaZaA lite which was similar to KaZaA, but didn't include the spam and spyware. After discovering the wealth of media available, I plunged headlong into the downloading craze, even to the point where I ignored lawsuit threats. Since then, my activity has decreased, not because of fear of being sued, but rather out of lack of interest. Others however, such as those whose music tastes are more modern, are not satiated and have continued to download music. They are the current target of the RIAA and music industry.

While the threat of being sued has been a stopgap for some, it also has increased the level of animosity between fans and the RIAA. They have begun to see the RIAA as an unjust organization that takes money rather than gives it to the artists. In response, many fans have switched to other, "safer" file-sharing sites such as Earth Station 5, which helps maintain users' anonymity by masking and encrypting IP addresses and networks. According to an article on MSN, Earth Station 5 has "…recently issued a press release declaring itself 'at war' with the entertainment industry… "(Paul Boutin). This pattern was observed when Napster came under attack and will continue to be the case in the future as fans switch from network to network in an attempt to evade the lawsuits. Some file sharers have even returned to older file sharing networks such as gnuetella, a predecessor to the current P2P networks. Despite the threat of lawsuits the majority of people are still sharing files and some say they will not stop. The current levels of high downloading, even after the many lawsuits that have been highly publicized by the RIAA, illustrate this point (Alex Veiga).

In fact, according to some studies conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project (Associated Press, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4830480/) the lawsuits have had mixed results. While a majority of people ages 18-29 have said they have stopped illegal downloading because of threats of lawsuits, a third of America has said that they have not stopped, but are downloading less frequently. Since November, that number has risen by 14 percent from the numbers produced in the previous survey. This can be accredited to more interest in Christmas releases of music, analyst's say (Associated Press, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4830480/).

Another point of poignancy in the lawsuits is the people who are being targeted: 10-13 year olds and grandparents or parents who never knew what their children were up to. Examples include grandfather Durwood Pickle of Richardson, Texas; Lisa Schamis of New York; and Timothy Davis, a professor at Yale University (Associated Press, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3078419/). Many of the sued people, like Lisa Schamis, have stated that they had no idea that what they were doing was wrong (Associated Press, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3078419/). This may be hard to believe from her because she is twenty-six years old, but from a twelve year old teen it becomes more believable. The high publicity of these crimes has made the RIAA appear to be greedy robber barons intent on suing everyone who ever downloaded media.

The music industry, caught completely unaware of the illegal activity before it was too late, has realized the need to change their tactics completely and begin to offer fans' a better way to access and share their music. While the pay-per-download sites have been successful in attracting downloader's to pay for their music, they have not completely stopped the steady tide of file-swapping. They have attempted several methods including the reformed Napster and iTunes, which allow downloads for less than a dollar-per-song, lowering the price of their CD's, and offering music subscription services. Both of these methods could be the perfect solution to the music industry's problems. Subscription services, that allows the user to stream media to their computer and view it anytime they want can attract users who are interested in hearing whole albums of music by the same artists, while pay-per-download sites like iTunes can help users in getting single songs from albums.

Programs such as Rhapsody and MusicMatch Jukebox have been ranked as top providers of streamed music. These allow the consumer to download thirty second clips of songs, and if they subscribe they can get unlimited full access to any song they want by most artists. Since the files are streamed, no songs or videos are actually downloaded so the company will maintain the protection of the file. The user may opt to pay an additional fee for transferring songs then to a CD or mobile device.

As with most solutions, this is not a "magic bullet" that will stop file sharing but rather an additional way to entice fans into the fold of legal music sharing. The main two problems to the subscription solution are that someone may find a way to circumvent the streaming code and find a way to get the actual song files. This has been seen in the past with other applications. An example of this can be seen in the current CD anti-piracy techniques and the various "cracks" that have been made to make sharing possible. The same can happen with any software on the web. This is why the music industry must stay ahead of technology as much as possible and maintain their place in business. This was the major flaw that allowed the music industry to be placed in jeopardy: (Jane Wardell)

Andrew Burke, an associate professor at Britain's Warwick Business School and the Max Blenkin Institute in Germany, said the industry itself could be partly to blame for the illegal activity. "In a sense, the technology has got ahead of the industry," Burke said. "Because the music industry was quite slow in terms of getting music online, they've actually opened the door really to a lot of pirate sites."

…

Mark Mulligan, an analyst with the Jupiter Research group, said neither those sites nor the lawsuits _ which target providers instead of consumers _ would stamp out illegal downloading completely.

Mulligan said a recent survey of U.S. consumers showed only a third would reduce their use of illegal downloads following the lawsuits in the United States.

"The genie is firmly out of the bottle," he said. "The lawsuits are all about the process of making file-sharing less appealing … What it does is try to push it back to the margins where it should have been all along."

The music industry had relied on CD sales to continue to make profits for them and, it seems had not even realized that they were losing money until after the file sharing was rampant. Even after they attempted to stop the activity, they still maintained losses. Only by jumping ahead and making music available online can the industry survive. The act of suing downloader's to encourage the stopping of illegal activity must be played carefully. They could appear to be cruel and cold in dealing with the fans who are stealing music. This is precisely what has happened. The RIAA has become the Microsoft of music and will appear to fans to be a greedy organization that actually denies their favorite artists the money they deserve.

The other problem with the subscription solution is that file swapping will always remain as a way for individuals to share their work and media with others. Long before the Internet and World Wide Web, many government departments and colleges maintained a network that allowed them to share information. The spirit of free trade of ideas and information was present in this network and now permeates the Internet. Some music video files that are currently being shared on KaZaA are not made by the music industry. These files, such as homemade music anime videos and other non-copyrighted material will continue to be shared. However, with this innocent application of technology also comes the bad: the same user who can share his "Cowboy Bebop" music video can also share all of the music that he bought legally. This is a simple extension of the sharing software. These files, because they are individuals personal creations would never appear on networks such as iTunes or Rhapsody. For the user to continue to find these, the creator would have to publish them on the web, something that rarely occurs, or users would have to maintain some level of file sharing.

The major problems of the pay-per-download solution would be that a user interested in entire albums may have to pay more than he would for just the CD. This may encourage him to look for other easier means to get songs onto his computer. Also this solution also faces the same problems of file swapping being a necessary means for individual creativity. The final major problem is that currently iTunes, the biggest example of pay-per-download sites, is offered only for iPods, a Macintosh product. Some Microsoft fans may not want to help the Macintosh stock, or they may be unable to pay the $300 for an iPod. This is being solved though with Microsoft coming out with its own version of the iPod. Both methods offer only a partial solution, but together can work to solve the major problems seen in the music industry today.

The RIAA and the music industry have a big task in front of them. Major analysts are predicting that a few years may be needed before the RIAA can regain profits (Jane Weaver). This will only occur though if the RIAA recognizes that it made a series of mistakes and corrects them properly. From the actions they have performed over the last couple of months, they do seem to have perceived the solutions necessary, but their continued lawsuits may hider their efforts to regain the fans' trust. Only by making the new generation of music lovers realize that by supporting fee-based systems they are supporting the artists and not the bureaucracy of the RIAA, can they hope to stay in business.

Works Cited

Associated Press, The. "Hundreds of music swappers sued." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3078419/

Associated Press, The. "File-sharing lawsuits have mixed effect." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4830480/

Boutin, Paul. "Downloading for a song." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080834/

Viega, Alex. "Report: Illegal music downloading climbs." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3978884/

Wardell, Jane. "Music Industry Group Launches Piracy Suits." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6198545/

Weaver, Jane. "Study: Downloads to save music biz." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3073260/

Back | To the top
[Home] [Starwars] [Star Trek] [Anime] [Games] [Discussions] [About Me] [Links]