Ok, I have been guilty of downloading some music over the years, and I happen to fall into that demographic of people that had free music before iTunes decided to sell it for $1.99. I do know that paying $16.99 or more for CDs was total extortion, but I sort of feel bad for U2. They haven't released a full set of new music in years, and they can't even control the launch into the market. It gets to the question about whether we are destroying a new generation of quality music because artist can't survive without being a touring or live music production. Is this a good thing? How should the market deal with file sharing? Should this just remain the wild west? Should you have any access to free music?
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5776098.ece
File sharing has become such a norm in our society that taking it away would cause a riot. People would do everything in their power to make whatever system is devised unusable. In my opinion, the music industry did not act fast enough on the problem and now music lovers are addicted and accustom to free music. So logically, yes, the music industry and musical career has ended. We have synthesizers that can create musical instruments, computers to change voices and adjust pitches. Musicians and bands make all of their money from live performances, and for bands like U2 its unfortunate but its the future. The upside is that marketing has become much cheaper with the use of online databases and social networking sites.
ReplyDeleteHaving access to free music is a deal to most people, i love my limewire! File sharing has become a act of interest where no one can answer whether it is right or wrong. If i download my music and share it with a friend not for profit, then i donot see anything wrong with this. In a way file sharing has promoted the market of some music . This may be seen whereby someone shares music by a great artist, the friend ends up looking for what more the same artist can offer. It is possible for your friend to get two or three cds of the same artist but different songs.
ReplyDeleteI gave up free music a while back, except for legitimate sites where the artists have decided to offer their work for free. It's a matter of the social contract behind our whole society; a person has a right to make a living doing what they're able to do, and it applies to musicians/artists/writers. One of my favorite models is AmieStreet (www.amiestreet.com) where they post albums by indie artists, starting at free, then increasing the price as the album increases its popularity. So crap people don't like gets weeded out fast, and worthwhile music makes some income for the artists.
ReplyDeleteI'd be for no copyright laws at all as long as people let the artists who create content control whether it's shared or not.
-Isaac