There are many opinions on the topic of illegal music downloads. I interviewed the lead member of The Jessica Prouty Band on her opinions of this topic based on her experiences. Jessica's music can be purchased on iTunes, Bandcamp, Amazon and in person at the bands shows. The music industry has TRIED...keyword being tried to prevent piracy, but "have failed" according to Jessica. The industry has attempted to prevent piracy by suing members of file sharing websites, but there is a problem of suing innocent internet users. "Being a musician requires an immense amount of time and effort, more than most 9-5 jobs" therefore they should be paid fairly. "When you illegally download music from a signed artist, its not the artist that's directly taking the hit. Its the record company." Since record companies are the ones responsible for the advertisement and promotion of the music, they are the ones effected by illegal downloads. Although, music piracy is a huge issue, "independent artists are recognizing that piracy isn't vanishing anytime soon" but artist are finding "alternate revenue streams" such as merchandise sales, live performances, and expanding their brand in general. The Jessica Prouty Band specifically is "able to keep all the money we earn" because they do not have a record company "breathing down our backs". Music piracy is effecting the industry because record labels are becoming less likely to sign smaller artists. Although it is recognized that music piracy is a problem that is not going away anytime soon, it still is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Many even bigger artists think music piracy is a serious problem as well. Elton John thinks that music piracy has a "seriously detrimental effect on musicians, particularly young musicians who are not preforming artists." Elton John, along with many other big time artists are a part of the FAC (Featured Artists Collection). The FAC "demands government action on websites that make money from illegal file sharing." After a lot of back and forth, the FAC "agreed to disagree with labels over government proposals to suspend internet connections of persistent file sharers." Sir Elton John and the FAC are one example of how people are trying to fight music piracy.
I stumbled upon a video on you tube (link below) that addresses the topic of ethical piracy from both perspectives. The video makes an argument about value equaling demand over supply. If there is an infinite supply of music (as there is in unlimited illegal file sharing), the value of any music file is zero. With an infinite supply of music, there is no value to it anymore, therefore creating a "disruptive technology." The video makes a point of music file sharing not being blamed COMPLETELY on the customer, but having some of the responsibility be on the artist. It is their responsibility "to build a stronger mutual understanding with their audience" to not illegally download. It is more a point of "creator audience social contract." The artists fans should respect that artist enough to not illegally download their music and the artist should trust this. This idea of mutual trust between the artist and customer could be considered a "new media paradigm". Although a majority of the points that the video argues makes sense to me, I still feel strongly that illegal file sharing is a problem that may not be able to be stopped, but awareness of the problem should be more prominent in society.
Many even bigger artists think music piracy is a serious problem as well. Elton John thinks that music piracy has a "seriously detrimental effect on musicians, particularly young musicians who are not preforming artists." Elton John, along with many other big time artists are a part of the FAC (Featured Artists Collection). The FAC "demands government action on websites that make money from illegal file sharing." After a lot of back and forth, the FAC "agreed to disagree with labels over government proposals to suspend internet connections of persistent file sharers." Sir Elton John and the FAC are one example of how people are trying to fight music piracy.
I stumbled upon a video on you tube (link below) that addresses the topic of ethical piracy from both perspectives. The video makes an argument about value equaling demand over supply. If there is an infinite supply of music (as there is in unlimited illegal file sharing), the value of any music file is zero. With an infinite supply of music, there is no value to it anymore, therefore creating a "disruptive technology." The video makes a point of music file sharing not being blamed COMPLETELY on the customer, but having some of the responsibility be on the artist. It is their responsibility "to build a stronger mutual understanding with their audience" to not illegally download. It is more a point of "creator audience social contract." The artists fans should respect that artist enough to not illegally download their music and the artist should trust this. This idea of mutual trust between the artist and customer could be considered a "new media paradigm". Although a majority of the points that the video argues makes sense to me, I still feel strongly that illegal file sharing is a problem that may not be able to be stopped, but awareness of the problem should be more prominent in society.
Jessica Prouty Website Link
1 comment:
I can tell you did some research your blog post was very detailed. How did you find that video it was really insightful, but didn't it kind of contradict what your post was saying about illegal downloading?
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