Music: Is it REALLY Necessary to Legally Download it?
Music ownership, copyright and internet distribution of music is a serious matter for many musicians. In fact, it is hard to name a single musician who does not care about any of this. Music ownership, copyright, and internet distribution of music affects the careers of many musicians, and a lot of them have strong beliefs that they are not afraid to share with the world. I did some research online to get the opinions on some famous musicians, and I was able to get one from an article about the newly popular British musician, Ed Sheeran. Because of all of his illegally downloaded music, Sheeran likes to call himself "the most illegally downloaded artist in the UK. In the article, Sheeran says, "I didn't make the album to go on tens of thousands of iPods. I made the album to be universal and for everyone to hear it. So if nine million have my record and 800,000 come to my gig and pay £30, I make a living." He expresses that even though he feels that his music is constantly being downloaded illegally, his main goal is to get people to listen to it, buy his record, and come to his gig. For Sheeran, the money is obviously important, because it helps him make a living, but he is mostly focused on having his music be heard all over the world. While I was conducting some research online, I also was able to find Keith Urban's opinion in an article about the 2010 People's Choice Awards, where Urban won an award for favorite male artist. In his acceptance speech, Urban says, “I don’t even care if you download it [my music] illegally, give it to your friends, I really don’t care... I love the people to hear the music and come out and see us play live.” Urban clearly hadn't thoroughly gone through what he said in his acceptance speech, because he made it sound like he didn't care at all about downloading his or ant music illegally. Fortunately, he had a chance to correct himself, and this time he says, for the record, I absolutely care about my music not being taken for free... But I love when people are passionate and want to turn friends on to music.” Urban expresses that he also believes it is important to download music legally, because the money is important to his career, but he mostly wants people to listen to his music for enjoyment purposes.
After I researched the opinions of some celebrities, I decided to interview a local musical celebrity and classmate, Hayley Reardon. Hayley is a 16 year old singer/songwriter who is a sophomore at MHS. I decided to ask Hayley a few questions to get her opinion on the topic.
1) Do you use the internet to promote your music? If you do, how?
Yes! I use social media like Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Tumblr, etc. to put out new music, info on live shows, and just connect with fans as much as possible. I also collect email addresses and send out a newsletter with similar info on gigs and new music.
2) Is your music sold on the internet?
Yes...it’s sold on most of the main sites people use to purchase music.
3) Do your fans obtain your music without paying for it - by burning CDs, file sharing, etc.? If they do, how do you feel about it?
I’m sure they do but I don’t take it personally. It’s a bummer to have people accessing it for free when its available for sale, but I’m fully aware that the number of people actually paying for music online is in total decline and am always on the lookout for new and creative ways to subsidize my art and make up for the profits that are lost due to music piracy.
Reardon, just like Sheeran, Urban, and many other musicians, doesn’t care too much if people are illegally downloading it, because just having people listen to the music and want to get access to it is more important. After getting the opinions of these three musicians, I have come to a conclusion that while music ownership is extremely important to musicians, what’s really important to them is that people are listening to their music and want to get a hold of it somehow.
Image Sources: www.peoplestylewatch.com, www.13abc.com, and www.passim.org
3 comments:
I never realized how many musicians, including prominant ones apparently, that are passive on the issue of illegal downloading. I guess when it comes to releasing music, they are in it for the love of the game. Well written blog post.
I think it's really interesting how all your artists basically agree. It makes me wonder if artists can even gain that much from the sales of their music, or if they make most of their money off concerts.
I find it interesting how both Ed Sheeran and Keith Urban don't mind if their music is illegally downloaded. What I find most captivating is how Ed discussed how he creates his music not to have it sold and put on an iPod, but to be shared and listened to.
Post a Comment