Music: What I Believe

          I believe that whenever a musician writes a song, the song belongs to the musician and his/her family. The musician may not own the actual words in the song but the way the words are organized should be considered his/her property. Also, I strongly believe that all music has inherent value. Artist make music to please themselves. If someone is being pleased by the music then it has inherent value. Not to mention the thousands to millions of fans the artist has who enjoy the music as well. The way I obtain the majority of my music is through YouTube. Although illegal, I take music from YouTube and download it to my computer. Once the music is downloaded, I transfer the music from my iTunes to my iPhone. I understand it is wrong to do but continue to do it anyways. On occasion I will also download music from the iTunes store. However, I do not burn CD's, and especially do not burn CD's completely composed of other artists work. If I thoroughly enjoy an artists work enough I will buy their CD but refuse to burn a CD I have bought for a friend. I think of that as taking money right out of the musicians pocket which I do not approve of.

          Some artists invite you to download their music for free. If the artist approves, it is acceptable to download their music without paying. Many new artists appreciate the notoriety. This will cause people to go to their concerts which is another way of making a profit. A heated debate which continues to rage on is based in the rights of music. People argue that music should be free to use in movies, videos, etc. after a certain period of time. Others debate that the rights should pass on throughout the family. However, I believe that when artist makes music they should own the rights until their family decides to sell them. The artist should own the rights until they pass away. After they pass away, the family of the deceased musician should own the remaining rights. The rights should stay in the family until the family decides to sell the rights. Therefor, I believe that the musician along with the family of the musician should collect royalties until the rights are sold.


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