There are a lot of artists completely against music piracy. Some of these include Dixie Chicks, Stevie Wonder,Sean (P. Diddy) Combs, and Shakira. The Dixie Chicks have been quoted saying "It may seem innocent enough, but every time you illegally download music a songwriter doesn't get paid. And, every time you swap that music with your friends a new artist doesn't get a chance. Respect the artists you love by not stealing their music. You're in control. Support music, don't steal it." They bring up the point that people who download music are pushing new artists out of the industry. They don't seem too concerned about themselves but rather new artists who will get underpaid for their hard work. The Dixie Chicks think that in order to help promote your favorite musicians you must buy their music and show it to friends but not give it to them.
"Everyone who loves music should be able to enjoy the wonderful recordings that are created. But it's no secret that it takes hard work, expense and many people to make great recordings. Artists and composers -particularly the younger ones - will not stand a chance of creating music in the future if their recordings are simply stolen in this way." -Luciano Pavarotti Brings up the valid point that everyone should have access to music but it takes a lot of time and money to create. He believes that it is essential that people pay for their music because it is unsustainable for people not to.
Shakira has also been quoted supporting music download. On the Huffington Post website she says "I like what's going on because I feel closer to the fans and the people who appreciate the music, It's the democratization of music in a way. And music is a gift. That's what it should be, a gift." on the topic of music piracy. She is saying that the good part of piracy is the fact that everyone has the opportunity to listen to it but the bad part is that the musicians don't make any money.
6 comments:
It is very interesting how people that are involved in the music business and make money for a living can be completely oblivious to all of the copyright laws.
As Sam pointed out, I think it is startling that musicians themselves often don't know the exact rules, especially in a field like DJing where it "teeters" on the borders of legality as pointed out in the blog post. I do think it was very encouraging how honest Ben was in his interview, giving a snapshot of what a part of the music industry is like today.
I'm a bit confused because in the second paragraph, you list Shakira as someone who is against music piracy but then go on to quote her as someone who supports it. Does she support it or not?
"When an artist creates music it is made with extreme value. Many times the song is a story of the artists life, struggles, or accomplishments and for someone to download that for free is disrespectful to the artist."
I'd disagree with that. I'd say that to deny a person the opportunity to experience such a deep means of communication simply because they have less money than the next person is disrespectful to them.
"I (sic) also completely deteriorates the music itself making the music "cheap as the garbage on the streets." I think that the view that music is only as valuable as people are willing to pay for it, which this sentence seems to suggest, indicates a very black and white view of this art, and seems more than a little shallow. The idea that someone can believe that money determines music's value breaks my heart. What if society collapsed, and there was no longer any currency? Would the music people produced to give themselves hope and show that they still cared about eachother's feelings have no value, then, because no one would be paying money to experience it?
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