Arrrgh Maity. Media piracy is threating both the Music and Movie Industry severely, however what must people do not recognize is that it actually benefits these industries as well. There are both negative and upsides to this issue both which will be addressed and how piracy will never end. It has been happening for ages, such as Napster, LimeWire, KaZa and IRC and has just lately become the forefront of news with sites such Pirate Bay being all over the news. Even though PirateBay was “shut down, they just switched server locations and are alive and well once again. Some companies realize people want free or cheap media and are starting to adapt to this theory by allowing new means of getting media.
Music artists do not suffer from music piracy, this is a fact, that has been told to me by many musicians I have interviewed in the past when asking them about how they feel about illegal downloading. Most musicians do not see any money from record sales, all of their income is derived from tours and merchandise they sell on tour. The suits, or label owners are the ones that take all the profits from record sales. Most bands never see a cent from an album they release on a major label unless the record goes platinum or they release it independently. This has spurred many bands such as Radio Head to create websites where they allow fans to name their own price for an album. It can be anywhere from free to 1 million dollars, they feel like the fan show know what the music is worth.
Another upside to piracy is that it is allowing many bands to become exposed to the masses, because someone has downloaded their CD illegally. This leads them to become a fan and in return go to concerts, buy merchandise and may even buy the album if they want the full feature with album art extra. Vinyl records are also becoming more popular because they cannot be pirated and come with amazing artwork and special edition colors of the albums, this is another way bands are trying to combat piracy.
When a record company tries to sue a grandma for downloading Lady GaGa songs for $100,00, and saying each song on a computer is worth $10,00 dollars, they are just infuriating consumers even more. If the RIAA is going to fine someone for a song they downloaded, charge them what iTunes charges, $1.29. The legal tactics are not scaring anyone, because most lawsuit cases have been thrown out of court.
Bandcamp.com, a newer website has started up, allowing bands to offer their albums at name your own price, or lower costs for a digital download and offer the album in every bitrate possible. You can get HI-FI audio or just plain old MP3 quality, this is offering fans to purchase music at a much more reasonable price than what larger retailers are selling music for. Comeandlive.com, is the newest site to evolve, where they allow you to download any artist on their roster for free and then if you enjoy the album, you can purchase different limited edition versions that come with rare sweatshirts, limited pressings of the record and other material that cannot be pirated. (Check this site out, they are a christian label that has an amazing roster, not all bands preach to you and all music is free. If you do purchase they donate their funds to charitable organizations. Give it a whirl, I've found some great artists here, especially Showbread)
It seems like the only people that are really worried about piracy are the larger major labels, who refuse to adapt to the techniques smaller labels are using. These smaller labels are making music more accessible and they are even starting to chart on the Billboard top 100, where as some major label release fail to even do that. Major labels need to realize that times are changing and they must adapt or else people will continue to steal their music, because they are offering their consumers nothing but an album, whereas these other sites offer rare goodies and other benefits if you purchase their albums.
Movie piracy is something that I think may begin to decline, now that Redbox has come about. It is nice to be able to rent a movie for a dollar instead of $4.99 at Family Video, and it is much more convenient. However, as society becomes more technologically savvy, people are going to find it easier to find free media online. The industry is going to have to adapt or else piracy is going to continue at a rate faster than the speed of light.
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