What is the Cost of “Free” Music? March 14, 2010
Posted by Shannon in miscellaneous ramblings, music, tv.Tags: copyright, downloading, music industry, OK Go, piracy
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Copyright and piracy are two things I’ve really struggled to come to terms with.
On one hand, I had Napster on my computer when I was 14. I didn’t spend many years as a music fan without access to pirated music. On the other hand, I’ve never walked into a record store and expected to walk out without paying for a CD. I’ve never walked into a gallery, taken a painting off the wall and then just walked out with it under my arm. I’ve definitely never walked into Sears and expected them to let me take bed sheets or appliances home without paying for them.
It has been a real moral struggle for me as these two ideas clashed, and I started to really wonder why I felt this sense of entitlement to take whatever music I wanted without paying for it. In recent years it’s become crystal clear to me, however, that downloading music from a torrent is theft. Even the commonly used term ‘pirated music’ suggests it’s stolen. Let’s explore:
pi•rate [pahy-ruh t] noun, verb
–noun
1. a person who robs or commits illegal violence at sea or on the shores of the sea.
–verb (used with object)
6. to commit piracy upon; plunder; rob.
7. to take by piracy: to pirate gold.
8. to use or reproduce (a book, an invention, etc.) without authorization or legal right: to pirate hit records.
alright, we admit that *this* was a mistake.
Record labels get a bad rap, but it’s important to know that if it wasn’t for a record label – major or independent – you never would have heard of your favourite band. I’ll let OK Go do the explaining about the symbiotic relationship between the record companies and the artists who sign with them.
**In a nutshell, the labels act as banks who take risks on funding artists. Without a label willing to invest some money in your favourite band it would be very hard for them to get paid for playing music full time. When people stop paying for music, the record companies can’t afford to take risks on bands anymore.**
OK Go recently left their label, but they were only able to do this after years of record label cash injections, which got them to the point of self sufficiency.
As an aside, did you know that 900 magazines have gone under in just 2 short years?
As piracy continues to grow, you’re going to continue to watch the quality of media and entertainment decline. Every time you download something illegally, you put a nail in the coffin of the very thing you’re about to enjoy.
You’ll never see shows like LOST or Battlestar Galactica again. As piracy grows, the networks just won’t be able to afford the production budgets anymore. As people continue to assume that all media should be free writers, journalists, photographers and performers will struggle to get paid.
In all of this mess, the companies that fund the creation of media have a responsibility to adapt. They need to continue to find revenue streams outside of ad dollars and product sales – even legal online distribution significantly reduces income. However, consumers need to step up and take an equal responsibility for their actions. Consumers need to acknowledge that just because they’re not shoplifting, doesn’t mean they’re not stealing.
Here are two suggestions: (please, leave comments if you have some more!)
- When an artist offers you a free download of their song(s), why not say ‘thank you’ by going and buying a different song of theirs from iTunes? Don’t worry, they’re only 99¢ each.
- When you stream a TV show online instead of watching it on TV, why not tolerate the 5 second advertisement to watch the higher quality version from the network website instead of watching a grainy subtitled version from an illegal Asian streaming source?
Oh, hello. This is a re-introduction. March 7, 2010
Posted by Shannon in miscellaneous ramblings.add a comment
Whoa. Remember this place? I took a week off and then just forgot all about it for a while. Oddly though, this blog had more visits while I was ignoring it in December than it had in the previous 3 months – combined!
For years I wanted to start writing a blog. I didn’t act on it because I knew I wasn’t interesting enough for anyone to actually read it. That said, I’m a person of action, so I just committed myself to starting a music blog anyway.
yup, I love beer.
I thought it was a good choice since I work in music, fancy myself a little bit “in the know”, and…well, I’m just not really an authority on anything else.
You know what I learned from my two month stint as a music blogger? I don’t know a fucking thing about music that 1000 people don’t already know – and blog about.
I do marketing for a major record label, and let’s face it, the people who are discovering exciting and obscure bands don’t work in the music industry. I learn about music from other (way cooler) blogs and other (way cooler) friends, and while I may listen to a band or two that my mom hasn’t heard of, I know far less about those bands than pretty much everyone else who keeps a blog.
Of course, I’ll still write about the music I’m listening to – in fact, that will probably be the crutch that supports this whole thing – but if you’ve come here strictly to get a musical education, one of the music blogs listed over on the right will serve you well. I’ve decided, instead, to keep posting on here, but to take a slightly different direction.
If you decided to keep visiting my place on the internet, I’ll make you a promise. I promise that I will (try) not be too boring or self-indulgent. I may not be an expert in any one subject after all, but I am at least intermediate in a handful. I know quite few things about:
1) wondering if you’re ever going to succeed at getting your shit together
2) learning how to be domestic
3) paying off debt
4) stay out late
5) trying to a keep a (good) job
6) and so on.
Basically, I think it’s a universal truth that people feel amazing when they find out that someone they respect is bad at the same things, or that they have something embarrassing in common with someone else – like nose picking, or peeing in the shower. With this in mind, my goal is to project all of my negative qualities on to this blog and then follow-up with the results of various attempts to correct these failings.
