Most of us have at one point or another downloaded music illegally. Growing up we were taught that shoplifting is a big no-no. However, for some reason downloading "free" music doesn't seem that bad, right? Wrong. Online piracy of music has a bigger impact on the music industry than we think.
Many of us think I'm only downloading ONE song..it's not a big deal. Well, the problem is EVERYONE thinks that and when you think of how many songs are pirated each year it amounts to a lot. According to the Recording Industry Association of America about "$12.5 billion dollars in losses to the U.S. economy as well as more than 70,000 lost jobs and $2 billion in lost wages to American workers." Not only is this hurting the music artists but it affects the songwriters, talent scouts, producers, and many others.
However, many rebut these arguments against piracy and claim that your favorite bands don't suffer THAT much financial-wise or that pirated music has the same if not better quality than "paid for" music. The point is that music pirating is a big issue with many for and against it. My question is Do you think there's nothing wrong with downloading "free music" or do you consider it stealing? Why?
I would say that it is stealing, and not many people are able to see the broad picture of things, like how you pointed out each song builds up and the artists and everyone who is involved are missing out on money that they deserve. People/teenagers of this generation just see that it is free, and it is the easiest way to get a hold of the newest and most popular music out there. The best way to prevent this is as the children are growing up they should be taught that downloading a song for free is the equivalent as shoplifting. They should be shown the consequences they would have to bear if they were ever caught downloading music for free. All in all, downloading songs from the internet for free is stealing.
ReplyDeleteThese are all really good points. I agree that music piracy is a major issue, and I do consider this stealing. We also need to consider the players in this equation that suffer the most. Yes, our favorite musicians and movies stars don't really see the pay cut. It is the thousand of sound technicians, graphic design artists, production assistants, and the like that are feeling the effects of these losses. All of the behind-the-scenes people are taking the hit for our "one download." We need to make the invisible effects visible and put a face to the crime.
ReplyDeleteI agree your first point of relating shoplifting to music piracy. I think it's stealing because it costs money and we are not paying for it. I like how you looked at the "bigger picture", but how does it actually effect a loss in wages?
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that everyone who is involved in the making of the song (songwriters, producers, etc.) get a percentage of the profits reaped from online purchases (iTunes, albums, cds, etc) so when people are pirating music they are not getting compensated.
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