The Pros and Cons of Sharing Music on the Internet Jillian S. Freeman 11 December 2005 ABSTRACT An issue that has been well known since the start of Napster, this paper discusses the different side of P2P sharing of music over the internet. It examines both benefits and drawbacks that occur when involved in this type of network exchanges. Lastly this paper will give a brief history, in the form of a timeline, of sharing music over the internet. Table of Contents. Introduction The advancement of downloading and uploading music through the internet, has become quite a phenomenon. Starting in the early 1950's and 1960's with being able to dub from cassette to cassette, it was something that all people wanted to make use out of.
However it was quite the marvel when in 1999, the first peer to peer newtork was erected. Napster, was different from most networks in that there was no central server where all of the information was stored. The genius in the program was that each person's music, when connected to Napster, was the library of songs that others could download from. It was not long before millions of people were using Napster as their music source in homes all over the country. However it in 2001, after two years of multiple law suites, Napster was shut down due to copyright infringement. From that point in, other music serves began taking the place of Napster (KaZaa and Limewire to name a few). However, it had to be done with great caution because federal appeals court enstated that all suspected music shares names be given upon request from any U.S.
For the Music Business 1.1 The Popular Liberation Movement in Music 1.1.1 Pros and Cons of Liberated Music In 1999, when Shawn Fanning created Napster. Subscription Music Pros and Cons. * 'If Napster ever dies off, all of that money you spent to listen to music via pay to go is now worthless as none of the songs would work.'
Districts Court clerks office. Benefits of Sharing Music While many of the benefits to sharing music are solely for the people who are downloading the music (in that they get it for free), there are some benefits that are often overlooked. Sharing music files is an excellent and resourceful way to get updates on artists music, and often times videos as well as other documents. The results however do not just provide sheer pleasure to the people who are listening to music they enjoy. Education is a very important part of a person's life, without it, it is difficult to be successful, P2P networking is one of the many aids underused to assist in education.
The technology is called peer to peer because it allows files to be shared directly from one person's computer to another, without passing through a central server. As a result students are able to do group projects and papers, without even having to meet in a group if schedules conflict. While this can be done through emailing and chat rooms, P2P sharing is just another resource that can be used in order to exchange files, songs, videos and many other resources to enhance assignments for school. Often, advocates of P2P sharing point out that an abundant amount of artists receive extra recognition through the free sharing of music. Often times people download a song to sample what a artists newest CD may sound like and as a result go out and purchase the CD. In fact, most people only use the sharing as a source for alternate versions of a song or remixes that are not available on the CD or to the public. Furthermore, the majority of an artists revenue come from their songs being played on various radio stations as well as concert tours, making income from CDs the lowest source.
This benefit can often be compared to playing a song for a friend or letting them make a copy of a CD; and neither of those two actions result in law suits or an other legal issues. Drawbacks to Sharing Music It is evident that the drawbacks to sharing music outnumber the benefits simply because of mere fact that people are downloading music for free. However there are drawbacks that go even further than the slight possibility that an artist may lose a slight amount of money. When downloading a P2P network such as KaZaa or Limewire, a person is downloading a variety of unwanted addition software. Regardless of whether or not the computer even uses that software, what is downloaded is put onto the computer to assist in the ability for the computer to become a part of the network. As a result of this people are often getting viruses, pop-ups and variety of other computer problems that come solely from downloading this program. Studies have proven that as a result of downloading these networks more times than not a computer will be the victim of one of the problems stated above, which could have easily been avoided had the program not been downloaded.
Moreover, it is difficult for artists to not feel threatened by the thought of entire world downloading music through free servers. Megan Taylor, better known by her musical name Sapphirecut, a musician whose first single went straight to the top of billboard charts, sold 15,000 vinyl copies of her single, and was headed towards great success was incredibly discouraged and confused to see that that her CD sales were incredibly low, selling a total of 110 discs. While it is true that radio play and concerts take in a good revenue for the artists, the industry as a whole is suffering in that the record label and producers are losing income from the sell of the CD's. It is important to understand that in order for musicians to make money, there must be people willing to produce songs and albums, and with the slow deduction in industry income, all levels of the industry greatly suffer. Lastly, the issue of copyright infringement is the most common and validated argument against downloading and sharing music over the internet.
Many consider downloading music without the proper access, and more importantly without paying stealing and thus the issue falls under the right to prosecute for such an offense. Multiple record labels have spent time and money working against people who have been caught exchanging music, and have the proper copyright laws and acts to back them up. Because this example has sufficient hard copy evidence behind it, it presents itself to be most accurate and based on the issue of legality. Furthermore, many people are being prosecuted for copyright infringement, which in turn is more expensive then had they just purchased the music. History While the majority of events involving sharing music has occurred over the past seven years, it shows how crucial and conflicting of an issue it so for so many people. The timeline below lists the most important and well known events of the issue.
Hello everyone, We are living in the Digital Age and technology continues to play a huge role in the way society functions.There is no doubt that in recent years, the music industry has been highly influenced by the use of technology. Years ago if people were told that technology will play such vital role in the music industry, people would have been thrilled. However, the use of technology in the music industry has its pros and cons. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against technology in any way, but I think it is overused. Today I will be discussing the pros and cons and why technology is not entirely a positive factor. By all means, technology is not 100% a negative aspect, in fact thanks to technology communication around the world is now possible. Fans interact with each other and musicians can update their fans via social media about upcoming projects.
In addition, musicians have the choice of giving their fans a sneak peak of an upcoming single. Technology also allows fans to find new music from artists that are not mainstream, an example of such websites are Soundcloud and Napster. Furthermore, Tumblr also gives musicians who are not well known, the opportunity to promote their music. I have discovered sooooo many artists thanks to these websites and I intend to continue the search of more amazing artists to listen to.
In addition, YouTube has given many musicians the opportunity to post their work and record song covers. For instance, Justin Bieber began posting on Youtube, later on he was discovered and now he is a megastar. The power of technology is incredible and it is a great outlet for aspiring musicians to become more noticed.
Technology allows people to become more creative with the production of their music videos. Special effects can be added to the music video to make it more eye catching and unique. Technology brings creativity to a whole another level and I am very pleased with this particular development in the music industry. Music devices changed profoundly in the 21st Century. Despite the positive aspects of technology, technology can also have negative aspects as well.
A negative aspect of technology is that upcoming songs and albums can be leaked on the internet before the actual release date. People will try to hack the musician’s profile, account or in worst case scenario, their personal computer. Examples of such a occurrence is when a Leona Lewis track leaked from her forthcoming album, Miley Cyrus’s song “23” from her new album leaked recently on the internet and Katy Perry’s hit single “Roar”. This is a problem because the mystery and anticipation to hear a new song or album is diminishing. People are so eager to hear the work of their favorite musician, that they try to get their hands on their work sooner. This is something that should not be happening and it is an illegal activity. Another negative aspect of technology in the music world is the overuse of audio special effects.
Auto tune is used majorly in music nowadays, some people find it unique, while others do not. Auto tune is starting to be used as a way to disguise the fact that a certain musician does not have great vocal abilities.
While other musicians use these effects these effects so much because they think it adds something special to a track. In electronic music, I can understand the use of these audio effects, however regular pop artists should not rely on it immensely. As a matter of fact, I think that this part of technology is overused and it is not necessary to render the voice of musician.
As harsh as this may sound, if you have a talent, work hard to make your dream career a reality, but if you do not then you might have to do some soul searching and consider other careers you might be passionate about. Technology allows people to buy music online, however now that technology has become so advanced some people choose not buy music. Instead, they use YouTube video to mp3 converters to download the songs they want. This is not beneficial for musicians because they lose profit. In worse case scenarios, some people download music illegally, rather than buying an album or a single. I buy music from iTunes, but to be completely honest, I do miss the experience and excitement of going to the store and buying a much anticipated CD by my favorite singer. I might have to make a trip to HMV and buy a few CDs.
Technology has created a profound change in music, from connecting artists and fans together, to sharing their work via social media. There is no doubt that the overuse of audio effects and leaking the artist’s work is a problem.
However, as I stated at the beginning of this post, I am not saying technology is a bad thing, but I am suggesting to use technology wisely to benefit the music industry. I am very interested to read some of your thoughts about this matter, feel free to comment below and I hope you enjoyed my post.
See you soon!