Downloading free (illegal) music is something most people do. With piracy at 95% for digital media in the year 2008 many artists are looking for an alternative. Many artists are speaking out against on-line piracy because it directly affects their income, income from physical sales, and they want to be able to limit it or even stop it. I, on the other hand, believe that downloading music illegally is something that is going to continue for years to come. With the digital music industry growing from 20% to 25% from 2007-2008, this alone brought the U.S. $3.7 billion. Artist had to put up with bootleggers before, and now they are facing digital-piracy. I think artists should think of innovative ways to make up for what they are losing in physical sales.
All over the border music is being hit by a decrease in music sales. From 2006-2007 the rap genre was hit particularly hard, losing 30% in sales. Recorded music accounts for 25% of digital business, and this number is expected to keep rising. I see this as a gateway of opportunity for artist both existing and new artists. Noticing the new trend in decrease of physical sales and the rise of digital sales artist should take this into account. If we assume that the downloading habits of people will persist very soon music will be all-digital.
Artist believe that there should be more done against music piracy. They are doing this because it is cutting into their overall sales. Yet they are overlooking that they could be profiting from this as well. Digital album sales totaled 66 million in 2007, which was as 32% increase from the previous year. Since digital music is increasing so much I think that artist should try and focus more profiting from this. Digital media cuts production costs for cd’s to be produced, transported and then wait to be sold. Artist could make a shift in their products and aim them more towards a digital economy where they would be able make greater profits. I don’t understand how a digital cd costs as much as the real thing, maybe if these prices where lower it would attract more customers.
Artist would argue that despite changes in price people would still download music illegally, however, studies show that people would stop download music illegally if told to do so by their ISP. While these are different points, price and regulations, I believe that a combination of both can be implemented to help ensure artists are receiving what they deserve. When music is downloaded illegally from USF’s network you are notified in e-mail where they let you know they if it persists your are likely to be fined. It would be a good idea for ISP’s to reward their customer if they bought their digital music instead of illegally downloading it. For example if you agree to certain rules about buying X amount of music in X amount of time for X price. Maybe a free year of Napster or Rhapsody when you agree to a one-year Internet contract, or it can even be included in the monthly price that is paid. I think this would benefit both the artist and the listener in which the artist would be making their money before they listener starts downloading their music, and the listener is also receiving their share of quality music.
I know this might seem like too much for someone who already doesn’t pay for music. They might be asking themselves how this could really benefit them because they are already receiving the benefits of downloading anything they want to. Sometimes what we do is not the right thing yet we do it because we receive some sort of benefit or pleasure from it, in this case free music. So if the normal consumer received more benefits or pleasure from downloading music legally then I honestly believe they would do If, I would. Artists need to accept the fact that we are moving into a more digital era and that their physical sales are going to keep decreasing. So artists need to focus
What is done from the artist side to try and hold on to their fans and their support is totally up to them, they could send you a video where they sing in the shower or something crazy. But I still hold in my position that rather than complaining and saying that digital piracy is cutting into their pockets they should act on it, in a way that favors both the audience and them. Of course digital piracy has cut the income of many artist, yet most of them still drive this years Bentley or Range Rover. Like rockstar Kid Rock says in an interview with BBC "I've just sold a million records, I'm not really feeling that blow." On the other hand $15 per digital cd add up quick and maybe out of the range of certain people, 10 cd's would equal to $150. I honestly would rather not pay for digital music but when I come across a GREAT album I always buy the original whether it is an actual album or a digital album.
Many people stopped buying cd’s because they could download the songs on the internet or most importantly some albums have only a few good songs so it can be thought as a waste of money.
