Transcript of Music Piracy
- 1. Despite seeming evidence to thecontrary the major players on
the globalmusic industry continue to claim thatpiracy is killing
new music, to whatextent is illegal copying either, acriminal act
or a democratising ofpopular culture?By Jade Mori, Laura Whitehead,
Bethan Cliftand Hannah Sutton
- 2. Can you clarify to me what music piracy actually is, people
dont alwaysknow the ins and outs of the matter.Music piracy is a
form of copyright infringementwhich means the owners rights are
violated.Copyright law protects the value of creative work. When
you make unauthorizedcopies of someones creative work, you are
taking something of value from theowner without his or her
permission. - RIAA
- 3. Who would know if I copied a CD and gave itto my friend, or
downloaded something off the internet which I hadnt paid for?Even
though companies such as the RIAA represent record labelsand try to
monitor illegal downloads, the increasing volume makesit extremely
difficult to control.The history of music piracy also parallels the
history of musicrecording and distribution. While it is very
difficult to reproducevinyl albums on a massive scale, the
transition to cassette tapesand later to CDs [,and now downloads]
made musicreproduction, and therefore piracy, much easier. (Pang, L
2006)
- 4. Whats the RIAA? The RIAA is the Recording Industry
Association of America who aim to support and promote major record
labels which contribute to 85% of all legitimate recorded
music.While downloading one song may not feel that serious ofa
crime, the accumulative impact of millions of songsdownloaded
illegally and without any compensation to allthe people who helped
to create that song and bring it tofans is devastating. - RIAA
- 5. I didnt realise that the downloading of onesong could affect
so many people. That musthave quite big consequences with so
muchillegal downloading occurring?Did you hear about the Metallica
case in 2000? The band found over300,000 illegal downloaders names
and took them to the RIAAwhich took action and temporally closed
Napster down.
- 6. I asked you earlier how illegal downloads are killing the
music industry but what about theeffects it has had on unknown
artists? Surelythere are some benefits?Illegal downloads are a good
thing in popular culture as itprovides smaller, lesser known
artists with the chance to becomemore recognised and listened to.A
creative person would prefer their music to be stolenand enjoyed
than ignored.- Pete Townshend, The WhoSinger/song-writer, Ed
Sheeran gained his first, topten single in 2011, by reaching number
two whilst stillunsigned.
- 7. ConclusionSo, everyone knows that music piracy and
downloading freemusic is illegal and a criminal act but it is
easier to get away withit, therefore the seriousness of the crime
can be forgotten. It isperhaps seen to be killing the industry as
record labels are losingout on the profits they once had, but in
the short term newerartist are becoming more well-known and may be
gaining inother ways.Downloading is a facet of a much larger and
irrefutable fact: the internet ishere to stay and it is in the
process of revolutionizing many aspects of humansociety. Frank
Turner, Musician
- 8. BibliographyAmbrosek, R (2007). Shawn Fanning: The Founder
of Napster. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group.p79-85.Blake, A
(2007). popular music: The age of multimedia. London: Middlesex
University Press. p1-125.Griffiths, S.J. (2011). The Who legend
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Available:http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20111101_johnpeel.shtml.
Last accessed 1st Feb 2012.Michaels, S. (2008). Illegal downloading
is here to stay.
Available:http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/aug/04/illegal.downloading.is.here.to.stay.
Last accessed 5thFeb 2012Pang, L (2006). Cultural Control and
Globalization in Asia: Copyright, piracy, cinema. Oxon:
Routledge.p80-82.RIAA. (2012). Piracy.
Available:http://www.riaa.com/physicalpiracy.php?content_selector=piracy_details_online.
Last accessed 8th Feb2012.Turner, F. frank@frank-turner.com.
Popular Music Assignment. 31st January 2012.Unknown. (2012). From
busking on Grafton St to the Brit Awards, Ed Power charts the
incredible rise ofthe young, million-selling singer/songwriter .
Available:http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/from-busking-on-grafton-st-to-the-brit-awards-ed-power-charts-the-incredible-rise-of-the-young-millionselling-singersongWinterson,
J., Nickol, P and Bricheno, T. (2003). Pop Music: The Text Book.
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