Wednesday, June 12, 2013
To support or not support? That is the question!
Usually, when we picture someone illegally downloading their favorite movie or song, we think of a young adult or teenager.
Well, according to the Australasian Performing Right Assoc, there seems to be a much stronger correlation between piracy and those earning over $100,000---once again, people like our well-educated, government officials.
Now, I would have thought, “They have money, so they would have no reason to illegally download.” Wrong! It seems it has nothing to do with money actually. Supposedly, it is because the more well off the person is, the greater the chance of having access to sources that allows them to download material.
But, do you know what else they found? “Seven percent of all respondents disagreed the work of musicians, authors, filmmakers and other artists should be paid for if the creative work were made available for sale in a retail store.” (Bodey).Although, these finding were in Australia, I’m pretty sure America wouldn’t be far off.
Do you feel piracy should be illegal? Do you picture yourself ever reforming, leaving digital piracy behind? Should we support our musicians, artists, and authors by paying for their work?
Bodey, Michael. "Online Piracy Appeals Most to Those Who Are Better Educated." The Australian. N.p., 10 June 2013. Web. 12 June 2013.
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I would like to think that everyone, including myself, want to support the artist and their work. But, honestly, I have stopped downloading (legally and illegally) music/movies. I can find a lot of this material streamed online for free via YouTube, Pandora, Hulu, etc.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, Are there any estimated statistics on how much digital piracy takes away from specific musicians or even industries?
Yes this statement from the RIAA goes further into detail about your question but here are the key points:
ReplyDelete-In the decade since peer-to-peer (p2p) file-sharing site Napster emerged in 1999, music sales in the U.S. have dropped 47 percent, from $14.6 billion to $7.7 billion.
-From 2004 through 2009 alone, approximately 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded on file-sharing networks.
-NPD reports that only 37 percent of music acquired by U.S. consumers in 2009 was paid for.
-Frontier Economics recently estimated that U.S. Internet users annually consume between $7 and $20 billion worth of digitally pirated recorded music.
http://www.riaa.com/faq.php
That 37% in 2009 being paid for is kind of unfortunate to hear. I personally have never downloaded illegally- but I've just never took the time to figure out torrent sites and how to do it properly. I always relied on friends to burn me CD's. Even now I purchase albums I like and put them on my iTunes. I always feel like if it is a singer or band you want to support, you should purchase the music, but then again I don't know how much of that goes to the artist. I feel like if its online, artists know the possibility of piracy and its already expected. You know 5 years ago when there was this huge scare about young adults in law suits for illegally downloading, really freaked people out, and even though it can still happen, it just turned into one of those things where the mass couldn't be stopped.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite things about being able to buy (or "borrow") music online is that I don't have to pay for the crap songs some artists put out, often through no fault of their own. If a record label commissions an album, they want 10 to 15 songs, but don't really care if they're all good. I hate buying a full album just to get a song or two that I like. That being said, for $2 or $3 now I can legally download and listen to the music I deem worthwhile, and leave the rest alone. Could it be that the decline in revenue is (at least in part) because of people like me downloading one or two songs instead of the entire album?
ReplyDeleteThe ethical answer to if piracy should be illegal, would be yes! Piracy is kind of like stealing. You're downloading a musician's work for free without paying for it. In writing, it doesn't sound right and seems unfair. Someone's hard work shouldn't be used for enjoyment for free, but yet so many of us do it. I think we do it because it's so easy. There are a number of sites that offer free downloads of music we like. I don't think digital piracy will be going away anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteLike my earlier comment I think it is too easy to get music and movies online for it to be illegal unwilling people that just did not know any better would be getting in trouble for something they thought was "Free." They need to spend less time and go after those who are trying to profit off of it. Maybe if the laws had a tier of level of use. Most users I doubt download that much. Yes we should support the music and movie scene but at the same time I only think its a large problem for smaller start up bands. I think when Metallica went after Napster after they have made millions of dollars was revolutionary but unnecessary at the same time. Fighting and spending millions in legal fees to win a marginal amount. Cost to benefit was too much.
ReplyDeleteYou all made very good points but I especially liked what Nick pointed out. While it is difficult to see the impact that an individual illegally downloading a few songs will have on the industry, the impact from people trying to profit off of pirated software is significant. If more time was spent going after the people that are trying to profit off of stolen material, the overall impact on the industry wouldn't be nearly as bad.
ReplyDeleteIn my own life, piracy has never been an issue of whether it was right or wrong. I always deemed it wrong. It is the stealing of intellectual property. The internet makes it incredibly easy to be involved in illegally downloading music, movies, games, etc. I do love anything free or at a bargain price, so that is why I love using Hulu, Netflix, YouTube,Pandora, etc, to watch movies, tv shows, and listen to music.
ReplyDeleteI only buy music when it comes from an artist that I really support and enjoy. The rest of my music comes from free/fremium streaming sites/apps like spotify, stereomood, soundcloud, youtube, pandora...etc.
ReplyDeleteThese sites make it easy for me to find the music I want to hear without pirating it. I'm not exactly sure how these services work, perhaps they pay royalties per song, but I don't see why pirating would be necessary when there are many easy free/very cheap legal options available to get music (and other media).