Positives And Negatives Of The Internet

The music recording industry is in trouble. For several years now, sales of new and popular music have steadily declined and show no sign of changing. The record companies are quick to blame the growing popularity of the Internet; music is being traded in a digital form online, often anonymously, with the use of file-sharing programs such as Morpheus, KaZaA, and Imesh, to name a few. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) succeeded in disbanding the pioneer Internet file-sharing program, Napster, but is facing confrontation with similar programs that are escaping American copyright laws. While there is an obvious connection between declining popular music

Music can be observed as one of the oldest pieces of art and entertainment. The industry is evolving at a hasty rate, with all thanks to the exponential growth of technology. Trends have come and gone over time since media productions are compelled to accompany these changes in technology in order to keep profit. With these advancements, the experience for the music industry and the user has terrifically changed. In this essay, I argue that there has been a drastic evolution in how the way music is recorded and consumed over several centuries. Throughout this period, several pioneers have met the needs to organize craze and association of a feasible business standard for the future of the music industry.

With broadband Internet service becoming more accessible and affordable, more people are looking to download audio over the web. File sharing first came into the public eye with the popularization of MP3 files in the mid- to late 1990s. MP3s would commonly be uploaded to free web space accounts such as Geocities and Tripod (Wikipedia, par.3). This process only worked for a small amount of time due to limited file space on websites. When peer-to-peer software was created, file sharing became easily usable by any Internet user. Napster, created in 1999, was the first major P2P file sharing tool and popularized file sharing for the masses (Wikipedia, par.3). After Napster was taken to trial for copyright violations, the peer-2-peer movement looked to be going out of business. Then a new wave of file sharing came along. These websites offered audio

Napster provided users of the system with a platform to facilitate the transmission of digital forms of music files, called MP3 files. Napster’s platform primarily facilitates “peer-to-peer” file sharing, which allows users to present MP3 files stored on their personal computer to other users looking to copy the file, search for particular MP3 files, and transfer

The Internet has transformed the music industry. Sales of CDs in retail music stores have been declining while sales of songs downloaded through the Internet to iPods and other portable music players are skyrocketing.

45% of recorded music sales came from record stores and 53% from other channels such as mass merchants, Amazon.com, and mail order in 1999 at the peak of the CD era. Digital music market was not a real factor yet. Years later, the distribution landscape has been changed into the delivery formats. Physical format (mainly CDs) and digital downloads or streaming services became two main ways of distribution to the marketplace. Digital music became a key channel for distribution since the early 2000s. Apple launched iTunes online store in 2003, and it changed everything.

Starting in the year 1999, a company called Napster opened up a whole new world to the Internet where every song ever made was instantly available to you on your computer for free. It was created by an 18-year-old Northeastern University student named Shawn Fanning. Napster transformed personal computers into servers that shared mp3 files all across the Internet (Mayer, 2008). It became popular very quickly because exchanging mp3 files freely and having any music desired right at your fingertips had never been possible before. However, this program that provided the privilege of having free instant music to download did not last long, it was shut down after just two years by

The Internet allowed unprecedented access to music and allowed artists to distribute music freely without label backing.[6] Innumerable online outlets and sheer volume of music also offers musicians more musical influences to draw from.[1][6]

Now of course there is going to be the opposing side to this issue. From the past years, throughout having Napster, scour, and some other programs; these all were shut down from professional artist issues. Napster had some issues dealing with giving out artist’s music, basically it was done without contacting them prior. This problem wasn’t Napster’s fault, but with having lots of money spent in courts and lawyer fees things finally got tended to. The problem consisted of the artists were mad that people were able to attain their music without going to store to purchase it (Napster). In the last year, it is true that the percent of music sales dropped a total of 3%, which is not a complete loss. The artists believe that having these sites people were going slow down on the music purchasing, and soon that one day people would almost completely stop. I personally thought that it was a blow up and the artists should remain calm.

In 2000 the digital music was the next big thing in how consumers listen to music. The technological shift in music changed how the relationship is between the artists, recording companies, promoters and music stores on how they operate today. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks allowed free exchange of music files with companies like Napster and Kazaa was a big step that allowed consumers to store large libraries of music. With the cost of hard drive space going down; it allowed for pocket-sized computers to store more information in a smaller space that open the door for apple to step in with the unveiling of the iPod and iTunes. These systems made it possible for storage and playback that gave consumers the

The "business side of music is struggling to generate enough revenue because of the new technology" ("How the Internet Changed Music."). "Most of the people who are part of making a record are paid in royalties, and anytime music changes hands without money being involved, those royalties can’t be paid—which is why so much has been done in recent years to try and reduce music piracy"("How The Internet Changed Music."). iTunes and Amazon has helped by offering cheap downloads for single songs, which allows the customer to only purchase songs they like rather than the entire album ("How the Internet Changed Music."). Spotify and Pandora, who offer either ad-based or paid subscription streaming of their music libraries, are Internet radio stations which have also helped with the piracy problem ("How The Internet Changed

Since the iTunes music store was introduced on April 28, 2003, gross music sales have plummeted in the United States - from $11.8 billion in 2003 to $7.1 billion in 2012, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (Covert). Counterintuitively, during that time consumers were buying more music than ever. How is that possible? It 's because iTunes had made digital singles popular and was selling them cheap. This would change the music industry forever. In 2000, Americans bought 943 million CD albums (Covert), and digital sales didn’t even make a dent in comparison. But by 2007, those inexpensive singles overtook CDs by a wide margin, generating 819 million sales compared to just 500 million for the CD.

The popularity of Napster happened quickly with 15 million registered users in less than one year, according to company sources. Napster had the attention of the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA), and their concerns of Copyright infringement. About a year after its launch, it was sued by the RIAA, which represented major recording companies such as Universal Music, BMG, Sony Music, and Warner Music Group. They claimed that by allowing users to swap free music recordings, Napster’s service violated Copyright laws. Eventually, the judge ruled against Napster forcing them to shut down operations and liquidate its assets [3].

Napster, a free online file sharing network, allowed peers to share digital files directly with each other by way of connections through its software and system. The no cost peer-to-peer sharing gained popularity, particularly with trendy music. A&M Records took notice of the free digital music downloads and brought suit against Napster for direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringements (Washington University School of Law, 2013).

Digitalization, data compression, and the internet have affected the music industry significantly. These technologies have shifted the recording industries from hard-copy recordings to digital music distribution. This has made it easier for consumers to enter the music market through copying. Consumers have access to copying technology that allows them to obtain music without paying the record label. The situations clipped high in 1999 when Napster, a file-sharing service was launched. The service facilitated music file sharing on a wider scale. The consumers just download the music and transfer it to a digital music device. This has negatively affected the trade value of music sales, for instance in