The Greed of Music Industry Executives and Declining Record Sales

According to the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) the record industry loses $4.3 billion dollars, worldwide, due to music piracy (RIAA, 2003). The American Federation of Artists claims that on-line music piracy has caused some record store sales to drop by 20% and that 20.6 billion illegal downloads occur every month (AFM, 2004). Many experts believe that music piracy is currently the number one threat to the music industry. RIAA sources claim 278 million people, worldwide, use peer to peer networks such as KaZaA and Grokster to trade music files. RIAA and AFM are fiercely fighting music piracy and enlisting government support to put and end to this crime. Congressional committees are currently addressing

The music industry is made of companies which produce and sell music. The music industry as we know it was solidified in the mid-twentieth century, where records succeeded sheet music as the primary product in the music business. Record companies were established, but did not last very long until the late 1980s when the “Big Six”, a group of multinational corporations consisting of Sony, MCA, WEA, Polygram, EMI, and BMG controlled most of the market. Initially there were five corporations (CBS and RCA (both now belonging to Sony), WEA, EMI, and Polygram) that had emerged in 1978 to own 60 per cent of the market. (Wallis and Malm, 1984, p. 81)

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

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.

“Before the days of YouTube and the Internet, a band 's chances of striking it big depended on record companies. If a band was lucky enough to get a record deal, it gained access to a label 's vast resources and connections. The company paid for the band 's studio time, … and got its music played on the radio, reaching millions of record buying Americans” (Majerol, 1). Now, anyone with talent can post a video of themselves and become an internet sensation, only to then receive a deal with a label to continue growing their career. The issue is, with the Internet came digital downloading, and with the growing popularity of digital downloading came illegal downloading, known as Digital Piracy, which has affected the music industry greatly. This issue affects everyone involved in the Music Industry. From the small CD store owner to the Artist on stage, everyone has and continues to be affected by the growing popularity of digital downloading services. Artists, producers, and songwriters lose an estimated 12.5 Billion USD every year to illegal digital music services. Further, the economic impact from [digital downloading] is an estimated loss of 2+ Billion USD (Storrs, 1). This money affects the “little guys” in the industry and the average worker within the industry.

The music industry is an oligopoly. Since the late 1800’s people like Thomas Edison have been buying up patents in communication technology, forming monopolies, leading to a non-competitive entertainment industry. With only a handful of corporations controlling all aspects of acquisition, distribution and marketing of music, harsh business principles create an exploitative industry that takes the best of what artists have to offer and leaves many of them unable to support themselves. Beginning in the 1950’s with payola and white cover music and ultimately evolving into iTunes and Spotify, the music industry has grown into a billion dollar industry with far-reaching influence and control. Contracts rarely serve the artists’ best interest and many are left out to dry when their usefulness has expired.

Although some people believe that peer-to-peer sharing websites should be readily available for their low cost, these websites should be considered illegal as copyright holders witness severe losses in sales, employment and profits. As the renowned file sharing website Napster emerged, in 1999, Cary H. Sherman, chairman and CEO of Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), noted that the United States music industry had witnessed a major decrease in sales and employment decreased to less than 10,000 professionals (Cary H. Sherman). Moreover, Creative America, a group of Hollywood studios, explained, due to the abundance of peer-to-peer sharing websites, copyright infringement costs U.S companies $5.5 billion in sales a year.

Nowadays, teenagers are living constantly surrounded by technology. Even if the younger generation may not see it, technology has had an impact on different factors. The widespread use of digital technology in the music industry has allowed consumers to reproduce digital versions of copyrighted songs inexpensively, with the help of many software and websites. There has been an increase in digital copying activities and those are most of the time claimed responsible for producers’ loss in revenues. While some people claim that the increase of digital technology has killed the music industry, in fact it has lead to innovation and new ways of consuming and sharing music, such as

Over the past decade, the use of CDs has been replaced with online streaming and retailing. This has eliminated much of the record companies revenues as they were used to making most of their profit off of distribution and promotion of physical copies of artists albums (Niemen). This has caused for a major shift and remodeling of major players in the music industries business models. Companies such Sony, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group have started to completely rethink the way they conduct business (Forbes). In the past record labels were not only responsible for production, distribution and promotion of an artist and his/her music, but they also acted as a bank (Forbes), funding the artists tours and recording sessions. Recently, these music giants have been moving towards becoming more of a modular network organization. What this means is that they are less occupied with the nitty gritty, and more focused on what they do best which is distribution and promotion. This also allows for more freedom of creativity for the artist as well as fairer split of profits (Forbes). This adaption of new business models clearly shows the versatility of the music industry in adapting to new times and technologies.

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).

Introduction: Setting the trend for the future, the distribution and consumption of recorded music transformed dramatically with the launching of Apple’s iTunes in 2001. The proliferation of online music subscription services and other music sharing services exerted a great pressure on the conventional music distribution business model. Combined with this transformation, piracy of digital music had a profound impact on the whole industry. These worsening conditions in the market place for recorded music forced both established and upcoming new artists to experiment with new ways of selling their music.

When speaking economically, the digital music sector of the international music industry is undoubtably the most important sector in the industry. Within the last decade, music has seen cardinal changes in the way both major and independent labels distribute their products. An industry that once relied on Payola 's and mass distribution of physical records and CD 's now relies heavily on the power of the internet. The first instance of mass distribution of music through the internet was by the service Ritmoteca.com in 1998 [1]. Ritmoteca had a library of over 300,000 songs, offering individual songs for 99 cents each and albums for $9.99. After signing distribution deals with many major music labels such as Warner

In the midst of the United States’ “dot com bubble” (years 1997-2000), there was a surge in technology that brought about file sharing and digital downloads. Threatening the survival of the music industry and introducing a unique set of challenges for the industry to overcome. To remain relevant in the new global market of digital music online, the music industry would have to evolve and change with the introduction of each new facet technology had to offer. The introduction of digitally compressed music files, so easily attainable for a small fee or downloaded legally (pirated) for free, made the music industry reevaluate how to make a profit and protect copyrights. Social media created a visible opportunity for both consumers and artists to maintain digital relationships while providing a platform for consumers to follow and discover new musicians and bands, naturally, making the internet a promotional medium for artists. As the corner record shops closed to make way for virtual storefronts and instant downloads; the internet, digital downloading, and social media made an enormous impact on the music industry that has changed the way consumers purchase, source, listen to, and produce music today.

These trends are not confined to European or American music markets. Baidu, China’s largest online search company, recently signed a deal with rights holders to license music on its website for both free download and streaming (Hille, 2011). The surge in popularity has led some to believe that the digital music market represents the recording industry’s next sustainable business model, along with diversification into live events and merchandise. However, relatively little is understood about the consumer who uses a combination of legal and illegal sources to acquire music a la carte. In the decade prior to the Internet, the music industry was relatively healthy overall with worldwide sales peaking in 1998 (Baym, 2010). Since then, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks such as Napster have contributed to the decline in sales of CDs. There is some disagreement about the extent to which file sharing has negatively impacted the recording; however, evidence points to copyright infringement as a significant factor. The digitalization of music effectively removed the industry’s monopoly on high-quality reproduction so that illegal copies were of equal standard to the original (May, 2007). Concomitantly, the intangible nature of digital music has resulted in new consumption practices. Efforts to counter digital piracy have primarily used legal mechanisms to dismantle P2P networks and prosecute file sharers. More

While few people may argue that downloading music from the internet should not be illegal, many others realize that it is clearly an act of theft to steal the work of others. The amount of the music being illegally downloaded has risen tremendously over the years causing music industries worldwide to cripple and disappear. As many may say that downloading music illegally is not harmful in any way, they are imperceptive to the fact that it is causing a large amount of decreasing revenue. As Marielena Reyes states “The immediate effects from online piracy can be the sales drop from CD labels and signings with artists, which could then lead to the large sums of money music industries claim to have lost. Downloading music does not have any negative effects to music industry finances, artists credibility, and earrings.” Reyes claims music industries will gain money off of online piracy due to the fact that sales of CD labels and signings with artist will drop but later on this will only cause the music industries to lose billions since that is what they depend on. “Potential know loses to all American Industry could amount to as much as $63 billion, with the current losses occurring at a rate of $2 billion a month. The high-tech industry has an average loss per incident reported of $19 million… continues to increase,” said Neil J. Gallagher, proving the fact that music corporations are losing money “due to piracy of software, music and interactive digital software on the internet.” The less money they are receiving from sales, result in having little to no money for their own incorporation, no money for employees, and no money to sign contracts with artists, leading them to the collapse of the company. By being able to download music online with no coast, the general public worldwide will be able to afford music, as Jessica Martinez said “Individuals have the right to make decisions when it comes to doing the correct action but if one person deals with tough situations such as not having enough money to buy music, free downloaders helps individuals deal with hardships by allowing them to indulge in the act of downloading free music.” Although many people might not be able to pay the price of the CDs or other