The Internet Has A Good Thing For The Future

The Music Industry has been a constant in the hearts of fans and the general public for years. During those years, music companies were ran a certain way that may have seemed successful for a while. Everything changed when Independent Record Labels were created. Music was revolutionized when the effects of Independent Record Labels took place, when Atlantic Records was created, and when founders, producers, and artists worked together to create a viable business and music outlet.

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

In “The Music Industry Has Been Revolutionized,” Greg Kot explains musicians in the music industry are experiencing unwanted change around the world from technology since the popularity of file-sharing websites available online. Consumers of music don’t want to pay for music because of the increased availability, although not doing so prevents revenue for musicians. Explained in Kot’s article, increased popularity of file-sharing has made access to music so convenient to the point where the music industry is confused about how to respond to the lack of revenue while still keeping music readily available for consumer use. New technology has allowed the music industry more opportunities in being efficient with producing music. Furthermore, it

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.

An obvious and enormous part of this equation is piracy. The reason why Napster brought the industry to its knees, was because it literally hijacked profitable material from artists and record labels, and gave it away for free. At the time this was not on the industry radar however after many lawsuits and long overdue legislation changes, Napster, and similar websites were either bought out or subsequently collapsed.

had touched on how people are making a hobby of illegally downloading music. I found an article by Amy Adkins titled How Does Illegally Downloading Music Impact the Music Industry. She touches on a few subjects of how illegally downloading music directly affects the music industry. She opens up the article stating that 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded between 2004 and 2009 which is a staggering statistic. Napster came out in 1999 and was a free file sharing website where people were getting music illegally. The music industry has loss $12.5 billion due to the availability of free music. Some people have been taken to court for being found downloading illegally. In her article Adkins reveals that due to the illegal downloading of music

What that means is that intangible binary packets of information are what compromises modern media. Record labels’ dominance would continue to be successful only if consumers needed physical copies. Now, music is easier to access and virtually free of charge. According to the IFPI, recorded music revenue hit a high of $38 billion worldwide in 1999 and fell down to $16 billion in 2011, and has been relative steady since. Strange thing is that music consumption is going up, and so is supply as steaming music is so easily made. We may be looking at a restructuring of many business models in this industry. The bleak future of the recorded music industry is making the rising demand for film audio and game audio look very attractive. Despite the flow of money, there will always be a demand for audio engineers and thus, a demand for those who can produce the best sounding product. The future of the recording industry will be in the hands of highly skilled

In February of 2001, the once small college based program now had over 30 million users downloading and sharing music. Even after being shut down in 2003, file sharing still lives on. In a survey done by Digital Media, about 70% of people with the internet have once downloaded music illegally. But is it really hurting the industry as much as people say it is? The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America, an organization that deals with music sales) sure thinks so. They say that the recording industry loses 300 plus million to pirated music each year and that it is “a very real threat to the livelihoods of not only artists and record label employees but also thousands of less celebrated people in the music industry.” They believe it has caused so much devastation in the industry that they have no choice but to prosecute file sharers and bring them to court. Harvard University and the University of North Carolina beg to differ, they say that for every 5,000 downloads, one physical CD is lost and though it does hurt the industry, they consider illegal downloading a “small contribution to the overall slide in album sales” and also states that with the percent of music lost to pirated downloads, the percent of legal downloads has grown – which shows a possible positive effect to illegal downloading.

<br>While Napster does allow music sharing to an extent that could theoretically destroy the retail music industry, stopping Napster will not stop all their problems. Record labels need to see this new technology not as a threat, but as a challenge. They need to come up

Napster that is literally robbing artists from selling more records and making profit outrages record companies. Record labels aren't happy about illegal MP3s to begin with, so they're livid that Napster makes it easy for the compressed music files to zip across the Internet. The group that has had the biggest opposition to Napster is Metallica. The legendary rock group with millions of fans has constantly complained of monetary losses due to a great decrease in sales. The group claims that people should appreciate their hard work by purchasing their music, not by disrespecting them by downloading their songs off Napster. *SUSPENDED THOUSANDS OF USERS* Fans have responded to such actions by boycotting artists who disprove of their beloved program. Artists who have supported Napster have received positive reactions from the fans. Madonna had this to say about it, "Napster could be a great way for people to hear your music who wouldn't have the chance to hear it on the radio. The amount of time companies spend stressing about getting

The music industry is one of the few industries that have enjoyed complete dominance in their particular segment from their very beginnings all the way up to the late 1990s. Once the internet began to take hold, and become available in every home, the music industry began losing ground in their market segment. Digital downloading through the internet became so popular that record labels began losing money at a significant rate. Their reaction to illegal downloading has been controversial, as well as desperate at times. An analysis on the history of the music industry, the advent of the internet as it applies to the recording industry, and the legal and ethical implications of their reaction may offer some clarity in how the record labels may move forward and still maintain a profit.

And the fact that Napster is free and more convenient than visiting a record store makes it an appealing way to get music for consumers. The problem the record companies have is that there is no way of regulating who has access to the information, and hence no way of profiting from it. This is where Burke, had said that people take things and people are what make them negative. It is obvious here, that the record companies and a scared panic have seen Napster as an easy scapegoat and have tried to show it in a negative light so that Napster will not benefit from them any longer.

The advance of the internet has affected almost every industry and the music business is no exception. When people reference the music business we might first think they are speaking only of record labels. The music business however is a bit more expansive of a definition. “The music industry consists of the companies and individuals that make money by creating and selling live music performances, sound recordings and music videos of songs and instrumental pieces.” (Cite) Over the past decade you may have heard

However, the new Napster was having difficulty holding on to subscribers because of other online music store rivals such as Apple’s iTunes Music Store and Microsoft’s MSN Music Store (Weiss, 2006). There are several reasons why Napster was unable to succeed in the marketplace. First, Napster’s reputation created skepticism about its ability to be a key player in changing the music industry in a positive way. Apple was setting

“Napster and its founder held the promise of everything the new medium of the Internet encompassed: youth, radical change and the free exchange of information. But youthful exuberance would soon give way to reality as the music industry placed a bull’s-eye squarely on Napster.”