While the world listens
February 7, 2010 1:28 PM
It may seem difficult to fathom these days, but there existed a time not all that long ago when the only way to find a copy of that new song on the radio was to listen carefully at the end for the announcement of the artist and song title, and then head down to the local record store and begin to search.
God forbid one missed this crucial blurb at the song’s end, for they might find themselves repeatedly attempting a butchered rendition of the chorus for friends and family until, at last, some helpful soul could put them out of their misery and reveal this most elusive song title and artist.
Yes, there was once a time when “searching” for a song involved an actual physical pursuit rather than a Search bar, an Enter key, and nearly every song ever recorded but a mouse-click away. But gone are the days of records, LPs, 45s, 8-tracks and cassette tapes, save for the nostalgic at heart. Even the once space-age CD seems to be going the way of the dodo bird in this, the age of convenience and of online peer-to-peer file sharing.
In June of 1999, Napster exploded onto the scene, forever changing the way people share music. Although it quickly met with its legal demise in 2001, it paved the way for a multitude of other online file-sharing sites which quickly rose out of Napster’s ashes.
The subsequent years were plagued with lawsuits no longer prosecuting only these file-sharing sites, but their many users as well, alleging that file-sharing constituted copyright infringement. Nevertheless, the prevalence of file swapping continued to increase among members of the general public. Meanwhile, the music industry remained divided on the issue.
At the forefront of the anti-Napster movement were heavy metal band Metallica and rapper Dr. Dre who filed the initial lawsuits against the company. Ultimately responsible for the site’s legal undoing was the lawsuit launched by record label A&M records.
In more recent years, artists that have spoken out against file-sharing have included the Tragically Hip, the Barenaked Ladies, Madonna and many others. The website MusicUnited.org features dozens of quotes from artists like Stevie Wonder, the Dixie Chicks, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow and Mark Knopfler that all denounce the practice of file-sharing and perhaps somewhat boldly classify it as theft.
In the opposite corner of the ring stand such musicians as Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Moby, System of a Down, Norah Jones and Nelly Furtado who all favour adaptation by the music industry to this debatably inevitable phenomenon. That is not to mention the number of independent artists who have benefited from this much more affordable means of promotion.
Likely because this has now been an ongoing battle for more than a decade, media coverage on the issue seems to be dwindling, and with it public interest in the matter has faded as well.
However, the storm is far from over; just this past year, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a single mother of four from Minnesota was sued by major record labels and ordered to pay a whopping 1.92 million dollars in damages for the illegal sharing of a mere 24 songs.
The major objection to file-sharing is that, according to some studies, the practice kills CD sales, thereby hurting the artist. Unfortunately for this argument, there have been many studies that claim to have proven just the opposite.
A 2002 study at the University of North Carolina concluded that it would take over 5,000 downloads of a song to lessen its album sales by even one. Poking further holes into the anti file-sharing movement is the array of artists who have undeniably attained success as a result of the file swapping phenomenon.
Record labels, certain musicians and other members of the music industry have been fighting this, an almost indisputably losing battle, for more than a decade now.
Maybe it’s time for a change in perspective. Can music piracy not also be seen as the ultimate form of free advertising? A revolution in word-of-mouth marketing? One might ask if it makes more sense to continue fighting this perpetually uphill battle, or to embrace what has become our reality.
