The Music Piracy Debate Marches On
Earlier this week, Hypebot asked readers if they were over the whole "music piracy" thing, and somewhat surprisingly a resounding "NO" echoed through the comments. I say "surprisingly" because you surprise and delight us every day with your comments. While music piracy is certainly an important topic that we would never stop writing about, it's always good to check in and seek your opinions. And if your comments, rallying, and blog posts are any indication, the music piracy debate marches on, which it should.
Piracy is an important topic that's key to understanding the plight of the record industry in the digital age. But, one reader, who I respect, commented that it surprises them to still read about music piracy on Hypebot, so I decided to ask you if you felt the same. (You didn't.) Thus, Hypebot will keep investigating and prodding into music piracy. At this point, the music piracy debate encompasses egos and involves anyone willing to intellectually (but mostly emotionally) stone another writer to death. No one wins. It is just a matter of who is willing to wield the largest (or most irrational) argument and stick with it. Given that this is the Internet, discussions about music piracy shift wildly from chilling intellectualism to all-caps and personal attacks. Even I had to resist flame-warring with Wired for declaring, "the age of music piracy is officially over." But, in the past, even I have accused journalists of oversimplification and even insinuated that one knew less about the debate than a high-school student. Nonetheless, it is worth highlighting the comments readers wrote to inspire us to continue the music piracy debate.
(The following comments are edited for length and clarity.)
Jake said…
I can only hope this 'debate' does not die. If we allow those that 'support piracy' to dominate the discussion (which, unfortunately has been the case), arguably the most important 'product' our species makes will continue to suffer…
I for one am deeply concerned that the art of music will continue to be marginalized… If you have 10$ where will you spend it? If you spend it on specialty coffees and not at an indie music shop (online or in your community), we will have cities littered with corporate coffee shops and those that dedicate their lives to music manning the machines, which is already happening.
Cjay said…
As an emerging singer/songwriter, I have struggled with and tried not to think of this too much for it scares me. On the one hand, the technology that we have now is great for exposure… but then comes the question that causes me fear….
Is it actually possible to make a living as an artist anymore and in the near future? The very technology that could help me create a groundswell in more than one area could also be the things that keep me working at a cafe. Will we return to where artists and musicians can barely exist on their income as in the early 1900's when they were nearly 'lower class'? If so, then what?
BerkleeBrianJ said…
To ignore music piracy is to say that music has no value, intrinsic or monetary.
It also ignores all aspects of intellectual property laws. Music piracy is a symptom – it's a symptom of technology out-pacing business and legislature.
It's a symptom of a changing market, and a changing consumer mind-set.
I would argue that music piracy is the driver of all music business innovation we have seen in the past 10 years! Yes, it is incumbent on the Government to address the legal implications, but it is up to us as a music community to make piracy undesirable and obsolete.
Benji Rogers said…
The problem is one of apathy, not piracy. Pirates are just not emotionally invested in the music they consume. I use the word "consume" deliberately. It seems to me that "Consumers" are the ones pirating the music and not the fans. The industry needs to realize the difference and so do most artists.
T. D. said…
Just because the piracy battle hasn't been won yet doesn't mean it's a fruitless fight. The "industry" has adopted many new technologies that make piracy less appealing without destroying the economies of recorded music, while also turning their focus to punishing the assholes who profit from making that music available (via ads on their sites, etc.) but avoiding prosecution of individual consumers.
Despite taking a few bad detours (DRM, mass litigation, ad-supported free services, paid on-demand services, etc.), we've come a long way over 10+ years.
All of these individual piracy topics have been very important and helped shape where we are today. If the piracy issue had been purely linear then the conversation would be stale.
However, the evolution is (and continues to be) far too dynamic to ignore.
RobbertvOoijen said…
Music piracy has been a widely discussed subject in the world of music and technology, especially during the last decade.
Today, music piracy still is one of the bigger issues in new media and it is often used as an example to learn from for other fields that fail to innovate.
Music piracy is one of the biggest debates in the tech world and we should continue this debate. Here are some reasons why this debate is still relevant in 2011. While many of the purely anti-piracy people probably won't agree…
I am convinced of the innovating forces of (music) piracy…
Many pirate services are a useful source for market insight (think of Napster), piracy helps in establishing new markets (think of English radio pirates in the 1960s), and services that are initially associated with piracy often evolve into legitimate and influential businesses (think of YouTube). Do you want to miss coverage about the next Grooveshark, YouTube, or Napster? Not writing about piracy will only further bias the anti-piracy sentiment of the debate.
During the past decades, anti-piracy associations such as the RIAA have grown and so have their budgets for lobbying and influencing people via marketing campaigns. The RIAA for example spend $90 million on lobbying in the past decade. Competing against such a big marketing machine that often gives a very biased view on the music piracy debate is very hard, but necessary.
I’m going to make a bold statement, that many of you will disagree with, but please hear me out.
Piracy is not a problem.
I think we need to talk about it, but the problem is that the main music industry, headed by the labels, and enforced by the RIAA has created an environment where piracy has become problematic.
It’s the industry’s failure to deliver what the fans want, not people wanting it for free, that has caused revenues to decline. Early Napster proved that people wanted music digitally. Rather than look at Napster as an opportunity, they looked at it as a threat. The Internet was no different than recorded music, the radio, and yes, even the CD which turned out to be the savior of the music industry in the 80’s. Look back at history, every single innovation in this industry was feared and fought by the gatekeepers, and as a result, piracy started.
People want their music digitally, DRM free, and at an affordable price. The labels still think the CD is where it’s at, and think the $12 price point is fair. It’s like you going to McDonalds, ordering a Quarter Pounder, and they give you a Big Mac, because Ronald says that’s what you really wanted, and one more thing, you can only eat that burger here in the restaurant. You can’t take it home to eat it.
People want to pay for music. For proof, just look at the success of iTunes, and even the paid subscriptions of the streaming services. But there are some, that would rather pirate the music and have it DRM Free, and a bit rate that’s acceptable, than pay 99 cents for a song that they can only play on 1 device and is poor quality.
Piracy is occurring because the music industry is not taking care of it’s customers.
If you are a musician, and are concerned about piracy, get out of the system. You are a business. Take control of your business, your rights, and take care of your customer. That’s how you will solve piracy, by giving your fan what they want, how they want it, at a price point they can afford.
The publishing industry is on the heels of where the music industry was a couple of years ago. eBooks are the talk now, and many authors have taken to self publishing. Authors are selling their books for 99 cents and $2.99 and making quite a nice living. One author, who you may have heard about, Amanda Hocking just bought a house for cash- after selling 450,000 books in January. That’s ONE MONTH. She sells her books at the price points I mentioned above.
Think about this… what is YOUR favorite band/artist? Now, imagine you had an exchange with them of some sort. You talked on Facebook, or maybe it was an email, hell maybe they even follow you on Twitter, and RT your tweets. How likely would you be to pirate their music?
I know you’ve all seen this: CwF+RtB. Take it to heart, make it happen, and piracy won’t be an issue for you.
You are making too much sense. The jig is up fellas, no sense in fighting to match previous standards. Times have changed and there may very well be a possibility for greater success. But, only if you give the people what they want…it’s only fair…they are the ones giving you what you want.
Power is in the hands of the creators/musicians, much like the authors, as you mentioned. *shrugs* maybe all the ‘conservatives’ covet the executive lifestyle more than they care about the actual music. Let’s cut the fat and we can all eat healthy.
Thank you, Phil, this is exactly what I was trying to convey, you just said it much prettier! hahaha
“If you are a musician, and are concerned about piracy, get out of the system. You are a business. Take control of your business, your rights, and take care of your customer. That’s how you will solve piracy, by giving your fan what they want, how they want it, at a price point they can afford.”
This is what I preach, this is what I teach, this is what my team specializes in – assisting independent artists in starting & developing their own businesses, including setting themselves up as a label, publishing company, etc., with an in house contract law specialist!
Control your rights, control your destiny! Piracy rages on, unchecked, but you have changed what you could, don’t sweat what you can’t!
I’m a musician and I give my music away for free. Why? Because I face the reality that we live in. Not only could someone download my music for free elsewhere, but by giving it away I’m helping to market myself and hopefully gain fans. If someone likes you or your music enough, they will want to see you when you perform live. The only people who have a problem with data piracy are the major labels who can no longer make s much off their artists. For the unsigned and indie musicians, it has ALWAYS been hard to make a buck. The percentage of us making a decent living off our craft is very, very small. It’s the major labels that have manipulated people into paying exuberant amounts for their product and convincing us to feel guilty for doing otherwise than what they want us to do.
Free album download at http://www.facebook.com/chancius
Wow, I didn’t expect this response. It’s very encouraging to see that I’m not alone 🙂
@Wicked- I’m glad there’s someone else out there advocating for change and helping musicians “see the light”. I like what you’re doing. I recently shifted from the services game to education (books, and video programs). Good luck, and if I can help, let me know.
@Chancius – I agree the percentage is small, and that’s too bad. I’m curious, have you ever tried say giving a song for free (in exchange for an email addy), and charging for the rest? I don’t mean to get all up in your business, but I just hate to see people leave money on the table when they don’t have too.
People no longer buy music to hear it. They buy it to own it. There is a marked difference.
John, are you saying that only true fans buy music? I think you’re on to something, but could you elaborate?
Phil, your site definitely sends the right message to today’s indie artists. Getting them to understand and accept it is another thing, as you may have noticed if you read the original blog that sparked this debate. I am now calling it Hypebot readers vs Wicked D! hahaha (though I am an avid reader and huge supporter of this blog) We should talk. I look forward to networking!
“Piracy is occurring because the music industry is not taking care of it’s customers.”
No. Music Piracy is Happening because there are no consequences. It’s that simple. Every argument you have made, has been made for decades prior to massive online piracy, and yet, only since Y2K and the advent of illegally free and consequence free have sales plummeted.
Anyone who desires to have a professional career in music needs to realize what has happened and how we have gotten here, and although it’s easy to take aim at the RIAA the larger culprit is big tech.
Read More in Robert Levine’s excellent “Free Ride” and/or Jaron Lanier’s “You Are Not A Gadget”
Get educated folks…
With regards to music piracy and from an ethical standpoint, I believe an artist has every right to be angry and seek legal action when their recordings are unwillingly sold for profit or bootlegged by a shady record label or download site. It’s the intellectual property of the artist, who typically writes and composes their own songs. Not to mention, the artist has developed their own way of performing a song, which is documented within the recording.
In 2011, a judge ruled in favor of singer Paul Collins, whose rock group The Beat lost substantial revenue from a series of unauthorized bootleg recordings released by an underground record label. The recordings were unknowingly engineered during The Beat’s tours with The Police, Eddie Money and The Cure. Although the label argued that the recordings were tracked and mixed by an independent investor during the 1970s and 1980s, Collins was unaware of these dealings and was awarded an unspecified amount of damages. Collins was granted permission to digitally re-master and officially release the live recordings. In response to backlash and negative publicity from fans accusing him of being greedy, Collins attempted to make a public statement about piracy. In 2012, Collins made the recordings available to everyone as free MP3 download tracks to fans worldwide.
Some fans might argue that Metallica was selfish to target Napster for illegally offering their music as MP3s. In all fairness, not everyone victimized by piracy are platinum-selling, wealthy artists in the caliber of Metallica. Paul Collins had just as much right to take legal action, but he turned the negative situation into a positive one by publicly releasing the pirated material as free downloads to his fans. Case in point, not all rock stars are selfish or “only in it for the money.” Musicians have a right to be paid for their intellectual property. People who support music piracy only think about themselves. If a musician isn’t being paid for their work, how are they supposed to continue recording, writing, performing and touring? Musicians aren’t slaves and if they aren’t making enough money to function, then they might choose a different career path that doesn’t involve making music.