Can the music industry survive despite technologies that facilitate downloading?
Various music industry trade groups claim that piracy is killing the industry, and are suing file traders and the sites they use. The piracy of music is not the damaging factor they want people to believe. Record companies are the ones being damaged. Their monopoly hold on what gets played by whom and for how much money is the contributing factor. Music piracy and music sharing is revolutionizing the market because the music industry is ignorant in dealing with a new medium for distribution. They like to have total control of an artist. However, the internet is allowing artists to have more freedom of their music than in the past.
Multiple studies have shown that piracy of music can increase or decrease sales. Piracy has benefits as well as negatives. In 2005, 81.8 percent of the entire music industry was controlled by four record companies: Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group, and Warner Music Group (“IFPI releases definitive statistics on global market for recorded music” 20 June 2008). These are labels that have the money to promote their artists through advertising, radio, and music videos. Nevertheless, most artists aren’t signed to these labels. They’re signed to smaller independent labels that don’t have as much money as the major labels. As a result most artists are not allowed radio play, they don’t have ads, and their videos are of low quality which usually does not televised. Music downloading is great for lesser known artists to get exposure they normally would not get. Most people will not purchase they have not listened to. Music piracy allows downloader’s to experiment with unknown artists. This in turn is not hurting the industry, it provides underground artists the opportunity to be heard. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, only 15 percent of albums make money. However, most record label...