Over the years, acts of piracy
including unauthorized reproduction and copying, have remained an issue. (Rafael, Rob, & Waldfogel, 2006). The music business has been significantly impacted by file trading and sharing of music and videos over the internet, which has also fundamentally altered how the general public accesses music. Most files that are shared are copyright protected, so when these files are openly shared, other organizations must pay additional fees. The economy loses over 2.1 million employment as a result of the United States government, for instance, losing over $28 billion a year in protection against copyright and intellectual property crimes. Violations of copyright protection results in the distribution of low quality music and video files through substandard counterfeit means such as file sharing (Liebowitz, 2006). Copyright protection not only deprives the recording and production industries of their profits but also results in loss of tax revenue for the federal government through the costs involved in enforcing copyright protection and illegal counterfeit sales. Such counterfeit sales deprive the artist his or her reward for their efforts since they do not provide any means for compensation.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
recorded a 47% drop in music sales since 1999 with over 30 billion illegal songs download made between 2004 and 2009. RIAA, a body mandated to oversee the production and sales promotion of music, revealed that in 2012, the music industry lost over $12.5 billion the cost involved in recording and distribution of music and the total jobs lost had reached an overwhelming 71,000 including producers, artists, marketing support, songwriters, engineers, and technicians (Liebowitz, 2006). The reduction in the number of sales of music albums forced the recording companies to lay off employees that less active and this remains the case with the continued availability of free online music and videos.
Illegal music downloads have deprived
the music industry of the revenue generated from music sales and hence resulting in reduced recruitment opportunities for new talents due to the reduced funding options. The industry is thereby forced to retain the profits generated by financing the established artists as opposed to scouting for new talents. New artists therefore have a challenge in developing their careers in the music industry and face a harder time in promoting their music on the market forcing them to use means such as direct online sales in which case the income generated does not match their efforts.
The music industry operates on record contract
under which an artist signs for a record label and receives compensation from the recording company for his or her music. Such advances are paid out prior to the release of an album. After the release, the money generated from the sales of the album or song is used to recover the royalties and advances paid to the artists. The companies are forced to write off any losses if the sales do not generate as much revenue. Because of the reduced sales in music, the companies are forced to provide fewer royalties and lower advances for the artists. This may very well kill the music industry as the musicians seek for alternative means to make a living depriving the society of access to good music in the future.
The late Prince, an American record producer
and songwriter complained of the revolutionized path the industry has taken. He described music piracy as a gold rush that even the copyright protection laws cannot contain (Rafael, Rob, & Waldfogel, 2006). Eminem, an American actor, rapper, and record producer described his expectation at being rewarded for his hard work and creativity into music, but rather getting turned down at the expense of someone downloading his music for free and generating no compensation for his input.
As time progresses, people are attracted to the cheap things in life
to fulfill their purpose. With the involvement of the numerous search engines in this century, illegal music download unfortunately will continue to exist. However, flexible means can be developed such as the entry of companies such as Apple and Spotify into the music industry that has inventive ways to deal with illegal music downloads. Download of free music and videos is hurts the music industry and a great deal of creative ways are required to cope with this problem. However, the recording industry will have to seek ways to adapt to the changes in the surrounding environment.
Conclusion
While illegal sharing of music has dire consequences on the music industry, the challenges the industry is facing are comparable to the challenges industries in other sectors are facing. The industry therefore has a mandate to seek for alternative solutions to piracy to satisfy the need for quality music even in the future (Rafael, Rob, & Waldfogel, 2006). The adaptation based on the coming generations favor for online genres will be important in reshaping the industry. The industry will have to seek means against peer-to-peer file sharing habits and impart an online music purchasing culture into the forthcoming generations (Zentner, 2006). The copyright industry as opposed to overlooking negative consequences of replicating copyright-protected files needs to evaluate the beneficial aspects as did the publishing industry against the copy machine in 1985.
References
Liebowitz, Stan J. (2006), ―File Sharing: Creative destruction or just plain destruction?‖ Journal of Law & Economics, 49 (1), 1-28.
Rafael, Rob and Joel Waldfogel (2006), ―Piracy on the high C’s: Music downloading, sales displacement, and social welfare in a sample of college students‖, Journal of Law & Economics, 49 (29), 29-62.
Zentner, Alejandro (2006), ―Measuring the effects of file sharing on music purchases,‖ Journal of Law & Economics, 49 (63).
