McArdle argues that music industry is encountering a significant decline in revenues because of freeloaders' activities which have resulted from improved accessibility to the internet, illegal downloading and sharing of songs, and overreliance on social media to market songs or videos. However, McArdle's claim of a reduction in revenues from the entertainment industry is not appropriate because only a few people use the internet, there are barriers to illegal downloading, and social media has many users hence aid in the marketing of the artists' products.
According to McArdle (2010), improvement in technology has led to the development of gadgets and software applications that consumers use to access the internet and watch or listen to some of the songs and video clips that they desire thereby leading to a decline in the demand for CDs. However, an extensive examination of contemporary society indicates that due to the exorbitant costs and high prices of devices such as computers and mobile phones, only a small percentage of the society has an access to the web. The difficulties in accessing the internet significantly reduce the number of consumers who can watch or listen to songs online. The internet is vital for communication between buyers and sellers. Therefore, a claim that the internet reduces revenues that musicians receive from their products is fallacious as the internet helps in improving the links between artistes and their fans.
The illegal downloads and file-sharing among fans of particular artistes also immensely reduce the number of purchases or attendance to live performance thus leading to a considerable decrease in revenues that videos and songs generate. Notably, McArdle (2010) opines that 20- file-sharers costs arts industry an estimate of $200 for a given video show. The sharing of files among consumers, therefore, immensely affect the ability of artistes to benefit from live performances that they organize in various regions. Contrary to McArdle's, claims, various governments have set strict policies that bar citizens from illegally downloading and sharing songs or video files. Specifically, the communications authorities have set policies that restrict the illegal sale of downloaded music contents and the agency conducts frequent checks on businesses to ensure that people do not violate the rules regarding unlawful production and selling of songs or videos. Consequently, the sharing of files does not have a significant impact on reduced revenues from artistes' products.
Finally, McArdle (2010) asserts that singers do not generate substantial revenues from their songs or videos due to failure to market with the large firms that engage in the production and recording of entertainment media, especially Hollywood. Instead, singers use social media such as YouTube which is relatively costly. Contrary to McArdle's claims, marketing with the big companies such as Hollywood is not an appropriate strategy because such firms have low access to potential clients compared to YouTube. A majority of Generation Y who are the major consumers of digital products prefer watching from YouTube. Therefore, unlike McArdle's claims, marketing with media such as YouTube is not the precursor of low sales of media items that artistes produce.
To conclude, McArdle's claim that the use of internet results in the reduction of revenues from the entertainment industry is not appropriate because only a few people use the internet. Besides, there are barriers to illegal downloading and social media has many users hence the internet aids in marketing the entertainers' products. As discussed in this essay, freeloaders are not the primary cause of the significant decline in revenues from the entertainment industry because governments have set strict policies that immensely reduce activities such as sharing of music or video files. Besides, the reliance on social media is an important marketing strategy that helps in increasing the sale of entertainment products.
Reference
McArdle, M. (2010, May). “The Freeloaders: How a generation of file-sharers is ruining the future of entertainment.” The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/05/the-freeloaders/308027/
