Pirates not only trespass upon the rights of the artist involved, they also create dishonest competition at every level of the industry (Website administrator, 2009). Most of the time people in general think that music piracy is a small act and probably has no effect on the artist or the music industry, where as “Statistics found on the Recording Industry Association of America” showed that not only does piracy affect the artists, it also affects the hundreds and thousands of people who work with the music industry (Stores, 2012; The Digital Universe, 2012). . 0 The social significance of the debate Stealing in general is a wrong thing to do. Placida Domingo a famous opera star and also the Chairman of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IF) said in an interview that He saw his own royalties lessen with time. It seemed logical at first as Old records sell less over time said Mr.. Domingo, but gradually He stopped receiving any royalties (Lee, 2011). But then again people enjoy the vast number of music of different genre that is available for them to download from several websites.
Though the record companies blame the music-stealing pirates for even the smallest tumble in their sales, a recent study also suggests that these moochers on the other and can also be the biggest customers to these pirates (Fitzgerald, 2012). 4. 0 The participants in the debate The leading participants in the debate are the musicians, songwriters, producers, recording engineers, the listeners, the people making a living out of stealing music (pirates), and the record companies who have expressed their differing point of views on Piracy and the consequences of piracy on the music industry (Website Administrator, 2009). . 0 The differing views 5. 1 Controversies regarding the effect of music piracy on the music industry Many people have the opinion that piracy (violating copyright or intellectual property right) can have negative consequences on the music industry. 5. 1. 1 Not paying the song royalties Artist, composers, and songwriters all those who are involved in making a song/ music, experience a great loss as they are losing royalty fees for their talent and hard work. It’s not that their music is not creating hype among the public or is not being appreciated.
People are either buying the pirated versions of their music or mostly platinum, or triple platinum status in terms of sales. Thus nowadays the up-and coming singers and new songwriters have to struggle a lot to earn their first few hundred (Ortega, 2009). 5. 1. 2 Committing a crime without realizing A study by the Columbia University’s American Assembly (as cited in Digital Music News, 2013) published that “The ARIA (Recording Industry Association of America)” could fine an individual at least $1 50,000 per song illegally downloaded.
On the other hand to ensure the protection of their property recording/label companies are left with no choice but to invest on products such as, copy protection technology, data encryption and restricted use technology and other software or products that restrict digital copying and downloading. These costs then have to be included into their music sadly, thus the price of their products increases which results in customers to rather look for cheaper and easier alternate (Hammond, as cited in owe. Com). . 2 Complements regarding the importance of music piracy on the music industry Despite all the controversies around, there are also people who believe that piracy (violating of copyright or intellectual property right) can also have positive effects on the music industry. . 2. 1 Access to older music no longer in print With the development of technology over time, some older music is not found in digital formats. Some old hits have even vanished from the stores as they are no longer found in print.
This is because the way the contract between the label companies and the artist are constructed artists do not own their own music. So when an artist changes from one label company to the other after releasing a particular song or album, the label company automatically stops to release those music’s any longer and stops printing them thus the old hits become dead. But because of piracy music fans can overlook the restrictions and listen to some of their favorite old songs by simply downloading them or buying the pirated versions of Cad’s or DVD’s (Hammond, owe. Com). 5. 2. Creates devout music fans As per today’s generation the mass number of music downloaded are most likely to be teenagers who have time to listen to music almost all the time. Teenagers are not expected to have the amount of money needed to buy the original records, thus they rather depend on downloading free music. As there are vast numbers of options of efferent genre of music to download from in a short time, this seems to be the music which is expected to be there for eternity. Therefore when these teens grow up and earn their living they are most likely to buy the original records of their favorite artists and listen to them.
