In the end, will the Pirate Bay’s rebirth as a legal service affect the torrent file sharing sites? Will the RIAA’s lawsuits scare consumers away from downloading free music? History suggests that users will find alternative ways to share music, most likely without bringing down the entire recording industry. In addition, winning a lawsuit against the Pirate Bay’s founders will not guarantee better communication between the RIAA and consumers—if anything, fans will be more determined to swap files covertly, just to rebel. Also, while music companies may have won this round, what new technologies are just around the bend? Will CDs eventually go the way of the cassette? The current standard, the MP3 format, may be eclipsed by another format not yet realized.
No easy answers exist, and most likely more battles will be fought in court. But the peer-to-peer file sharing controversy at least sparks discussion about ownership, proper artist compensation, freedom of Internet access, and the problematic relationship between fans and music labels. Paradigms have shifted, and dialogue is crucial. Technology has blurred many of these definitions and dividing lines, and all parties need to collaborate to ensure that everyone—music companies, artists, and fans—receives a fair deal.
Article comments
1 - Robert M. Barga
The thing is, as the big players disappear, people are going to run out of areas to go
2 - Al Sussman
I'm old enough to remember all the examples of old media paranoia. TV was going to kill radio and heavily damage attendance for movies and theatre. Then, VCRs were going to completely kill movie attendance. Cassette dubbing decks were going to kill the record business. Same with CD recorders and, later, computer CD burning software. And remember the Mini-Disc? None of the dire predictions came true so, while I know less about bit torrent sharing than I know about video games (which is next to nothing), I suspect that won't destroy an industry already rotting from within, much like those now-unplayable CD-Rs a lot of us recorded a decade or less ago.
3 - Robert M. Barga
50 billion a year indicates real harm
4 - Blackskunk
If music wasn't such a rip-off, then people wouldn't use P2P so much. £2.50 is a reasonable price to pay for a CD... no more. If you rip people off, they will rip you off!
What goes around , comes around. Fact.
If CD's are really worth what they sell for initially, up to £15.00. Then how come stores can sell the same CD for £4.00 years later and presumably still make a profit.
Also, when the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, fact, and music continues to become more popular, people can't afford to pay £15.00 every time they want a new album.
Music industry, the ball is in your court!
Stop ripping us off!
5 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
50 Billion could be lost for a lot of reasons as there is no evidence that "file-sharing" is the only cause.
The music industry have been hurting themselves financially for a while now by pandering to the popular formula & overcharging the consumer for an inferior product. But, no one gets to sue the music industry for ruining technology,do they? It's a well known fact(and as the article has shown) that artists thrive from concert & merchandise revenue and,even, quite a bit from "word of mouth". The RIAA is only masquerading their frontal assault with the motive of artist concern so they can protect their assets because they are desperate & are having a hard time justifying their existence. I'm not for taking away anybodies' livelihood,BUT,just like newspapers, the music industry didn't invest in their future & are now paying the price. Unfortunately, under this deceit they are destroying the future for this great tool, the internet. If people are always just going to be concerned about monetary gain as opposed to what benefits a culture & progresses technology then we will always be on the losing end.
6 - Kit O'Toole
Thanks for all your comments--this will continue to be a controversial issue, and as some of you have pointed out, the music industry needs to deal with it in a reasonable manner.
7 - Ruvy
A cousin of mine owns his own label. He is a musician, a musician's musician even, and is thorougly aware that you can't rip off the public without expecting them to rip you off. What comes around goes around indeed.
The issues in my mind are fair compensation for the artist, and reasonable prices for the consumer. All the rest can be worked out without burdeneing the consumer too greatly. The key is for the musician and the label owners (preferably indepoendent artists themselves, like my cousin) to be fully aware of technology as it comes down the pike, and before it comes off the exit ramp. The key, as always, is to cut out the middleman as much as possible.
8 - Kit O'Toole
Very true, Ruvy--cutting out the middleman does seem to be the key. Thanks for your comments!