Do free music downloads help or harm the musicians?
Sunday, May 31st, 2009It’s one of the most controversial topics of modern times and it’s making headlines almost every day. It seems that everyone, whoever they may be and whether they really understand the concept of downloading music or not, has an opinion to give on the subject. Even amongst musicians opinions are divided between those who think it spells the end of the music industry and those who see significant benefit in their music being readily available to a much wider audience of potential fans than they could otherwise have hoped to reach.
The debate has been going on for years and it really doesn’t look like it’s likely to reach a compromise any time soon. Remember when Napster was forced to close down after a successful copyright lawsuit by Metallica? Everyone thought that was the end of downloads – it seemed the time of being able to get music for free was doomed to be over almost before it had begun. But then came Limewire, the Pirate Bay and countless other file sharing sites, with new and better ways of operating, and never failing to stay one step ahead.
To be fair, Metallica could well have had cause for concern, and they are by no means the only musicians to have spoken out against free downloads and the impact it has on the finances of the big label music industry. With CDs becoming more and more overpriced it’s not so surprising that people are turning to downloads, but not everyone considers the effect this could have on the music we all love. However there are those who believe that the music industry as we know it has had its day and that the future of music lies with the people recording their own tracks with DJ software on their home computers and publicising the music themselves online. This is only possible because the music is available online for free, and these are the people who are genuinely in it for the music not the money.
The latest musician to speak out with his opinions on filesharing is Snow Patrol singer Gary Lightbody. Although his band are clearly far from being unheard, he believes it’s just the modern way that music is available for free and that the penalties for those involved in filesharing are ‘way over the top’. He was referring to the recent conviction in Sweden of four founding members of The Pirate Bay, who have each been given a one year jail sentence as well as having to pay $3.48 million in damages to several large entertainment companies. The group are launching an appeal as although they understand hese companies could well be out of pocket, it was discovered that the judge was a member of the Swedish Copyright Association.
There is no sign that the debate on filesharing is close to an end, and certainly no sign of an agreement being made. There is no question that it is damaging to the record label giants’ and huge stadium rock bands’ incomes, but at the same time it enables the little guys at home recording their tracks with an Akai home studio and set of headphones to get an equal chance of being heard. Perhaps there is no right answer.
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