How Music Sharing Benefits Out Weigh The Negatives.
Music sharing is one of the most controversially debated topics of the last half-decade. Since the
emerge of the Sopa bill (Stop Online Piracy Act) introduced in 2011 by the United States
Government, music sharing has become one of the most talked about topics of today with artists
speaking out against this bill and also acting as activists for and against online music sharing. There
are great benefits and negatives that come from file sharing which have an effect on all people,
including famous stars and your average Joe blow, being the reason why this issue has had so much
exposure in the last few years. Personally I am completely for music sharing online unless it is for
personal gain. I am a musician myself and I feel that music sharing in the sense that it is used to
connect people together and reach those whom it may not have without file sharing is something I
completely support and will continue to support, yet file sharing for a personal financial gain from
others work is something I stand strongly against.
Money, Cash, Profit.
In the recent years of online sharing, music labels and industry conglomerates have scrambled to find
a way to keep the money pouring in from artists releases and with the undeniable decline of record
sales due to online music sharing, artist's and industry heads have found a new niche to pick at – live
shows. Live shows have become the major income for most music labels and independent artist's, not
necessarily because the artist's love to tour or play live but essentially because that's the only way to
make real ends meat in todays world. That is mainly the reason behind why we are seeing the
reunion tours of many older bands in recent times. Interestingly enough, you have many successful
bands agreeing to this new move in the industry and supporting the fact that making a living from
creating and releasing music boils down to how many people come to your show.
Notably, a very successful artist by the name of Dave Grohl agreed with the fact that – yes people do
share music for free and yes there is no way around that, in-fact he actually had this to say about the
issue:
"I think it’s a good idea because it’s people trading music. It has nothing to do with industry or
finance, it’s just people that want music and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s the same as
someone turning on the fucking radio, it’s the same as someone putting a cassette in a cassette deck
when the BBC plays a special radio session. I don’t think it’s a crime, it’s been going on for years. It’s
the same as people making tapes for each other. The industry is more threatened by it because it’s
the worldwide web and it’s a broader scope of trading, but I don’t think it’s such a fucking horrible
thing. The first thing we should do is get all the fucking millionaires to shut their mouths, stop
bitching about the 25 cents a time they’re losing." The only issue I would raise here would be the
fact that Dave is not one of the most financially successfully artist because of touring and doing
shows but his success comes from his record sales, according to Piggy Salary, Dave Grohl profited a
sweet $6,013,257 in the year 2012 and has a net-worth of around about $200,000,000. So seeing
those numbers, I personally wouldn't give a hoot if there were a few thousand downloads of my
music on a Torrent site either.
But what's the stance of a band that is not quite as successful as Grohl on this issue you might ask?
Well most bands would tell you that yes; tours and shows are the way to really keep the band going
financially but are not really all that happy with it. Here is a little insight from an internationally
renowned New Zealand band called Unknown Mortal Orchestra;
“it's more than money when you buy an album. Better album sales means happier label, happier
booking agent, happier management and that means more productive band that gets to play in more
towns and put out more records. When you send me a message that say 'Why aren't/haven't you
played in my town? Best believe that whether or not you actually bought the album has more impact
on that than you might think." So, taking a piece from each side of the spectrum, we understand that
artist's (the not so wealthy ones) are not exactly happy with the fact that they must preform more
than they would have had to twenty years ago to keep themselves financially relevant and that the
lack of record sales could be detrimental to the band as a whole but as an entirety we as artist's have
all accepted these circumstances of today, in-fact these circumstances of applying more work
towards your musical career is a huge benefit to the quality of music being produced.
The Result Of Online Sharing
Understanding that the result of music sharing online has caused the industry to become tighter
financially also brings forth a positive irony. YouTube and other forms of music outlets online have
opened the doors to those who's music would have never seen the light of day without these online
mediums but because of this, understandably, there has been a huge flood of music released to the
public that has never been seen before in other periods of time. The irony of this is that with all the
new music emerging daily to the public, it has made record labels follow closely and become quite
picky as to the artist's they choose to invest in. Online sharing has, I believe unintentionally,
increased the level of quality expected by the record labels. So to become noticed by a musical
investor, the artist really has to be one of a kind and quite unique in a sea full of new musicians,
resulting in better quality of music being pushed with promotion to the public. It also has upped the
level of work ethic within musicians globally, instead of making one demo tape and expecting a
record deal, artist's now have to release bodies of work independently online through one of the
many online mediums, create a following online and within local towns, play more gig's and
essentially put a whole heap more work in - opposed to what the standard was before online sharing,
being a lot less box's to tick off the “grind list. “So essentially, online sharing has upped the level
immensely on artist's and those who do eventually make it to the top are usually the ones who have
worked the hardest, you could say it brings a higher level of respect to an occupation seen across the
world as easy and fun.
To Sum Up
As I obviously stated throughout this piece, I am a huge supporter of online sharing and getting
music across to audiences who may never have been able to reach it without these online mediums
but stand strongly against any financial gain made by individuals on behalf of another person’s art.
Online sharing initially seemed to bring destruction to the world of music but as we progress on and
learn to live with the circumstances surrounding the world of music and online sharing, we begin to
realise that online sharing and trading between one and another has brought a new light into an
already closed, difficult industry, it has brought the work ethic and determination out of musicians, it
has also created a global music community in which can only grow into a very bright future and it
has also brought the quality essence back into the life of music.
References:
http://lawlibrary.case.edu/2012/01/18/sopa-pipa-anti-piracy-legislation-issue-backgrounder/
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/peersharing/a/torrenthandbook.htm
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/record-label.htm
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0342970/
http://www.piggysalary.com/musicians/dave-grohl-net-worth-and-salary/
https://www.facebook.com/unknownmortalorchestra/posts/484822881559758
http://unknownmortalorchestra.com/
http://www.upvenue.com/article/1590-musician-stances-on-music-piracy.html
http://torrentfreak.com/why-pirates-buy-more-music-and-music-labels-fail-090428/
http://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/jronen/FRPNapsterKazaa.htm
http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blogs/why-quality-wins-over-quantity-when-it-comes-
to-job-searching
http://wordsandthoughtsandtales.wordpress.com/tag/dave-grohl/
http://www.djinseattle.com/check-out-my-youtube-channel/
http://blog.lockdata.com/what-is-the-sharing-economy/
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/27/unknown-mortal-orchestra-ii-review
