The Demise of the Music Industry: Music Piracy

Personally, I miss the days as a child when a visit to the music store was a real experience. I used to love to look through the records. After buying one, I couldn’t wait to get it home and remove the cellophane wrapper. Aah……the smell of the vinyl recording. The crackling sound as the needle made contact. Great memories. Although it’s not as exciting as it was as a child, I still go shopping every week for CDs.

With today’s available technology, I can understand the move to new music distribution methods such as iTunes. However, call me a prude, but I never been able to support the idea of illegal music downloading. I have found it very frustrating that so many people do it, as I have always viewed it theft.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), “many do not understand the significant negative impact of piracy on the music industry. Though it would appear that record companies are still making their money and that artists are still getting rich, these impressions are mere fallacies. Each sale by a pirate represents a lost legitimate sale, thereby depriving not only the record company of profits, but also the artist, producer, songwriter, publisher, retailer, … and the list goes on.”

The adverse effects include:

1. Consumers (such as myself) lose because the savings enjoyed by music pirates drives up the costs of legitimate products.
2. Retailers lose because they can’t compete with the prices offered by illegal vendors.
3. Record companies lose. It is estimated that 85% of music recordings do not generate enough revenue to cover their costs. Record companies require the revenue from the profitable 15% of recordings to sustain their business operations. Without it, they are at risk.
4. Creative artists lose

In a very public case, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were angered when their Stadium Arcadium album was leaked to the public and distributed online prior to its official release. As recording artist Tool noted, "Basically, it's about music -- if you didn't create it, why should you exploit it? True fans don't rip off their artists."