KEY POINTS:
The music industry is still bleeding millions of dollars in sales to online piracy. It is a major issue for an industry that is desperately trying to boost revenue from legal downloads to make up for falling sales of Compact Discs, which declined 23 per cent globally
between 2000 to 2006.
What do you think?
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Here is the latest selection of your views:
Sonia
The record company ends up making more than the artist through the sale of CDs.To me, music is an art. If I was a musician I wouldnt care about the money, I would just want people to listen to and enjoy my music. Downloading music is great - especially for artists which are otherwise impossible to find in mainstream music stores. I always end up buying their CDs, but its good to get a feel for what the music is like before wasting the $30 odd on a CD I might not listen to. I have to mention - I always buy New Zealand artists CDs because I am happy to support our local music industry.
Rae Steele
I listen to a song, I like a song, I buy a song. Its that simple. I now have the right to listen to that music any way I want (theoretically). Then the music industry make it hard. Guaranteed, the new CD will not play on one of my devices, whether computer, DVD player, stereo, walkman or other CD based product, and god forbid that I should want it to work on my MP3 player. All because of their intrusive, arrogant DRM monster. So I dont buy CDs now, unless I really really love the song or album. (I have brought one CD in the last year) If they want me to buy more CDs or download their songs legally (which I would love to do), they need to make it trouble free. Why dont they use unique watermarks (hidden identifying feature, not noticeable) and if its found on downloads, go back to the original purchaser? Why dont they sell downloads for 50cents a song, or $1 even, that is mine forever, to transfer to as many devices (of my own) that I like? DRM and Piracy is an Arms Race, get off the technology track and use a more customer friendly approach to catching pirates and I will happily buy all my old favourites and new music as it becomes available.
Dean
Record companies are rip-offs. How much of $30 plus a CD actually goes to the artist? The internet has exposed me to so much music I cant find in the record stores, and its better. I agree that music burners buy CDs, and for the arm and leg price, we should always try before we buy. Imagine paying out $40 plus of your hard earned cash for the latest greatest then get home to find youve purchased 1 track you like and 13 tracks of filler. Leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I vote for no confidence in the music industry at all. They complain at being ripped off, Look whos talking!
Mike
I went to buy some blank CDs the other day and could only find Sony CDs. So why is the CD company that is complaining about piracy making blank CDs?
Troy
I am no expert on the music industry, but I do read articles regarding what they are doing in the industry. Sebastian gives an example of someone going into a store and stealing some albums and then getting sent to jail. He is correct, this should happen, but he forgets this same music industry is going after and suing children for supposedly sharing music. To use the same example as Sebastian, its like the robber is running away from the crime, bumps into you on the way out, instead of going after the robber, the music industry goes after you. This might not be a perfect example, but you get the idea. When music companies release data saying they have had a decline of 23 per cent in sales, I take this with a grain of salt, the company who released these details was probably partly sponsored by the same music companies, so they are biased towards this information. Also, that 23 per cent they speak of, what is it in relation to? projected sales? market trends? income they would like to make? I have read a couple articles which say that the music industry as a whole is doing better now then what they were doing back when piracy wasnt as abundant, again, this can be taken with a grain of salt also. At the end of the day, all these big companies say the same thing, consumers will vote with there pockets, and thats what has happened, consumers are sick of music companies releasing crap music, releasing CDs with only a single good song on them, they are sick of paying $30+ for one of these CDs, they are sick of always paying $30+ for a CD, no matter how old the music is, they are sick of having to goto the shops to purchase music, they want good music, at a reasonable price. But the music companies refuse to acknowledge the vote, they instead insist there way is the only way, and have attempted to change laws to better suit there needs.
Andrew Atkin
I have a brother who is producing his own music whom I periodically assist. What I can tell you is that you cannot realistic digitally protect music, because you can ultimately transfer music to analogue then back to digital to eliminate digitally-encoded copyright protection; and this can be done with quality losses that are essentially irrelevant if it's done on good equipment. The only reliable option that I can see to stop illegal downloads is to booby trap them. This means making free sites that appear legitimate but contain hidden bugs and tracking information. People will stop downloading pirated material if they know there is, say, a 10 per cent (per illegal download) chance that a policeman will knock on their door and take away their computer. I can tell you, if you knew what was involved in achieving a professional and effective production in music, then you would understand how distressing this concern is for the industry. And please don't forget we all lose! If artists cant make money from their efforts then we will go from free entertainment to no (new) entertainment. For our own sakes, we should not tolerate complacency with this problem. Another more radical possibility is to change the business-model to a state-funded pie. This means the government could allocate, say, a $100 million budget for music each year that is split up to the contributing artists on the bases of the number of downloads that they get and also the value-ratings people give their product. By operating this free model you would actually increase the productivity of the music because there it is no toll functioning as a barrier to viewership. However, this would probably need to be done on an international scale, as its obviously not realistic in the foreseeable future. This system could ultimately be applied to all kinds of digital media.
Andrew
I agree with Brett. If you really do like an album that you have downloaded, many people will want to own the original CD. However, because of the outrageous price of CDs, I, for one, want to be very sure that it is worth the money I am handing over. Although I am not entirely sure, I have heard that the price of making a CD is roughly the same price as that of making a tape. If so, how does the music industry justify the huge gap in price between tapes and CDs??!! Also,I dont see how downloading it off the internet and dubbing a CD onto tape or MD etc is any different. I still buy CDs but only when I have the extra money and when I am sure the CD is good ie; I have listened to it before buying it. This may be by borrowing a friends CD, listening to it in the store or via an internet download. If I like it enough and the price is right, I will want the original for my collection.
Sebastian
If I went to ECM and shoplifted all the albums from the top-20 stand I would be hunted down and thrown into jail. Yet everyday people steal more far more than this in illegal downloads so they can listen to it on their ipod on the bus. As the bus drives down Queen street it will probably pass a struggling musician busking in the street. Yet the person with the ipod wont give them a second thought.
Ollie
I am all for the musician making the most of whatever profit can be gained from their talents. I think a true fan of the band or musician would respect that and buy the album rather than rip it. But I also think the future of music is going to now be integrally linked with the digital age, and sooner or later bands are going to have to embrace that. The internet is without question the best way to get your music heard, just look at the Arctic Monkeys.
Lee
In regards to music (and movie) dowloading, I see the general public as having two options. 1. go to the record store, listen to what the record companies tell us we should buy (because its on their labels), make a choice and pay for it through the nose (Up to $45? Mate- I have seen them charging $70 for a double-disc remix cd!).
2. download it free in 5 minutes without paying a cent, and if we like it, add it to our playlists or burn it to cd. If we dont know what we like, internet radio often plays large selections of new music that never sees the shelf of a record store but blows my mind away. And its all free, from the comfort of our homes.
Rachel
Piracy certainly hasnt stopped the big-wig producers and their artists from rolling in their limos and wearing their expensive label clothing, while sipping champers and slapping their ho's. Its obvious that they still make a HUGE amount of money from what they do, so maybe if they want to entice more people to actually buy their music they should be dropping the price. Not to mention the markups from the retailer! Who wants to pay $35 for a CD, and even more for an import?
Brett
It comes as no surprise that people still want to download music. The average price of CDs is still far too high (especially in NZ - import CDs can be up to 45 dollars!). If music companies really want to save their own asses, instead of suing people they should focus on releasing QUALITY music for decent prices.
On the flipside of the coin, sometimes downloading music illegally is the only way to check out an unknown/obscure band that will never get radio airtime. Rather than drift through hundreds of internet radio sites, it can be a lot easier just to download an entire album and listen to it (much the same way as listening to an album in the record store before buying it). Contrary to popular belief, illegal music downloaders still buy CDs.
