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Downloading - A Music Industry Myth?
So much has been made of people illegally downloading music through file sharing on the Internet in the last few years. We are repeatedly told that it’s costing the music business millions of pounds and is stifling the market, stopping new bands coming through and robbing artists of a livelihood.
Well sorry but that just doesn’t ring true to me, in fact, it never has done. The more I look at it though the more convinced I am that if anything the Internet has been responsible for bands being successful quicker, irrespective of if the songs have been downloaded legally or illegally.
So lets look at the type of people who download music shall we and see if the industry argument stacks up against them. People that are fanatical about music like myself may well occasionally get passed dodgy copies or even download illegally from a file sharing site….but do we damage the music industry? My answer would be no. If I am passed a pirate copy of an album and I like it I’ll buy the original anyway as I want the full package, including the sleeve and original CD. If I don’t like it or I buy the original, I’ll pass that copy on to someone else, that person isn’t likely to have bought it anyway without first hearing something by the band, so it gets the music out to a wider audience.
The casual music buyer or the person who has never really bought any albums isn’t exactly going to be a loss to the music industry if they obtain an illegal copy. The chances are that they wouldn’t have paid out for the CD in the first place, so the industry can’t really cite that as a damaging to them.
The theory amongst the industry figures is that if people have gotten hold of the music first from the Internet then they won’t be interested in buying it once the music is released in the shops. Well a little known band called the Artic Monkeys (pictured above) has blown that theory out of the water. Their album tracks (and others) had been available on the net for months before the release of their album. Word of mouth by people downloading these tracks, playing them to friends etc led to gigs being sold out before a record had been released. Once the record was finally released, it became the fastest selling debut UK album ever in this country.
The argument about small bands not being picked up and not having the money invested in them anymore, because the industry has been financially damaged by pirates also doesn’t stack up. More and more bands are now enjoying success because they’ve made their music available and have got what they are about, out to a wider audience through the Internet. Most band sites now and yes I’m even talking about your local band who plays in the pub to twenty people will have free downloads of tracks available. This gives them vital exposure, with sites like MySpace now becoming a staple trawl for A & R men up and down the country.
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Add to favouritesNot sure if it’s the same up and down the country but more and more gigs in Leeds are selling out almost straight away now, such is the demand for tickets, this despite the cost of gig going increasing at most venues over the last five years quite considerably. Many of the gigs selling out are by bands that aren’t considered established. This clamour for tickets has coincided with music being made available on the Internet more frequently, another side benefit that the music industry chooses to overlook in its argument.
One final point about illegal copying of music (and especially in the UK) is that while it doesn’t wholly justify it, the fact that music is so expensive to buy in the shops will no doubt have had an impact on copying. If the price of buying a copy from someone were closer to the shop price (or vice-versa should I say) then people would be more inclined to buy the original.
So next time you read an article suggesting that the music industry is in decline because of the Internet and file sharing, then have a wry smile to yourself and weigh up what I’ve wrote here. I’m not claiming it’s a winning argument from me and that the industry is entirely wrong, but they certainly have a very tinted view on things when it comes to discussing the issue.
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We waffle on enough without letting you lot do it too. Comments are limited to 300 characters.
Try and keep on topic if you can and no insulting the contributors. All hate mail can be addressed to Kev.