No More Piracy?

All the talk 5-10 years ago was about the piracy of songs and videos on the internet. The widespread use of programs like Napster, Limewire, Kazaa, and others had youths trading songs and videos with each other for free. For all intensive purposes, no one had to buy CDs any more at all, you could just download a program, type in the name of the song, and download it for free. I can personally say I did not buy a CD past age 10, and I downloaded more than 2,000 songs illegally before I was even in high school.

Then came the period of time where the music companies tried to fight the system. They said they would sue individuals who downloaded illegally. They threatened massive fines. They said there were federal officials watching the download networks. And for the most part, this scared primarily parents, but not the kids. Programs like Napster and Limewire had to disband their illegal operations, and they became pay-by-download programs. They were the predecessors to ITunes.

Eventually, people found new ways around paying for songs. Programs like BitTorrent started, where you could share files over a local network (for example a school dorm network). Kids and students had new ways around it all.

But instead of fighting it, music records and bands began to realize how they could take advantage of this. The days of selling 6 million records were long gone, no one did that any more. People didn't play CDs in their cars, they used their Ipods. Music began to be released for free, and sites began to form launching music for free.

A previous post mentioned GirlTalk, and how he rips music and puts it all together. But he also puts his music online for free. You have a choice of paying for his cd, at which point you get digital tracks, and a cd sent to your house. But you can also download all 3 of his cds for $0....for free. OK GO, a rock band, has released several songs online for free. Websites like whitepanda.com, goodmusicallday.com, and fratmusic.com, all offer songs to download. They are free podiums for new artists to share their music, and where people can go and download songs for free, albums for free. Artists realize that the money is not necessarily in selling CDs, and getting recognized by the public is easier than being signed by a record label.

The music industry is at a turning point. People don't listen to the radio as much as they used to. CD sales are incredibly down. But DJ shows, Rock Tours, and interest in music is higher than ever. Music brings together the generation labeled "millenials" and it will be interesting to see how the industry adapts to cater to their needs.

-Swenson