Are YOU The Reason For The Music Industry’s Downfall?

Music piracy has become a major problem for the music industry. Most teenagers don't even realize that by illegally downloading music, they are technically stealing.

BY ALYSSA FISHER

Glancing around Cooper City High School at lunchtime, it’s common to find the majority of students accessorized with a pair of headphones and jamming out to the hottest tunes. Although they may not even realize it, most of the hundreds of songs blaring from their ear buds are technically stolen. After the inflation of iTunes’ music prices, people everywhere have resorted to new sources of obtaining songs to expand their music library. Although they are handy, simple, and above all, free, these resources aren’t legal. Music piracy has become a massive problem that has had a damaging impact on the music industry.

Practically scoffing at the idea of purchasing his music, sophomore Nicholas Rossi admitted that 100 percent of his music is illegally downloaded. Though, he never really thought of it as “illegal.”

“These websites are obviously meant to be used,” Rossi said. “Why else would they exist?”

Music piracy is any form of unauthorized duplication or distribution of music including downloading, file sharing, and CD-burning. These websites have become extremely popular, but have had a negative impact on the music industry.

At the end of 2009, the music business was worth half of what it was ten years ago. According to Forrester Research, a technology and market research company that provides practical advice to global leaders in business and technology, the total revenue from U.S. music sales and licensing plunged from $14.6 billion in 1999 to $6.3 billion in 2010. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has reported that album sales have fallen at an average of eight percent each year. The decline doesn’t look like it will be slowing anytime soon.

“There have been a lot of changes over the past 10 years,” RIAA Vice-President of Research Joshua Friedlander said. “The industry is adapting to consumer’s demands of how, when, and where they listen to music, and we’ve had some growing pains in terms of monetizing those changes.”

Industry insiders and experts argue that the main culprit for the industry’s enormous decline is the growing popularity of digital music. The CD is ultimately disappearing, and iPods and other MP3 players haven’t helped to improve music sales. It has been a constant battle to find paying digital customers since the 1999 debut of Napster, a free online file-sharing service. Napster not only changed the way most people got music, but also relieved customers from paying $14 per CD to absolutely nothing.

Napster didn’t last long; in 1999, the music industry put up a lawsuit against the website, objecting to the manner in which it was being used. In 2003, Apple’s iTunes paved the way for people to begin paying for digital music. In the time between Napster’s end and iTunes’ debut, many of Napster’s 60 million users found other means of acquiring free music. Even though iTunes sold music tracks for just $0.99, it wasn’t as attractive as getting them for free. Now that iTunes increased prices to $1.29 per song, purchasing music has become less appealing to consumers than ever before.

“I understand that it’s wrong, but music is so over priced,” junior Kendall Peete said. “It’s almost expected that people will find a way around the system.”

Most people would never even consider stealing; for example, just walking out of a clothing store without paying for a t-shirt. Our sense of right and wrong keeps most of us from committing such a selfish and iniquitous act. Yet, when it comes to stealing copyrighted music, people don’t think that the same rules apply.

“I don’t think of it as stealing,” senior Dylan Gil said. “Everyone does it.”

Contrary to popular opinion, illegally downloading or duplicating copyrighted music is the same as stealing. The criminal penalties can be as high as five years in prison or $250,000 in fines. According to Gil, if he has been illegally downloading music since he was in middle school, then he will never get caught in the future. On the other hand, some students were given heart palpitations over this information.

“I definitely wouldn’t steal a CD,” Peete said. “Getting a free song from Miley Cyrus isn’t worth the risk.”

According to Forrester, just sixty-four percent of Americans who buy digital music think that music is worth paying for. Online download tracker BigChampagne Media Measurement stated that unauthorized downloads continue to represent ninety percent of the market. This greatly impacts artists, who make a large portion of their money from CD sales, track sales on iTunes, and other legal music sites.

“As an artist, it can be discouraging that people don’t realize how much time and effort you put into making and promoting a record,” singer Stacie Orrico said in an interview with the Christian Music Trade Association. “Everyone thinks that as soon as you have a song on radio, you are living glamorously. For many of us, that is far from the truth. There are many people that contribute to my career as an artist and, when you participate in illegal copying of music, you not only hurt the artist, you hurt all the support staff that work with them.”

According to Chicago Sun-Times’ Jim Derogatis and the Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot, artists shouldn’t expect to make money off of recorded music anymore; they should get accustomed to making most of it on the road. Artists are forced to solely rely on touring for their source of income, where fans pay for their ticket as well as merchandise. Because of the decline in artists’ revenue, prices to attend concerts have skyrocketed. Pollstar, a research firm that tracks the economy, stated that in 1996, a ticket to one of America’s top 100 concert tours cost only $25.81. If prices had increased in line with inflation, the average ticket would have cost $35.30 last year, compared to the $100 it cost to attend a concert as popular as Lady Gaga’s.

Music piracy affects the entire music community as well as the artists. It has a very real and harmful impact on virtually everyone – from countless musicians, songwriters, performers, producers, recording engineers, and many others who work in the music industry.

The music industry has tried to keep up by licensing ringtones, music on popular Internet radio stations like Pandora, and music videos on YouTube. Digital licensing revenue reached $84 million in 2009, and it has been expected to grow substantially in the coming years. Though, licensing fees don’t make up for the volume of total lost sales.

“The combined effect of interactive multimedia, a growth in digital licensing and services such as Lala, which was bought by Apple last December, will ultimately help give sales a boost,” Forrester Research’s music analyst Sonal Gandhi said.

While fingers are crossed for a rapid improvement in the music industry, it is truly dependant upon this generation to turn the situation around. The excuse that “everyone does it” isn’t going to cut it anymore. The problem is not going to repair itself, and it’s about time for those with lackadaisical attitudes to understand the severe impact their heedless decision to download illegally has on the entire music industry.