Music piracy is destroying the industry
Websites like YouTube have increased illegal music downloads, taking a toll on the business.
February 11, 2015
by Elsa Feigenbaum
It seems so simple, so harmless. That amazing song you just have to have plays on the radio, but then you see that $1.29 box on iTunes. Have no fear, you can just illegally pirate that song off the internet as you destroy the careers of singers, songwriters, producers, publishers, and audio engineers everywhere.
Pirating has been made extremely accessible to its users. First, all one has to do is search the phrase “YouTube to MP3” into Google. Google will then spit out pages upon pages of many a virus filled website ready to commit crimes and probably hack into your computer. Next, one can simply look up their favorite song on YouTube, copy and paste the URL, and hooray. Now you have the qualifications to pay $250,000 worth of fine and you might even get to take a nice vacation to prison for five years.
But the music industry is taking a hit from this “harmless” piracy. In 2011, a mere 5% of all downloaded music had been legally obtained, an average of $800 worth of piracy per iPod. Last January, record sales hit their lowest point since 1991, not to mention the 53% drop in music sales this year.
But if it so harmful, why do people pirate?
One of many answers is the outrageous prices of iTunes. Why would anyone pay $15 dollars for an album when you could have it for free with the few clicks of a button.
Whether it’s the prices or the illusion that committing felonies makes you cool, music pirating is destroying the industry. Because whether you feel like paying for that song or not, someone is depending on that money. And thinking about how that song download could cost someone their job, is it really worth it?
Anonymous Rockhurst Student • Mar 11, 2015 at 7:56 pm
While that is true, it’s just a part of what technology is today. Are the major record labels and artists still making tons of money? Yes. Are people losing their jobs over this? No. The same thing happened way back when, except things were recorded manually. Plus, with up and coming bands, if theyre good, they’ll be funded by people who care about them and know their ability, piracy isn’t going to affect them until they are huge. People who arent good will be thrown by the wayside, and that would happen eventually anyway. Stopping piracy as a whole is an unreal possibility for the forseeable future.
Helen Wheatley • Feb 11, 2015 at 1:53 pm
Not only does it cost someone their job, but it’s created such a prominent hole in the business that a kid with a guitar in his garage doesn’t have nearly as large of a chance at making it in the business as they used to before these shenanigans started!