The argument of wherever the internet has killed the music industry is an extensive argument filled with many arguments for why the internet is to blame and other reasons for why the internet is not to blame. I will be exploring how the internet has not only hindered the music industry but how it has also helped the music industry at the same time. With up to sixty percent of adults who access the internet on a daily basis (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=8) and seventy-one percent of households in Britain have broadband (http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/753567/UK-internet.pdf) it is no surprise why the internet is the main suspect for killing the music industry. With such a large amount of people accessing the internet on a daily basis, the rise in downloading music is expected. The music industries are trying their best to regain the status they once had before the internet was as popular as it is today. However, as we will see this will not be so easy for the music industry to do because of big the internet is. Ever since “MP3 formatted music files on the internet this meant a wealth of material was ‘out there’ for those who knew how to look” (David, M 2010) it has been a slow increase in the culture of downloading music.
One of the main reasons for why the internet is being seen as the main contributor to killing the music industry is because it has made downloading music access able to everyone who has an internet connection. As mentioned in my introduction a large amount of people have a broadband connection meaning that downloading music is quick and easy. Along with it being quick and easy in most cases downloading music is free; this makes it desirable to many internet users. Yes, the downloading of music without paying for it is illegal; however, the positives outweigh the negatives. With the downloading of free music is illegal it is not treated as if it is. People do not treat it as if they are committing a crime people happily tell others of when or what they have recently downloaded for free. This is because the majority of people download music for free so people do not see themselves as doing any wrong. It is because of this attitude towards illegal downloading there is no surprise to see that CD sales have fallen so much over the past couple of years “sales of singles in the UK fell by 30% in 2003 and while album sales have remained relatively stable over the last three years, their average price has fallen significantly.” (The British Record Industry 2004).These statistics were taken from the BPI Statistical Handbook 2004 and the statistics reflect the music industry in the year 2003. Even though these statistics were taken over six years ago, it shows how even then the decline was noticeable. Many people choose to either download illegally or download music and pay for it because it gives choice. People now have control over what and who they want to listen. “Although singles now only account for a small part of total sales revenue they still remain an integral part of the UK record business in many ways. However factors such as illegal downloading have placed enormous pressure on the singles market in recent years” (The British Record Industry 2004). Over recent years, since this statistic was published the effect illegal downloading has had on singles is noticeable. Not only does it effect the sales of singles and albums it is also effecting music shops. HMV which is the biggest music retailer recently announced that “its annual profits have more than halved.” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6252300.stm) Unfortunately due to bad sales Music Zone which was the third largest music and film retailer collapsed into administration in 2007. It is these profit loss and closure of music retailers that are putting the blame on the internet and illegal downloading. People no longer have to buy an album to just listen to the odd track, they can now select specific songs of albums and just pay for those songs instead of paying for songs they will not listen to. It is this freedom that people enjoy having wherever they are paying to have the freedom or doing it illegally, many people thrive off this freedom. The thought of being caught and being prosecuted by the police no longer crosses peoples mind when they are downloading illegally. The lack of fear that people have mean that the thought of prosecution does not bother them as the evidence of people being prosecuted is very little. People are not being prosecuted because it is hard to track people down this is mainly down to how vast the internet is. Along with how vast the internet is people are downloading music through peer to peer (P2P) file sharing applications and programmes such as Bittorrent and Limewire. It is through people downloading files from other people instead of downloading it from specific websites it becomes even harder for these people to be tracked and prosecuted.
However on 26th October 2010 Limewire was closed down by an injunction issued by the US district court in New York “the injunction compels Lime Group to disable its searching, downloading, uploading and file trading features.” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11635320)
However the internet has not killed the music industry entirely as it has helped the music industry as well. The internet has managed to do this through social networks sites such as MySpace and other websites such as youtube. Myspace has played a major part in helping the music industry as it has helped music industry find artists who are good and who already have a strong fan base. Myspace music allowed anyone to sign up and upload music to their page which then anyone could listen to. People without a Myspace account could also listen to this music. Artist such as Lily Allen and Justin Bieber have both found success through the internet. Lily Allen managed to get a record deal because of her Myspace page that had received thousands of views. Justin Bieber on the other hand gained his success through the website Youtube. Youtube is now one of the most popular video websites on the internet with the number of videos on the site reaching into the billion mark. Youtube again is a website that anyway can watch videos on there is no need to watch the videos. It is on youtube that if the video is very popular it can get millions of views, through this it can be seen how easy it is for people to gain success from the website. It is websites like these that gives everyone an opportunity to get noticed, it is no longer as hard as it use to be to get a record deal as the companies know in advance if they are going to be popular and if they are worthwhile in investing in.
Another reason for why the internet has helped the music industry is because of iTunes. iTunes has helped the music industry by making paying for downloads easy and accessible.
Some people would also argue that it is the invention of the iPod that has been a partner in crime with the internet killing the music industry. “New technologies make it easier today to access recorded music without paying the holder of its legal monopoly.” (David, M 2010) This is because with the iPod there is a more need for people to download music. The iPod is a device that plays and stores MP3 files and is a very popular MP3 player. “The development of the iPod and of iTunes, highlights the competing pressures within the commercial recording industry to seek both maximum audience share and maximum control over the product.” (David, M 2010) The iPod has changed the way music is played and how people obtain their music. With the choice of memory space that is offered with the iPod the need to obtain more music through downloading is unavoidable.
Another minor argument that some people have argued is that only the music industry are the ones to blame not the internet. As Matthew David points out “compression technology was developed for and by the entertainment industry, rather as digital recording was” (David, M 2010) it is the music industry that set the ball rolling and then the internet carried this on. Through this we can see why some people would blame the music industry for making this mistake and they are therefore the ones to blame and not the internet.
In conclusion, it is clear to say that the internet has been the main cause for the problems within the music industry. However, I would say that the internet has not killed the music industry but the internet has changed the way the music industry. So instead of saying the internet has killed the music industry I would say that the internet has changed the music industry. This is because the music industry is still go strong, not as strong as they us to be but they are still holding on. If the internet has changed the music industry for good or worse, we have still yet to see. The music industry will never have the power that it use to have before the internet became so widely accessible. People enjoy being able to listen to what they want and when they want. With devices, such as the iPod it has made this possible, people can listen to as many songs as they want on the go unlike before with the portable CD player they would have to of carried many CDs with them for them to be able to do this. “Lack of disposable income, perceived high CD prices, resentment towards “fatcat” record industry and relatively easy availability are driving a free download culture.” ( http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/radio-research/ipod.pdf) this shows that the numbers of people downloading will not decline but carry on rising. The authorities and the music industry have a long fight ahead of them if they want to get this downloading culture underhand. But from what has been discussed earlier it looks like this is unachievable. Technology and the internet are developing everyday and it looks as if there will always be ways of people downloading music illegally. I also believe that if the music industry was able to clamp down on illegal downloading there will be a worldwide out cry. This is because downloading music has become the norm for many people and many people no longer see downloading music for free as being illegal.
Bibliography
The British Record Industry (2004). BPI Statistical Handbook. Cornwall: Cornwall Litho. 12-83.
David, M (2010). Peer to Peer and the Music Industry: The Criminalization of Sharing. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. 30-37.
Davis, E (2006). Led Zeppelin IV. London: Continuum International
All websites were accessed on 12th January 2010
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11635320
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11635320
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6252300.stm
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/radio-research/ipod.pdf
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/753567/UK-internet.pdf
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=8
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