How can the music industry fight back against piracy?
Piracy has been a major obstacle for the music industry as the internet continues to make illegally downloading music easier and easier. Between 2004 and 2009, the number of illegal music downloads on peer-to-peer sharing networks, such as Limewire, surpassed 30 billion. Many argue that the industry needs to crack down on piracy, and crack down they did. For years the RIAA fought tooth and nail against the piracy taking place on these services, but it backfired, and in 2008 cut back on their campaign on the P2P networks. Today, potential purchasers can now simply rip their favorite music cost-free from Youtube or Soundcloud with the help of easy to install browser extentions. It should be no surprise then that the industry had shrunk by over 13 billion dollars between 1999 and 2015. If piracy continues to be such a big issue, but cracking down on those responsible is self defeating, what can the music industry do to maintain legal sales? “A change in business model”, says Jim Sterling in his 2012 video “Piracy- Trying To Kill It Makes It Stronger”. “I used to download music, and I didn’t do it legally. Who did? It was always easier to fire up Limewire or something, look for what ever song I wanted off the album they were selling for 13 quid in MVC and download my own personal tunes. I didn’t need or want full albums”, Sterling explains. “I could do everything from home. As soon as the music industry pulled its head out of its ass, stopped trying to litigate the competition out of business, and joined in with it, I picked up my credit card. I buy music these days, but it was not through a change of heart or a moral epiphany. It was through a change in business model. Now that iTunes has become so popular and more artists make their stuff available, I don’t need Limewire anymore. iTunes is more convenient. I can type in a band’s name and get all of its music nicely arranged for me to pick and choose from. No more worry of viruses. No more people listing Phil Collins’ solo stuff as Genesis and Genesis stuff as Phil Collins’”. Jim concludes that “iTunes offers a better service than pirates do” and that consumers will “gladly pay for something that takes the effort out of doing it ourselves”. Sterling’s argument has been somewhat dated with the rise of Apple Music and Spotify, but it speaks to how great of a service they provide over the alternative. By removing the need to purchase individual tracks in favor of allowing access to a vast library of music for a fixed monthly rate, streaming has dominated the industry. I love the fact that I can start listening to an album on Spotify while on my laptop, and then continue where I left off on my phone, something no other music service I know of can do. By continuing to find ways of making finding and listening to music easier and more convenient, the industry will win the wallets of music consumers.
Sources
Mitchell, David M., et al. “Did the RIAA’s Prosecution of Music Piracy Impact Music Sales?” Atlantic Economic Journal, vol. 46, no. 1, 30 Jan. 2018, pp. 59–71., doi:10.1007/s11293–017–9567–1.
Sterling, Jim. Jimquisition: Piracy — Trying To Kill It Makes It Stronger. YouTube, The Escapist, 30 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt7kCDBy5Vo&feature=youtu.be&t=47s.
