Benefits of Music Downloading
...ny more people to concerts. Obviously record labels would prefer increased CD sales to increased ticket sales, but CD sales are only part of the picture in the music industry. In fact, record labels are also only part of the picture in the music industry. The added popularity of various artists through music sharing benefits the artists, booking companies, and venue owners across the nation. Even if people download a band’s music illegally and then don’t buy the CD, they probably wouldn’t have bought the CD anyway. Such people, however, are then certainly more likely to attend the band’s concert than they would be had they not heard the band at all. These people, having at least listened to the music by downloading it, are therefore also more likely to buy other merchandise besides CDs like t-shirts. While file sharing is most likely largely responsible for the great decline in sales that has been plaguing the industry, it is not the only aspect. In recent years other factors have brought harm upon the industry. The regression of CD sales can also be attributed in part to the fact that major record labels have been producing what is commonly perceived as increasingly bland and boring music. It seems that these major labels often try to produce music that fits into MTV (Music Television) trends. In recent years there has been a very strong backlash against major label power through the growth of the independent music industry. Independent labels have been growing and though they are nowhere near as powerful as the majors they do offer an outlet to disgruntled music fans. There are also other reasons for the growth of the independent side of the music industry. It is only logical that through illegal downloading music fans have the same opportunity to acquire most independent label releases as they have to obtain major label releases. This makes sense because with illegal downloading, the significance of advertising is decreased. Even though independent label can’t compete with the promotional and distributional power of the major record labels, Peer to Peer File-Sharing programs offer much more even exposure, which obviously benefits the independents. Since independent labels tend to offer more music that fits outside of the MTV trends (music that is different from the music released on major labels), and since it reasonable for people to listen to new varieties of music when available, Music file sharing is in many ways a massive benefit to the independent music industry. Peer-to-Peer music file sharing also benefits the music industry by providing it with a i free method to determine what kinds of bands are likely to become popular. It is essentially free market research. This free market research can also help record labels to price their CDs in such a way that will help them too maximize profits. “If [record labels are] aware of the true value of a song to consumers, [they] can set the price accordingly to maximize profits” (Gopal 39) By determining which songs and albums are traded most, record labels can then properly price those songs and albums. Furthermore, file sharing serves as free promotion and advertising in many cases, giving consumers an opportunity to listen to many bands that they might not otherwise hear. Perhaps the greatest pitfall of the modern music industry is that the powers that be, the major labels, are too concerned with the financial aspect of the industry. Indeed, music is a business, but it is an art form first. It is only natural that when an art form is shaped and molded mainly by a desire for financial gain that people will become bored and dissatisfied with those that produce this “watered-down” art. According to a massive research study conducted by three college profesors; Ram D. Gopal and Sudip Bhattacharjee of the University of Connecticut and G. Lawrence Sanders of the State University of New York, “The revenue impact of sharing technologies depends on the actual value of the music to consumers” (Gopal 20). File sharing gives music consumers a great opportunity to evaluate the quality of the music that record labels produce prior to buying it. Subsequently,...