A comprehensive perspective on the politics of music file-sharing over the internet Jul 28 '01    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Software Microsoft Windows 7 Professional From $21 Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 From $84 The Bottom Line Napster's downfall shows not how concerned musicians are with music stealing, but how much the RIAA wants to strictly control its avenue to the public (and thus its profits). The controversy surrounding Napster and the Recording Industry Association of America has taken on a recent discouraging turn. The media has well-covered the argument made by artists such as Metallica and Dr. Dre about how Napster promotes the idea of "music stealing" and getting high quality music for free. What I'd like to do is offer a perspective on the bigger picture of music file-sharing for those who have only scratched the surface of the issue, and perhaps try to point to some of the reasoning behind the conflict and its own problems. A PERSONAL SCENARIO Maybe I just don't appreciate the quality and time that Britney Spears takes in creating her music (oh wait.... Britney Spears doesn't write her own music, does she?), but i'm just not a fan of popular music. I get annoyed or bored with anything played on the radio, whether it is top 40, alternative, r&b/hip hop - even the classical music station doesn't play the type of classical music i like to hear. The only way I used to be able to hear music that interested me was through the MTV shows Headbanger's Ball, 120 Minutes, and AmpTV, and those shows don't exist on MTV anymore. (Classical music is another story, but that's not important right now.) So there was a period where I didn't buy that many CDs because I never got a chance to hear anything new that I liked. The only CDs I would end up buying were recommendations by friends or new albums by groups that I already had knowledge of. It made my listening collection very limited, and after a while, i pretty much stopped buying CDs. Then I discovered Napster. I was a latecomer to the already thriving Napster community, so it wasn't hard to find any music I wanted to find. A friend of mine recommended a group to me, so I would download a couple of tracks off of Napster and decide, "eh. it's okay." Another friend would recommend something to me and I would download a few of those tracks. I'd say, "eww!" and never download a track again. Then, one friend told me about an artist who goes by the name of Squarepusher. He said, "Download a few tracks off of Napster. See if you like it." So I did, and i loved it. So I downloaded some more tracks, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. And I still loved it. So then i bought two Squarepusher CDs, and i'm ready to buy more. I'm going to the Squarepusher concert in Portland in a week and a half. And if it wasn't for Napster, I would have never heard of Squarepusher to buy any of his CDs four months ago. THE MORAL OF THE STORY Because radio frustrates me so much, internet music file-sharing has become my version of "radio". It's the only way I can find music that I would consider going out to a music store to buy. Even if i do hear a track on the radio I like, i'm wary to go out and buy the album unless I know more about it - i've bought too many albums where I like maybe one or two tracks, but the rest of the album is horrible. Since Napster has recently been disconnected, and I haven't gotten around to finding a similar service yet to find new music, ask me if I've bought any new CDs in a while. But music file-sharing serves other functions in addition to being just an avenue to audition obscure music albums. nostalgia - Because of the wide tastes of every individual, music file-sharing is a way to share any kind of music at any point in history in a way that retail cannot do. What if you liked a single track by a single group that disbanded in the early 80s? Maybe it was your first date song. Maybe it was your wedding song. Maybe the CD it's on isn't in print anymore, so the only way to find it on CD is to buy one of those 2 CD collections. Are you going to spend $20 or more on a lot of songs you don't want just so you can find that one sentimental tune? Most likely not. research - I've had to analyze a lot of classical music for my music theory classes, and Napster was a great way to find recordings of works for research purposes. What if I'm doing a paper comparing various performances of Bach's first prelude and fugue? In order to get all of the research materials I need, I'd have to find various CDs of all of the preludes and fugues, since no CD will have just the first. Do I shell out over $200 or more for all of those CDs just for the first two tracks of each CD? Do I wait two or so weeks so i can borrow the CDs for one week through an interlibrary loan? Or do i find what I need through the ultimate research tool of the internet with next to no cost or extra hassle? BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY MP3 file sharing is a way for smaller and more varied groups outside of the mainstream get exposure at little or no cost to themselves. Let's face it. Is the issue here really about the musicians or is it about the recording industry? Metallica were pawns for the RIAA in this whole Napster controversy - I'm sure that out of the proceeds for album sales, a majority of the money does not actually go to the band but to the RIAA. And the RIAA's intentions are not to preserve the integrity of the musician's rights - they, like any other corporate giant like AOL, are in it for profit. RIAA doesn't give a dren (forgive the farscape curse word) about the musicians at all. Big and successful groups may be hurt by the mainstreaming of file sharing, but so many more groups are hurt by its decline. There are a lot of great artists and musicians out there, and there is no chance that they would get a contract with RIAA (or if they did, they might get a penny for every 1000 albums sold or similarly limiting contract) because they don't fit the mold of what the RIAA is trying to push. And what is the RIAA trying to push? Instant gratification groups that are more about image than they are about quality. So the "real" musicians get traded for pop glamor like Britney Spears or NSYNC or a similar pop sensation (that, incidentally, will themselves get traded and replaced in less than five years). So what are the stragglers supposed to do? Find their own way to finance the publication of their CDs? How will they get the money to press their CDs to everyone in the nation? How will they convince mainstream radio to play them if they don't fit in the mold? Without proper sponsorship and publicity, those musicians will get weeded out - no artists have the money to make their own platinum success. So if they all die out, what will be left are a) "temporary groups" like the aforementioned NSYNC, or b) groups that survive just because of their history (like Led Zeppelin who, while defunct, still sell a lot of albums, or Rush, who, while still together, rely upon a lot of their earlier fame since they don't fit the popular mold of today). THE BOTTOM LINE Sure, there are some people that like getting free music, and maybe that's their purpose for using MP3 file-sharing. But the amount of people like that is a fraction of the music sharing community. The loss that the musicians sustain from freeloaders is minuscule compared to what the music sharing community and the greater musician community lose due to its suppression. The gain we give to the RIAA is also no small matter - it's the equivalent of helping finance Darth Vader's completion of the death star. While there are alternatives that exist to Napster for music file-sharing, the fact that Napster lost their battle can be the springboard for other decisions that will essentially help to empower the already successful and squash the small and upcoming in the name of profit. I myself am trying to earn my degree in music composition. Will I even be able to get my foot in the door of success without the nationwide radio of the internet? I have no interest in sacrficing my creativity or artistic rights in favor of becoming a one-year pop star. High quality music of many varieties outside of the popular culture can only evolve and stay afloat if either the RIAA changes their philosophy (unlikely) or if there can be an alternative avenue for music sharing that can give it the recognition that it deserves, and programs like Napster, Gnutella, and Aimster are the forces that can make that happen. POSTLUDE: An incredibly well-written technical article that expands on the RIAA's trends can be found at: http://www.airwindows.com/analysis/Evergreens.html The article shows statistical data about top grossing album trends as put out by the RIAA and gives an explanation for its decline and the decline of popular music. It also explains the importance of Napster and its cultural origins, as well as the impact of music sharing over the internet for the RIAA, musicians, and consumers. --- DISCLAIMER Okay, so I searched around epinions for about a half hour to try to figure out where I would write this article. This is the best that I could come up with. I'll humbly defer to anyone who can offer a category that this article better fits.

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