|
|
The end of Napster? Hardly!Feb 24 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Music
The Bottom Line The music industry had better figure out how to make money from MP3 file sharing because that practice is going to continue.
So, everyone's written off Napster as a lost cause. "Oh, it's all over for them," we've been told. "A court said so!" And, of course, we've heard about the integrity of artists being protected and all that sort of rot. Here's the thing, though -- if you think some court can shut down the technology that made Napster possible, you're either naive or living in a dreamworld. Napster is simply a way to let computer users get together and share MP3 files they've either made or have downloaded. Manufacturing and finding those files is no big chore, and rest assured that computer users will still find ways to hook up and share those things. The court system can go screw itself, as far as a lot of folks are concerned, anyway. I doubt they'll be too concerned about getting caught sharing music. Ask all those folks who post copyrighted software on WAREZ sites about how unlikely it is to be found out by our bumbling government that's still trying to understand the ramifications of the Internet. So, file sharing's going to continue. As long as the record industry charges $15 for a piece of plastic-coated metal that takes a few pennies to manufacture, people are going to find a way to get free music. The record industry can talk all it wants about making "encrypted discs" and that kind of rot, but such protections will be broken by eager hackers around the world and the flow of free music will continue. It may be a little harder to get, but it'll be available to those who know where to look. Instead of fighting Napster and the groups that will surely follow it, the record industry should look at a way to profit from this technology. Is the answer in charging $4 or $5 for a song that's downloaded over the Internet? No. No one wants that. Is the answer to hire more lawyers and file more suits? Nope. You lose more cash than you gain that way. The answer, I think, is to do what radio stations have done for years. When music was first played over the radio, the music industry reacted in horror. Why, who would want to buy recordings and sheet music when songs could be heard for free? It was the end of the world for the music industry! Why, radio was going to destroy everything, and no one could make a living as a musician after evil, evil radio spread throughout the nation. As it turns out, radio helped promote artists. This led to more record sales, of course. More importantly when analyzing radio with respect to Napster, though, is the fact that radio stations started paying license fees for the right to play music. The flow of cash didn't stop, see, and radio stations and record companies made some serious cash in the process. Something similar needs to be worked out between the music industry and Napster. People are going to download MP3 files, anyway, so why not reach an agreement with the most visible and centralized exchange for those files? In other words, now is the time for the music industry to move in and figure out how to profit from the file sharing that's going to go on with or without its support. Finally, I've heard all about protecting the rights of the artist. That's just fine. Protect away, and you'll get no complaint from me. However, I'd also suggest that the rights of the consumer ought to be protected. We have, essentially, four record companies that control the industry. Those companies set the record prices in their collusion, and have set out to rob the public blind with their nutty pricing of discs. Now, I ask you. What's the bigger crime -- getting a free song here or there, or bilking the public out of millions of dollars by having the authority to remove the "demand" element from the marketplace and setting the highest price possible for music? Napster may have violated a few copyright laws, but I'd argue that the record company has screwed the hell out of us with their scheming, plotting and insane pricing. The music industry needs to reach an agreement with Napster so that it can make some cash from file sharing technology. Folks are going to make MP3 files and share them anyway, so license fees are the way the music industry needs to go.  |
| Read all comments (2)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
by kiwifella
by starcollector
![Revelation [Digipak] by Journey Reviews](http://di1.shopping.com/images/pi/73/9c/e0/2046466476-100x100-0-0.jpg?p=p10.d02260e70fd66ef0476a&a=2&c=1&l=8071320&t=120604185226&r=1)
![Irony Is a Dead Scene [EP] by The Dillinger Escape Plan Reviews](http://di1.shopping.com/images/pi/6b/71/9f/2005398205-100x100-0-0.jpg?p=p8.a01fad3679351f6c876e&a=2&c=1&l=8071320&t=120604185227&r=1)
