Friday, October 15, 2010

Piracy problems?

Piracy – what’s all the big fuss about, really?

Multi-national cooperation’s that continue to raise a huge hue and cry about how much piracy is eating into their revenue should really step back and have a think.

For singers, celebrities and producers alike, piracy is actually probably a good thing. At the risk of sounding a bit too optimistic - perhaps, the best thing that’s ever happened to the music industry. Piracy of music means that everyone has access to it – so more people are watching and listening to them than ever before. The way I see it, piracy has proven to be one of the most strategic marketing tools ever. Music and songs that otherwise may never have seen the light of day, are now on everyone’s lips; and only because it’s available freely and easily accessible.

Sure, singers probably make a lot more money through concerts because of reduced CD and song sales, but what’s wrong about that? The way that the industry and market has evolved is probably the only way it should have evolved. The result is mutually beneficial – audiences and listeners get free access to music & artists get a chance to get their music right out there & to the masses.

So give me a break. Piracy is hardly a hurdle desperately needing to be overcome, in fact, it’s what the music industry needs to grow, survive and thrive.

2 comments:

  1. The greatest thing that's ever happened to the music industry? Really?

    Artists generally need to be signed to a record company in order to get their music to the stage where it can be illegally file shared. They'll probably need to be signed so they can be promoted by their label, have singles and videos released, and get noticed at all by the people that will download their music for free and then -potentially- attend their gigs. With piracy, record labels have considerably less money to throw around on new acts. It's a lot harder to get signed, because it's a lot harder for the companies to make money off the musicians, gigs or not.

    A lot of musicians miss out on getting signed, miss out on getting noticed, and miss out on (the privilege, apparently) of getting illegally downloaded by people at all.

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  2. As an afterthought, even if piracy is good for musicians, shouldn't they still have a choice in whether people may recieve their material for free? That's why it's called "piracy" and not marketing.

    If it's so great for business, then musicians that insist on charging for music will miss out, right?

    (Don't get me wrong, I know it's impossible to end piracy and that the industry is just going to have to adjust to make the most of it.)

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