Protect IP Act Set to Destroy Music Sharing
You may ask yourself; how do they intend to put an end to all of this? The answer is best addressed in the video below.
That being said, there are ultimately two sides to the argument of file sharing, though I am of the opinion that the pros strongly outweigh the cons in this situation. Yes, there are people and corporations who steal music and try to make a profit off of this stolen material, and that is bad. In this regard, the profits that may once have gone to the artist is being stolen and put right into the pocket of the thieves. On the other hand, however, as Ed O’Brien of Radiohead once stated: “in the terms of the innocent, passive file sharer, I think we have to give a bit of leeway. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that these people go and spend a lot of money on music themselves”.
This is true. As a musician and a file sharer myself, I understand that there is an evolution occurring within the music industry, and I would argue that this is exactly why the industry itself is attempting to pass this suicidal bill into legislation: they are losing a control of their artists, and no longer does the mannequin dance when it is told to. Additionally, they are losing their fat slice of revenue pie and are simply not needed anymore. Musicians have become sufficiently DIY and recording a CD is as easy as buying some decent musical equipment and recording the music yourself. Distributing as stated previously is as easy as clicking upload on a number of file sharing websites – most popularly, YouTube.
Although it has become virtually effortless to steal music nowadays, I strongly believe there is a collective respect when it comes to file sharing amongst music listeners. For examples, when I share music with my friends, there is no malicious intent behind my actions; I am simply trying to spread the word about good music.
This collective respect for the artist by the listeners translates into buying records as well. Quit often I hear people say: “If I like the music, I’ll buy the record or go to the show”. Because people are still buying records and going to concerts (which leads to the purchasing of merchandise), musicians are still seeing an overwhelming support, whereas the industry has been left in the dust.
This is why the PROTECT IP ACT cannot pass. It is a greed driven attempt by the music industry to regain control of something they no longer have a handle on – the musicians themselves.
And so, I urge you to take a stand against the destruction of the global community the last ten years of the internet has created.
Lastly, I will leave you with an article from Talking Head’s David Byrne explaining just exactly how tight of a grip the music industry has on musicians these days. -Michael Langiewicz
