The Consumption of Popular Music

By David Miller

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

            This blog aims to build off of the theme of popular music and identify how file sharing and piracy have plagued its various modes of consumption.  It is to be contended that free downloading/pirating have effectively replaced the traditional aspect of buying recorded music.  The ideal of downloading music for free has become all too popular, for studies now show that about 95% of music downloads are pirated.  Even though the multinational corporations that own music record labels have annually been making a few billion dollars off of digital downloads, this still only accounts for approximately 5% of the world’s downloaded music.  Society’s consumption of popular music through file sharing and piracy has brought about two different types of reactions.

            Gilbert B. Rodman and Cheyanne Vanderdonckt’s article “Music for Nothing or, I Want My Mp3” exemplifies one of the noteworthy opinions regarding the idea of consuming popular music through file sharing and piracy.  They suggest that a new discourse was starting to surround file sharing; one that it was not only considered to be immoral but that it should also be considered illegal.  This notion was represented through an article published in Forbes Magazine during 2012.  It is to be contended that piracy and file sharing harm the economy in multiple ways.  Some of these include the loss of jobs for a significant portion of the middle class workers that work in the entertainment industry.  Multinational corporations that own record labels employ copious amounts of individuals, and because of a lack of profit in regards to free downloading, many worker’s salaries cannot be up kept and therefore must be terminated.  Furthermore, free downloading and piracy seems to harm struggling artists, production crews, start-up social media companies and even large recording studios.

            However, on the other side of the spectrum, some individuals feel that pirating music seems to favour our society, for the positives seem to outweigh the negative aspects in relation to the economy.  The circulation of music amongst society adds to an artist’s popularity amongst the masses and serves its initial purpose of entertaining individuals and changing the music landscape in some way.   It is clear that an artist, or record company for that matter, does not make the same amount of profit that they once would; but there are several other advantages that outweigh this negative.  The first advantage has to do with recognition, as so many more people become familiar with the music created by an artist.  This has the capacity to increase an artist’s exposure, which would be much harder for them to obtain without file sharing.  Secondly, it forces artists to go on tour more often than they would normally; for this is one of the main ways that they make money.  Touring allows loyal fans to bear witness to their favourite music being played before them and adds a sense of authenticity as well as excitement that cannot be captured by simply listening to a track on an album.

            Regardless of one’s opinion on file sharing and piracy, it seems like a trend that is here to stay, for it has successfully re-defined how individuals consume music.  It is my recommendation that individuals try not to take sides on this matter, and simply learn to co-exist with file sharing and piracy in a way that benefits society’s greater good.  It is obvious that music exists to facilitate a form of expression, and this is all that should matter, we need to start looking past its economic pitfalls.