Technology has been embraced in the society on different scales, making some industries to flourish while affecting others. With the use of the internet and technology in general, the world has been considered as a global village where one can get a lot of required information in a very short period. Music is one industry that is currently crippling due to the problems that are caused by the internet. There are a large number of music programs that can easily be downloaded over the internet, and this has caused a lot of controversy between the music industry and the internet. Peer-to-peer (P-2-P) is one area that has posed a major challenge to the music industry to control. Digital music have gone a notch high due to issues like P-2-P which has led the music industry to be called a free space., putting the realm of music as a business into question (Wynants, Cornelis, & Brussel, 2008).
In any business, there is the issue of free market which regulates the market operations. However, in the free market, there still is regulation which has to be observed. To the music industry, the regulation is becoming meaningless if there is no proper enforcement. Music production in digital form is undermining the idea of scarcity which is essential for any business. This has made the idea of copyright to be a hotspot between the music producers and those involved in the digital production. The music fraternity has seen the internet as being abused in the production of music. Various websites have come up and allow people to download music without having to consult the owners. As the technology continues to grow, MP3 music can easily be downloaded from the internet. This has led to increased war between the consumers of the MP3 music, and the musicians and their producers, led by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). There are many legal music clips placed on the internet, but at the same time there are others that have been placed illegally by the pirates. The RIAA and IFPI feel that their rights have been infringed by loosing the control of producing, and distributing the music. Those in favor of downloading the music argue in favor of it basically as a way of freedom of expression and ensuring civil liberty has been preserved (Brower, 1999).
In essence, the use of MP3 and the internet has ended up gaining a lot of popularity among music lovers. The technology has meant that many recording companies have been by passed as independent musicians have posted their music on the sites, hence creating a different mode of business that links them directly with the consumers. This has helped them to know how popular they are to their fans, and which songs are more popular among the fans (Wynants, Cornelis, & Brussel, 2008).
The current generation has witnessed increased use of the internet as a medium of communication, and this has actually been a source of controversy. There are musicians who support their music to be downloaded on the internet, while others do not advocate for this basically because of the abuse of their rights. There have been efforts by the recording industries to try and eliminate the issues of piracy in the music industry caused by internet usage, but has been less fruitful. This is because to succeed in this quest, the fight has to be directed to two groups; one that uploads the downloadable music and those hosting those illegal websites (Brower, 1999).
Those who are for the downloading on the other hand have also put forth means of countering the moves that could see the industry being controlled. These groups have put a lot of effort to see that online freedom is maintained. MP3.com has been one group that has constantly advocated for the online freedom. There are various cases that RIAA has taken to court challenging the issue of MP3 music downloads, but they have consequently lost, making MP3. com and their allies to be more vigilant in fighting for online freedom (Rose, 2008).
Due to the controversy that has continued to rock the industry, it has been of great concern for both parties to come up with a way that would leave all parties satisfied. One of the modes was to ensure that the internet holders pay some amount to rights holders. This implies that one would be charged for what they download and these profits passed to the rights holders. This means that one can then be allowed to download music from any site. The payment to the rights owners by the internet hosts is in the same manner the radio airplays has been reimbursing these groups, hence would make much sense and avoid controversy. Others have again viewed this as taking a legal action against P-2-P, hence continuing the controversy (Rose, 2008).
The argument here is that, this is issuing blanket license. However, whichever way, technology is here to stay, and instead of RIAA fighting it, the body has to look for completely better way that can make all the rights owners to reap the profits from the technology.
Reference:
Brower, E. (1999). MP3’s and the Music Industry, Retrieved on 24th February 2009 from http://transcriptions.english.ucsb.edu/archive/courses/liu/english165/student-papers/brower.html.
Rose, F (2008). New Details Revealed of Music Industry Plan to OK P2P, Retrieved on 24th February 2009 from http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2008/04/music_plan.
Wynants, M., Cornelis, J ; Brussel, V. U (2008). How Open is the Future?: Economic, Social ; Cultural Scenarios Inspired by Free ; Open-source Software; ISBN 9054873787, ASP / VUBPRESS Brussels,
