Does Illegal music sounds better?
By Denis Ozerov.
Diploma group D.
16/05/08
Table of contents
Summary
1.0 Introduction/Definition
1.1 History of music evolution
2.0 Illegal downloading
2.1 Benefits for customers
2.2 Graphs and statistic
2.3 Problem and solution
3.0 Conclusion
4.0 Bibliography
Summary.
Piracy of software, videos, games and music is stealing, whether this is done by copying films onto video or sharing music files with other people on the internet. Some people argue that it is acceptable to make illegal copies as everybody else does it. Other rationalize this kind of theft on the grounds that publishers set unacceptably high prices. They forget that publishers are entitled to set prices at whatever the market will take. Consumers have a choice. If they want the product enough, they should be prepared to pay for it. If not, they should go without.
Introduction/Definition.
I think probably everybody on the planet are listen to music. It's everywhere around us.
On the streets, in mobile phones, music players. People who like live performances can join concerts or find some club discos. Music can be different there are hundreds of different styles and directions. Nowadays its possible to find records of classic music, rare and quite old folk music, in the other hand market also full of modern artists with rock, punk, R'n'B and others.
History of music evolution.
Main point why we have got such a lot of illegal copies everywhere is the progress in recording and storage of music. Like the early years of the personal computing industry some hundred years later, the early years of the recording industry were chaotic. But the idea of hearing sound that had been captured at another time and place was so exciting.
The Early Days
The first known success in building a functioning device was that of Thomas Edison. Edison's phonograph recorded and played back sound mechanically, using a metal stylus and a cylinder wrapped with tin foil. Edison's device yielded harsh sound and did not hold up to repeated plays, and after a period of initial interest it failed to catch on with business (for dictation) or consumers.
Vinyl
By the mid-1880s, Alexander Graham Bell had developed a wax-coated cardboard cylinder - the graphophone - with better sound quality.
From a technical standpoint, the industry's first big post-war event was the 1948 introduction of the vinyl LP, developed under the direction of Peter Goldmark at Columbia Records. The 12-inch, 33 1/3 RPM LP offered playback of more than 20 minutes per side, and was far more durable than the dominant "78s" of the time.
Tape Recording
Developed at BASF in Germany and first shown publicly in 1935, magnetic tape recording was largely ignored in the United States for the next decade. In 1963 Philips demonstrated a format that would bring tape to the masses: the audio compact cassette. A rival tape format, the 8-track stereo cartridge, was introduced in 1966, and found broad success in automotive applications. Before the invention of blank tape it was close to impossible to COPY a record. The cassette's dominance of the prerecorded tape market was complete by 1983, by which time record labels ceased production of prerecorded 8-tracks.
The Digital Age
With digital recording music CD's are able to store at least 74 minutes of uninterrupted high-fidelity sound. There was no way to burn to a CD - at first, but technology has advanced so rapidly over the past twenty years that now you can burn the CD or mix right from your desktop.
And since 1992, the convergence of consumer electronics and computer products has accelerated, and many of the latest and most exciting technologies (such as MP3) have been built around general-purpose computer platforms.
Illegal downloading
Why are people downloading and file-sharing illegally?
It is hard question. Mainly because it is totally free, people don't want to pay really abnormal money for music in mega stores. Usual price for one licensed CD in England is £20, in Russia £2, China £0.5. And also this numbers may be various because of artist and date of record. One thing which distinguishes licensed copy from illegal is dividends. Its mean that artist will get some contribution from each copy which will be sold. This system is fair enough. How ether money which were paid for pirate CD go straight to merchant’s pocket. The main problem is that pirate CD are just a little bit cheaper and you can buy blank, or something with really awful quality.
What is in the internet? Probably the same thing but from another side. There are lots of internet sites and resources which are selling MP3 files, some of them pay to rights owners, some does not, anyway it is good to keep in mind that internet is really unsecured. Average price of one MP3 track on iTunes is £1. For other Europe iTunes it will be £0.60 (probably that's why apple company get a lot of complaints from English customers). For Russian analogues like “mp3spy.com”, “allofmp3.com” and others it will be just £0.05 .
But some sites are really free , holders get money for advertisement and just let another people to download. Another side of “charity” is sharing programs and sites. It is not a problem to rip CD at home and save it somewhere in the internet for absolutely free. Many people use “rapidshare”, “megaupload” and others.
Everything is all right, its just sharing, nobody feel shame or conscience problems. Finally I want to say that there is no different in quality between all this sources, I mean that no meter did you pay or not, track will be the same.
Also people download is for one of three reasons (usually):
a.) the music/artist is obscure or hard to find,
b.) They want to sample the music before they buy the CD or
c.) They only want a couple of songs off of the CD
But in front of face of judgement this is not a justification.
Advantages and Disadvantages of music sharing for musicians
Why it is not a good idea?
I’ve got friend who suffered from piracy. She is young rap “star”.
One month ago she decided to record CD. She was really surprised then all her songs were found in the internet with different, not hers, nicknames. Of course she didn’t get any money for her music.
Mainly artists don’t get money for their time and work.
In My Live Journal I made questionnaire to check people’s attitude to illegal downloading of music and file sharing process. Answers were shocking but predictable. As I thought before majority of respondents do not see illegal music sharing like a problem at all, moreover they support it.
Total number of respondents 64.
Do you use illegal downloading service?
Yes (43.5 %)
No (5.8 %)
Sometimes (29.0 %)
Only then I can not find necessary music in the store (21.7 %)
How long ago do you bought music CD?
Not long ago (14.1 %)
May be two weeks ago (7.8 %)
Half a year (51.6 %)
Newer (20.3 %)
I use tapes (6.2 %)
Do you think that media piracy is a crime?
Defiantly yes (15.2 %)
No (54.5 %)
I support file sharing (30.3 %)
How government trying to solve this problem?
I will bring few examples of actions on protection of artists and stores rights.
A 25-year-old man was arrested in London following a pan-European investigation led by the music industry. The unnamed man is alleged to be the UK agent for Allofmp3.com, facilitating the sale of digital downloads by advertising and selling vouchers through auction sites such as eBay and the website Allofmp3vouchers.co.uk. That website has now been taken down. The vouchers contained a code that allowed European consumers to access and download music from the allofmp3.com website.
A US senator wants to develop technology that will destroy computers used to illegally download music.. He advocated sending two warnings to computer users about illegal downloads.
In Canada, for example, downloading copyright music from peer-to-peer networks is legal, but uploading those files is not. Additionally Canada has imposed fees on recording mediums like blank CDs and similar items. These levies are used to fund musicians and songwriters for revenues lost due to consumer copying. Canada has initially charged this tax on MP3 players, but a recent Supreme Court decision ruled that the law was written in such a way that these players were exempt from the tax.
Conclusion
At the end I want to say that I am also use illegal music and I really don’t worry about it, I decided that its normal for me. Anyway some of downloaded tracks are rubbish , and it will be not a big pleasure to buy CD with them.
About piracy I think that its more “evil” then “good”, main reason is that I’ve got respect to artist. But history is shows as that compete between licensed products and illegal make prices go down. It perfect situation for customers.