Eric Newby over at NewbsRadio recently did a shoutout to people in/who work with the music industry to respond about on the state of the recording industry for an upcoming podcast. More specifically the music industry vs. people who download music. This was brought on by a letter written by University of Georgia professor, David Lowery, to a NPR intern who claimed to posses more than 11,000 songs in digital format, though she only admited to buying about 15 cds in her 21 years on the planet.
He asked us to consider a couple things:
- What if I said that I believed that times have changed, a generation has spoken and they are fine with not paying for music therefore the music industry has got to get over it and figure out a new way of making money?
- What if I said that it’s clear the value of music entertainment has diminished
I have many thoughts on this subject along with a journey that brought me to my current beliefs. So instead of a simple answer I am going to write a whole post on my journey into and out of piracy.
In 1997 (I was 10) my parents started giving me an allowance of $10 a week. I saved my first two allowances and purchased Aqua’s Aquarium album. And this is what I did every two weeks until I moved to the United States in 1999. I found this awesome CD club where you had to purchase so many CDs a year, but got to enjoy sale prices on albums. I was part of this club till about 2005.
Though I purchased CDs, I was an early mover on the Napster band wagon. It started with me downloading songs that weren’t available in the CD club, mainly overseas music. Then I started downloading random songs I enjoyed and wanted to put together on a mix CD (even when I owned the album). I started getting this OCD thing where I needed the full album in my collection, even though I only liked one song. And thus my illegally downloaded music library grew. Then I turned 18, got a job in retail, and realized I wanted to spend my money on other things that I couldn’t get for free. At one point, I think I had over two months worth of downloaded music. I would like to note that I have always listened to crazy wide range of music from all over the world, which is why I was able to find so much music I wanted to download
It wasn’t until 2010 when my downloading slowed down. That was because I found out about Rapsody, which is a service that allows you to stream music for a monthly payment. I loved this idea, not because I didn’t want to download music, but because I could now listen to whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I was no longer limited by the space of my iPhone. Up to this point my only dilemma with downloading was the idea that I could go to jail for it.
In early 2011 I started getting really into the local Seattle music scene, along with small indie bands around the country. It was being in this scene that really made me aware of the problems downloading music created for artists. Spotify beta was released in July 2011, and I again was a first mover. That’s also when I decided that I was going to stop downloading music. And in October 2011 I launched Seattle Town Sound, to help promote local music.
Now I know there is a lot of controversy over artists getting money from Spotify. But here is my argument to why I use it. On average, I listen/skim through about 30 albums a week. I’m not ballin’ enough to spend $300 on albums, especially when half of them I will probably never listen to again. I pay $10 a month so I can legally listen and try out new music. If something isn’t available on Spotify, and I really want to listen to the album, I will buy it on iTunes.
I know most people don’t listen to half the music I listen to, but the bottom line is people want to listen to music, but can’t afford it. $10 here and $10 there adds up. And the big difference between 1992 and 2012, is in 1992 the normal consumer only really knew about top 40 artists from the radio or MTV. In present day we are exposed to so much new music. Just look at the plethora of indie bands that have had their big break from a car commercial. It’s almost like record companies are asking people to illegally download music. Do they really think that teenagers and young adults can afford to pay for all the music they’re introducing to them?
My awareness of downloading music arrived from being in a niche scene, that majority of the masses will never venture into. And even if you make them aware of it, they will ignore it or forget about it in a month like Kony. So to answer the question about record labels having to find new ways to make money, the answer is yes. Illegal downloads are here to stay. The value of music entertainment is losing it’s value, absolutely.
I worked for a radio station for a couple years, and I got out because it is a dying industry. Learning how radio works and seeing the mindless masses flock over shit bands like Nickleback made me realize people don’t appreciate music and what it’s all about. They appreciate what they have been told. You can’t logically expect people to think downloading a $10 album for free is going to effect an artist who is publicly living a rock star dream. That was one of the big reasons I launched Town Sound, I want people to know there is more to music than what you hear on the radio. And there is a small glimpse of hope that people will get into the indie scene and realize what it truly means for someone to make music. It’s up to us who have a passion for music to share that passion.
“Truly there would be reason to go mad were it not for music” -Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Music Streetlight 