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F ace O ff :
Student Poll:
Internet music piracy
¡Downloading music helps
music industry
Pirating music hurts the
economy, musicians
If Sorensen
Jenna Johnk
I Clackamas Print
The Clackamas Print
I Anybody who thinks downloading music has hurt the
■recording industry is either severely misinformed or a com-
I plete and utter idiot.
I Just ask Mariko Zapf, a public relations manager for
■Forrester Research, who claimed in a press release based
Ion Forrester’s own independent market survey that music
■downloading was not the cause of the recording industry’s
■sales slump in 2002 when the labels that formed the
■Recording Industry Association of America began to blame
■the internet for their troubles. Zapf found that by 2007,
■downloading would actually contribute $2.1 billion (that’s
■billion with a “b”) to record sales in a single year.
I So the recording industry is definitely getting theirs,
■but how much of that is the responsibility of file sharing?
■Another study from the Harvard Business
~ ’
School deter
■mined that of 239 million people
■who bought CDs in 2002, 61
■percent were people who down
load music.
I This means, simply, that
Ithe people who download
■music are more likely to buy,
land it would seem that the
■sales numbers have backed
■that up. That’s why the RLAA
Ihas to find other reasons to
■whine ... so that they can fool
people into believing they
have a reason to exist.
One of those other “prob-
lems” the RLAA addresses is
■bootlegging. A “bootleg” is
la recording that gets distrib
uted without the permission
of the band, such as studio
I session tapes or live show
|
Irecordings. The RIAA can
|
I kick and scream all they
want, but what many bands
don’t appreciate is the fact
I that the only reasons boot
legs exist is because fans
want to hear their music.
I That’s right: fans want to
■listen to music.
Without fans, there would
be no music industry, no
■money to be made, and bands
■would have to go back to
playing for the reasons many
I of them started to begin with:
■The Music.
I Now, the RIAA isn’t lying
■directly to the public. Sales of
[music CDs have been dropping (fluc
tuating, actually) since 2000, and con
tinue to rise and fall even now, but check
this out: the RIAA themselves admit that
sales of music DVDs and videos increased by almost
50 percent last year to another $2 billion (with a “b”).
They’re scaring people with horror stories of declining
CD sales (perhaps a sign of the recession that we’re cur
rently climbing out of?) and then admit that sales for other
formats are booming! Penn and Teller have a television
show devoted to this kind of debauchery, and it’s called
“Bullshit!” The RIAA is not suffering. In fact, they’re mak
ing more money than ever, and it’s all thanks to download
ing!
Is downloading music morally wrong? That was bil
lion with a “b,” folks. I honestly think the real question is
whether downloading music is still morally wrong when it
is responsible for well over half of all CD sales. Without
downloading and file sharing, people wouldn’t be buying as
many CDs as they are now, and then the RIAA would really
have something to whine about.
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What do you
think of music
piracy?
E ditor - in -C hief : Isaiah Creel
C opy E ditor : James Tombe
N ews E ditor : Ben Maras
C ommentary E ditor : Shannon
Armstead
F eature E ditor : Karlin Johnson
S ports E ditor : Mike McCormack
A&E E ditor : Hilliary Ferguson
P hoto E ditor : Jeff Sorensen
A d M anager : Ben Holm
As if the economy doesn’t have enough problems,
they’ve managed in the past few years to add another onto
their list. And it hits the music industry of all places. This
new issue comes in the form of music piracy - through the
internet and through illegal CD sales.
According to the American Federation of Musicians,
internet music piracy causes record store sales to drop by
more than 20 percent every year, and has been responsible
for more than 2.6 billion illegal downloads every month.
It’s gotten so bad that groups such as the AFM, along
with the Recording Industry Association of America, have
teamed up against piracy and even gotten our government
involved. Now several legislations and bills
4
have been brought before congress to help
battle music piracy, taking the place of more
vital issues.
It’s not that I don’t believe that music
piracy is important, but there are bigger
things happening in the world other
then weasely little thieves
making money off of other
people’s hard work.
The 2002 Music Piracy
Report compiled by the
International Federation of
the Phonographic Industry
states that the crime of music
piracy is not victimless - it
affects the artists and musi
cians who made the music,
the governments that lose
tax revenues, and economies
that suffer from the depriva
tion of investment. And let’s
not forget the record produc
ers whose valuable.time and
money the pirates are wast
ing. Or the little people with
the dream of being a star.
How can they succeed if
the music they make is pro
viding more funds for thieves
than for themselves?
In the IFPI report it is
said that in 2001, 40 percent
of all CDs and cassettes sold
around the globe are pirat
ed. There is no doubt that
that percentage has grown
significantly with the use of
internet downloads and CD-R
technology.
On April 17 of this year, Warner
Music Group even announced that
their sales were down. WMG’s cata
log carries more than 38,000 perform
ers and includes 27 of the top 100 all-
time best-selling albums in the United States
Think of the losses that such a company would
have if music piracy swells - the loss on the economy, the
loss of jobs, and the millions of share holders around the
globe with stock in such a company. The loss would be
atrocious.
Music pirates are thieves - nothing more. They are
thieves that steal from the hard work and well-earned fame
of performers all over the world, as America is not the only
one who suffers. Countries such as China, Russia, Italy and
even the Czech Republic have piracy issues significantly
worse than ours - especially Asia and the Middle East. The
internet, though a wonderful piece of technology, is breed
ing and nurturing a rapidly worsening crime that will soon
suck dry the music industry if not addressed.
All I can say is that when I want a song or a CD, I take
out my hard-earned cash and I buy it legally, in respect for
the artists who work to entertain us.
D esign E ditor : Michaele Cooper
S tapf W riters : Frank Jordan,
Joe Piazzisi, Jadon Triplett, Katie
Wilson, Laura Cameron, Christa
Danielson, Mike Guidice, Kyle
Slate, Elizabeth Tobey, Norma
Martinez, CJ Ciaramella, Sam
Krause, Jimi McDonnell, Jenna
Johnk
P roduction A ssistants : Jesse
Arguello, Joanne Bergstrom,
Norma Martinez, Jadon Triplett,
Randy Thrall
P hotographers : Brie Daykin
D epartment A dvisor : Linda Vogt
D epartment A ssistant : Pat Lichen
“I think it makes more sense to
have to pay for a song. Getting it
for free seems to undermine the
industry”
Margaret Bailey
“Rock on. I’m all about it.”
Austin Rose
“As a musician, it’s scary
because you could come up
with something really cool and
not make any money or get any
credit for it.”
Anna Howard
“It’s better than shelling out $16
every time you want to buy a
CD. People have been sharing
music for a long time”
John Stone
“How are people who spend
money to produce the music
supposed to make money if
people get it for free?”
Jason Stewart
This week’s poll compiled by
Johann Bergstrom and Shannon
Armstead.
G oals : The C lackamas Print aims
to report the news in an honest,
unbiased, professional manner.
The opinions expressed do not
necessarily reflect those of the stu
dent body college administration,
its faculty or The Print. E-mail
comments to chiefed@clackamas.
edu.