Downloading Music

Music Is Music, No Matter How It Is Acquired

Imagine a world without music. It is virtually impossible to do so because music is everywhere. Just stop everything you are doing and listen. What do you hear? The answer might be "Nothing at all," but if you just listen closely to nature alone, you will hear some kind of sounds, and sounds create music. You cannot go anywhere without hearing some type of music or different sounds. Since music is all around, which it is also for free, what is the problem with obtaining free music you by the exploit of downloading? Some people believe that downloading music should be completely banned because it is affecting the music industry negatively, while others believe that downloading is doing no harm what-so-ever, and is actually helping the industry.

A reason that downloading has become so common is because people believe that the prices of CDs are too high. If the prices would decrease somewhat, then more people would buy more of the music instead of downloading it. This could then result in the musicians and recording companies getting benefited from all of their work. Since 2002, there has been a decrease in record sales and downloading music has increased sufficiently. On the one hand, downloading is not the main cause of the decline, but it is doing a fair amount of damage. Some say that if the prices of CDs decreased slightly, then it would lead to less downloading of music off the Internet. The availability of music for the use of downloading has become more and more significant. Whether it is free or if it costs a mere buck, people take advantage of the effortless way to get music they want as quickly as possible without leaving their home or office. Part of the magic of music is stumbling on what you do not yet know what you like and downloading can help you find that.

There are also new ways that people can obtain music without actually buying it, for instance, MySpace. Up and coming artists and local bands, have made MySpace pages in order to get themselves heard. Depending on the web page, you can actually download their music, for free. By doing so, the new artists and local bands are getting exposure. The artists themselves obviously do not have a problem with downloading, if they are offering it to the public themselves, thus resulting in more people hearing of them and hearing their music. They not only have about four of their songs on their page, but also tour dates and album information. This may be a problem to some people because they may feel that it is the wrong way to gain exposure. Personally, I feel that by being able to download music, it gives you the chance to hear not only new hit singles, but also new artists on the rise. Also, by having downloading music to make different mixes of CDs, then my friends would not ask me who sings that song; meaning "Boston" from Augustana. I am not saying I have bragging rights because I have so much music, but I have such a huge variety of music from "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" by IZ, a Hawaiian guru, to "Shake Your Money Maker" by Ludacris, to "Boot Scooting Boogie" by Brooks and Dunn.

Similar ways to obtain free music, like downloading, would be ripping music, listening to the radio, going to stores that let you listen to sample music from CDs. These are ways you can go about hearing music without buying a CD, so if it is a problem to the music industry, then they should ban the listed things. I am not saying that just because people, myself included, download, do not go out and buy music because we do. Downloading music is just a way to hear sample music of an artist, just like it is when you can listen to a CD before you buy it. If people do not think that is a crime, then they should rid that from stores since they want to rid the availability of downloading. Although some downloading music is illegal, it is not going to stop people from doing it because honestly, even if the music industry is being affected by it, it does not affect the public and even if it is, they do not know about it. So advice that may help out in the future, if you cannot beat them, join them; put low quality music on the Internet, so it forces the public to go out and buy the music. It may help the music industry, but there will still be plenty of people that will download. Also, if low quality music starts to be the only music available for free downloading, then that would make more people go to I-tunes, and buy music for a measly dollar.

The music industry should not just be upset with the public for downloading music, but they should also be upset with the makers of blank CDs, I-pod, etc, anything and everything that makes it easier to not only download, but to copy music. Music is in the same boat as movies, I think. People can download bootleg copies of every movie, even before it comes to DVD, but this is not affecting the movie industry, is it? Why is it not a big deal to record music off the radio when the cassette tapes were hip? What about ripping music onto your computer or making a copy of your newest CD for your friend? These are all examples of ways that people can obtain music for free, downloaded or not.

In the insightful words of popular Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, "When the Gap went online, T-shirts didn't become free. Of all industries that have been revolutionized by modern technology, few have been hit as hard as the music industry. The Internet has made music distribution easier than ever. This digital era has unfortunately for music producers, made it easier than ever for consumers to get music access without paying for it. Stealing music, let alone anything in existence, is strictly against the law. Despite the legal offense of the matter, stealing music over the Internet betrays the recording artists who create it. Inescapably, stealing music threatens

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