Certainly the music industry has been hit hard by piracy. From the college student downloading off bittorrent, to the Chinese and Eastern European copy-shops, piracy is at an all time high. Damian Kulash of OK Go said "We're just moving out of the brief period -- a flash in history's pan -- when an artist could expect to make a living selling records alone." The RIAA reported $4.6 billion in lost revenue due to piracy. Artists now have to depend on ticket sales and merchandise to make a living through music.
Some artists do attract new fans because of friends sharing an album illegally. If the friend that received the album likes the artist, they might buy their music in the future. Mostly the benefits are offset by the large loss of potential revenue.
The RIAA is crazy for suing people like that lady (living in trailer home) in the film RiP: A remix manifesto. The RIAA is fighting a losing battle by suing the average Joe for illegally downloading even one song. They need to look for new, innovative, ways to set their products apart from the pirated version and not just through DRM methods.
I agree with you. Do not go after the Average Joe. Instead pool your resources and make better advances in technology to stop piracy
ReplyDeleteI also agree that it is relatively pointless to sue the average person who may pirate a few songs. I would be curious to find out how many of those that are sued actually have the money to pay the fine, I doubt not many. Still even with fines upwards of $200,000 per infraction, there are millions of people who pirate music, movies, and technology. You suggest that the music industry needs to come up with "innovative, ways to set their products apart from the pirated version." I agree that there needs to be a change but is the product what needs to changed or the technology that allows piracy to happen, or both?
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