Are Downloads Destroying Album Sales

Music: Is There A Future?

Whether sitting in a residence hall, apartment or frat house with a group of friends, we are bound to experience a score of quintessentially college conversations during the four years we spend at Emory. The conversation about the “free sharing and exchange” of music is going to be one of them, and it is a conversation I have been having a lot myself lately. Of course, for every discussion on this topic, there is always the “End of the world guy” who refuses to hear the other point of view. This individual emphatically leaps to the conclusion that illegally downloading will lead to the end of music and is immoral. Stealing is illegal and should never happen; this is simply an informal discourse on the future of music, not a justification of stealing.

The first question we must ask is, who does stealing music hurt? The record companies are hurt the most from illegally downloading music. Musicians, the source of all music, make most of their money from touring, not from record sales. This is because the sales revenue they earn is shared with record companies and producers.

It’s clear to almost everyone that allowing people to download music for free reduces the incentive of the record companies to create music and sign new artists. If the music industry continues to go down this path, it is theoretically conceivable that record companies, and producers, will become unprofitable and could potentially go out of business.

In the past the mass distributing music was expensive. The creation,
recording and distribution of music were too burdensome for individual artists. As a result, production companies were formed to facilitate this exchange of money and music between artists and listeners. Record companies held an important position essentially acting as market makers or middlemen between the musicians and the listeners. These record companies reaped large profits from the exchange.

To baby boomers the death of record companies would have meant the end of music. It can be argued that ultimately the record industry could be seen as a relic similar to the obsolescence of medieval scribes who tirelessly copied books by hand for high prices.

Today, however, our economy is undergoing a fundamental shift. The Internet has effectively removed the friction of everyday business. Many people who once played an essential role in the exchange of goods are now no longer necessary. It’s been years since I bought a movie ticket from a person; I buy mine online or through an automatic kiosk.

The leviathan that is technological change has inevitably swallowed the recording industry among others. The once-important role that the record industry played in the distribution of music will no longer be necessary. The Internet has already begun to act as the new medium for the exchange of music.

The end of the music industry as we know it does not equate to the end of music. In the future we could possibly see the music industry as a scaled-down version of what we have today. Perhaps rating agencies will emerge to rate the thousands of independent artists who post music online which in turn will make browsing these artists easier for the consumers. We could also possibly see many small independent producers working for hundreds of artists for small fees, or even the musician himself editing and fine-tuning his or her own music with new software that makes editing music easier than ever. If music does not become completely free the reduction in over-head will make it extraordinarily less expensive. The Internet will act as an inexpensive medium for exchange.

Ultimately this shift will be good for the economy in the long run. The human capital that was used to facilitate the exchange of music will shift to other areas of the economy. Imagine if all those intelligent, creative and business-minded people who will work in this industry became engineers or entrepreneurs instead. Shifting these people from market makers to another field could ultimately create more value for society.

The point is that there is a distinction between the recording industry and music. In the end, the artists and the consumers will become the major winners in the evolution of the modern music industry. Musician’s creativity will not be hindered by this change but will actually be enhanced. Musicians will be able to create and share any type of music they chose unhindered by producers. Listeners’ lives will be enriched by greater access to music. There will be an explosion of music creativity. Everyone from office to construction workers will be able to carry on their careers while at the same time creating and distributing music to thousands.

So the next time you come across “the end of the world guy,” you can tell him that music is here to stay. Rather than destroying music, the Internet will breed a new era of creativity. As Homer said, “music invigorates the spirit, strengthens the wavering man and incites him to great and worthy deeds.”

are greedy internet downloaders destroying the music industry ?

i say yes