Let My People 'Load!
By Thomas Lindaman (07/21/03)
If you download music off the Internet, you may soon be a criminal. That is, if the Recording Industry Association of America has anything to say about it.
They have recently looked into filing lawsuits against people who use file-sharing programs such as Morpheus and KaZaa that allow users to share music and programs. Seems record executives are concerned that these services are dipping too much into CD sales, which have been sliding faster than a greased up penguin on an iceberg.
They have reason to be concerned. The cost of buying CDs has gotten outrageous. Last time I bought a CD, I had to promise to do a favor for the executives whenever they asked me to. Oh, and I had to sign away my soul. Fortunately, the CD was on sale, or else I'd really have had to pay through the nose.
Another argument the RIAA has utilized is the concept of intellectual property. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, intellectual property is something unique and intangible that could be made profitable and tangible. For example, this column you're reading is my intellectual property. If you were to print out my article and pass it off as your own, you would be stealing my intellectual property. Either that, or you're working for the New York Times.
The RIAA has a point about intellectual property. What people are downloading is music, which originates with the artists. Of course this argument would have a bit more credibility if the record companies weren't the ones advancing it so much these days. Let's face it, who gets hurt the most by little boys and girls downloading songs from KaZaa? The record companies!
It doesn't cost a lot of money to make a CD, less than a dollar per CD. And as I suggested earlier, CDs are starting to cost more than the Gross National Product of Paraguay. So, where does the rest of that money go? A percentage goes to the artists, the producers, and to overhead, leaving a nice chunk of change for the companies so they can buy an H2 Humvee. If you can burn your own CDs, you cut out the middle man, thus making Johnny Victrola's dreams of owning an H2 a little harder to make a reality.
Another advantage to burning your own music is you have more choice. Buy a CD by Jennifer Lopez, and you're probably going to get stuck with more songs that you dislike just so you can hear "Jenny From the Block" 5 million times in the car. (Someone get the Geneva Convention on the horn. I think that may be cruel and unusual punishment to anyone who isn't deaf.) But with file-sharing programs, you can download the one song and save the rest of the space on a blank CD for other songs you like. That also costs the record companies money because you can fit 15-20 songs you like on one disc instead of having to lug around 15-20 discs.
In an attempt to keep the downloaders happy, record companies, in conjunction with America Online, Apple, and Microsoft, are offering an alternative . You can download all the songs you want for only $0.99 per song. Great idea, huh? At least until you realize this idea doesn't exactly solve the problem while lining the pockets of the RIAA. Even at less than a dollar a song, you're getting ripped off and the money goes right back into the coffers of those who want to take away your ability to download music. And you're still paying more for one song than it costs to make an entire CD! If it weren't for the lack of Senators trying to get pork for their states, I'd swear this idea came straight out of Washington, DC.
There's another element to consider. KaZaa, Morpheus, and other file-sharing programs are the result of technological advancement and of the evolution of capitalism. The law of supply and demand states that if something is priced too high, you will get fewer buyers. So, when someone prices the same product or service lower, the business for the competitor will increase while the business for the overpriced product/service will decline. In other words, if you don't like being record labels' prison bitch, you'll seek out new, more affordable avenues.
But instead of reviewing their own practices and seeing what they can do to repair the breach with music lovers, the RIAA are targeting music lovers who download songs. Brilliant move, guys. What's next? Suing boy bands because they suck? (Say, that isn't a bad idea.) Seriously, the recording industry needs to take a step back before going through with their legal action because they're really starting to look like money-hungry jerks. Then again, is that really any different than the way they normally act?
And that's the Bottom Line
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