Myth: File sharing and burning is just like home taping, and that never killed the music sector.
File sharing via the internet cannot be likened to copying tapes deck to deck at home. That's like comparing someone physically copying a letter to a printing house churning out hundreds of copies a minute of the same letter - and then making it available to absolutely everyone around the world for free.
CD recordable (CD-R) copying is comparable to a home version of the high-speed mass production of CDs in factories. You could burn as many as 200 albums onto multiple CD-R discs in less time than it takes you to read this web page. It's cheaper too - 20 years ago the first CD manufacturing facility cost US$1bn. Now the same capability is available to home users for less than $150.
The damage this sort of copying causes to music is enormous. But it also presents other dangers to the unwitting consumer. If you use a peer-to-peer service, you open your computer and all the information you've stored in it up to hundreds of strangers - simply at the touch of a button. When you use a file-sharing service you may unwittingly be acting as a 'mass distributor'; as whenever you're online every other user around the world has the ability to access your hard drive. And this could lead to problems with your personal computer, including the transmission of viruses.
Myth: It's the record companies' fault for not getting their artists' tracks online quickly enough
While it is very easy for anyone to upload an MP3 music file onto the net and give it away for nothing, what takes time is to do so in such a way that the online product is tracked through the process, with the artists, publishers, record companies, third party retailers all being paid their share of the price. The systems for doing this have had to be created from scratch and there have been complex negotiations between all the relevant parties in order to get the music licensed for digital sale.
Second, it is not true to say that record companies have not got their music online quickly enough. The music industry is far more advanced than any other in terms of producing its product for digital sale. What is true is that the appearance of the MP3 file format has meant that the music industry has been forced to grapple with issues of theft of intellectual property on the internet far sooner than other industries. Unlike most products where the internet is simply used to help sell the physical product, with music the virtual online copy is practically the same as the physical product.
The speed with which the MP3 music file spread over the internet meant that as the music companies started to digitize their product, set up payment systems and invest in companies, they were already in a situation where they were competing with free. And trying to compete against an over 99% pirate market on the internet is very difficult. Isn't it ridiculous to expect a record company who has to invest a huge amount in its artists to compete with a distributor who is giving music away?
Myth: There's only one answer to piracy - Lower CD Prices
In an ideal world everything would be free. Artists wouldn't need money to buy instruments. Record companies wouldn't invest money in recording. Designers and retailers would donate their time and talent scouts would not have any costs. Best of all, tax wouldn't exist. But let's face it, this is the real world. And legitimate companies who invest in and create music cannot be expected to compete with music taken and given away 'for free'. Whether we like it or not, all businesses have overheads and the business of music is no exception. Huge costs are spent on developing talent, from finding it to recording, producing, promoting, marketing and distributing it.
It is also true that most criticism of CD prices springs from a misunderstanding of how much royalty, distribution, marketing and artist and repertoire development is reflected in the price of every CD that's sold. That's the real costs of a CD - not the cost of the disc itself.
It is another myth that studio executives pocket huge profits on everything they release. Profit in the business is rare - for every ten CDs the record companies put time and money into, generally only one brings a return on the original investment. Meanwhile the recording industry reinvests up to 25% of its turnover in new artists.
Music is still excellent value for money compared with other entertainment products; the 'cost per hour' of consuming music is significantly cheaper than books and other print media, cinema-going and mobile phone use. Buying an album is an investment in music that you will own for life.
http://www.cria.ca
