Thursday, January 28, 2010

Final Draft

The lowdown on downloading
Written by Abby Richter

Lets put ourselves in the shoes of a musician for a moment. You have just recorded a new album where you wrote, composed and produced the songs yourself. Your album becomes quite popular, so you’re very excited about the profits that are going to be pouring in. Some time goes by and you’re still not seeing very much profit off of the album even though it’s been a hit. So what’s the problem? It’s a simple answer--illegal downloading via Internet.

All ISPs (Internet Service Providers) should ban their customers from the use of P2P networks (Peer to Peer) or they should put a device into action that would monitor if a user was downloading illegally over these networks. Some ISPs, especially college ISPs, do deny access to P2P networks, but the majority don’t. If we did this, the problem of illegally downloading music could be put to a halt because there would be no illegal file sharing.

Illegally downloading music is stealing someone else’s property, which in this case would be hard-earned income of musicians. Where in our right minds do we think that this is okay? We wouldn’t want someone stealing our car or any of our property that we worked hard to acquire.

Bono, the U2 front man, wants better control of what’s going on in the online world. Bono thinks we should put online tracking devises into action that would check if a user was downloading a song illegally over P2P networks. “A decade’s worth of music file-sharing and swiping has made clear that the people it hurts are the creators,” Bono stated in a New York Times Column. U2 is a very well known band that is well off, but they are making very little money from their album sales. Most of their profits from the year of 2009 came from their ticket sales.

During the year of 2008, the IFPI released a report which revealed that more than 40 million songs were illegally downloaded in 2008. This amounts to 95% of all music downloads, which means the recording industry is only making 5% of the money they could be making. Yes, most of society probably thinks that musicians make enough money, so who cares if we download their music illegally. The truth is that only a fraction of our world’s musicians make it to be millionaires and superstars.

As for those who are not involved in that small fraction of millionaires, they are just trying to make a living in an everyday life. Making music is their job and illegally downloading it is just as bad as stealing their CD from a store. If we think of the jobs we have had and imagine someone ripping off our income, we probably wouldn’t want that job anymore.

If musicians get discouraged and can’t make any income off of the music they put so much time and effort into, they are not going to want to continue with that career. This will lead to musicians not inventing or not writing new music. Without new music, our society is going to lose its sense of creativity. And a world without creativity means a world without music, which would be a pretty dull world.



Sources

Adams, Sean. "95% of music downloads in 2008 were illegal - DiS reacts and suggests two
solutions." Drowned in Sound. 16 Jan 2009. Drowned in Sound, Web. 28 Jan 2010. .

Cucombre, Kim. "CD Insight." Bono asks for stricter Internet downloading rules. 05 Jan
2010. CD Insight, Web. 28 Jan 2010. .

"You Think! ." Illegally Downloading Music: Singing the Blues. 2010. You Think!, Web. 28
Jan 2010. .
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List of Claims

1. Policy Claim- All ISPs (Internet Service Providers) should ban their customers from the use of P2P networks (Peer to Peer) or they should put a device into action that would monitor if a user was downloading illegally over these networks.
2. Casual Claims- If we did this (banned P2P networks), the problem of illegally downloading music could be put to a halt because there would be no illegal file sharing.
-If musicians get discouraged and can’t make any income off of the music they put so much time and effort into, they are not going to want to continue with that career.
- Without new music, our society is going to lose its sense of creativity.
3. Value Claim- Illegally downloading music is stealing someone else’s property, which in this case would be hard-earned income of musicians.
4. Factual Claims- During the year of 2008, the IFPI released a report which revealed that more than 40 million songs were illegally downloaded in 2008.

Illegal Downloading

So I'm sure we are all victims of it at some point in our lives--but illegally downloading music is not something to take lightly. Along with the serious trouble one can get into for it, it is ethically a problem.

If we put ourselves in the position of a musician who has recorded, produced and wrote all the music for an album, and we came to realize that we weren't making any profits off of it because our songs were being stolen from illegal downloading, we would probably be some ticked off musicians.

To put a halt to this, ISPs (Internet Service Providers) need to ban the use of P2P networks (peer to peer networks such as napster, limewire). This would stop people from file sharing illegally.

A lot of people probably think that musicians make millions and don't need our money so who gives a crap if we download a song or two from them illegally. But the truth is that only a fraction of musicians make it to be millionaires. Those who don't fall into that category are just normal everyday people trying to make a living. Can you imagine if your income was getting ripped off at you're job? A lot of us would quit the job and find something else if that was the case.

If our musicians get discouraged enough, they probably won't want to put all their time and effort into creating new music. Without new music our society will lose its sense of creativity and without creativity our world would be pretty boring.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Hope for Haiti

I'm not sure if any of you tuned into the "Hope for Haiti," program that major networks and dozens of other channels, including MTV, Bravo, and PBS aired last Friday, but it was a hit! The purpose of this event was to bring in stars to encourage donations for the funding for Haiti. Stars such as Brad Pitt, Beyonce, Madonna, and Bruce Springsteen voluntarily helped with the event in hopes that their presence would bring in funding.

Well they did what they wanted as the even brought in $57 million. They are now releasing the "Hope for Haiti" C.D. which costs $7.99 on iTunes. This C.D. includes performances of the event as well as the new single released by Jay-Z, Rihanna, Bono and the edge called "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)." It is now the #1 single on iTunes.

All proceeds from the C.D. and single that was released go towards the Haiti benefit. To read the full story check it out at http://www.billboard.com/news#/news/hope-for-haiti-raised-57-million-1004061567.story.

I have also posted the YouTube video of the live performance of "Standed" from the Hope for Haiti Benefit.

Friday, January 22, 2010

So I am a YouTube freak, and I'm always checking out music covers that young talented people do. It's amazing at what kind of talent you will run into. Some of these people are better then the real thing! I believe if some of these musicians could get recognized they could make it in the music business.

There is one particular girl that I follow on YouTube. I believe her name is Kate. She is very talented. Her voice is very unique and she is pretty decent at the guitar. I just wish people like her could get recognized. It's one thing to get behind recording equipment and sound good, but it's just her and the guitar and it's still amazing! Check her out!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Motion City Soundtrack's New Album "My Dinosaur Life"

I am very excited to say that Motion City Soundtrack came out with a new album yesterday :) I have yet to get to Hastings to buy it, but I have been listening to the new songs on YouTube, and I must say that I am pleased with what they have produced. They still have the same sound as in the rest of their albums, which is what I like about them.

Though nothing will ever beat their album Commit This To Memory, which has been their most successful album to date with selling over 285,000 + records, I am still excited to purchase their latest work. They are a small band from Minneapolis just trying to make it big in the music industry. I have been following them for over eight years now and they have came so far!

So that's why I'm so excited that they keep coming out with new stuff :) I have posted a YouTube video of one of their songs on their new album. It is called "Worker Bee."

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Lady Gaga cancels gig in Indiana

The well known Lady Gaga has been known to do it all--whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Her performance at the VMA's was kinda of a shocker to all as fake blood started gushing out of her chest during the song "Paparazzi." Talk about dramatic and a little on the odd side.

Indians Purdue Univeristy didn't get a show like that from Lady Gaga because she passed out backstage before the show. She had been having complications with an irregular heartbeat and dehydration before the show, as paramedics tried to treat her. Obviously that didn't work out to well! Maybe she had a loss of blood from her performance at the VMA's, but that's just my opinion :)

LadyGaga has decided to reschedule the show for January 26th. For more information take a look at http://www.nme.com/news/lady-gaga/49245

Hello World!

Hello to all! This is my first blog ever and I'm going to be blogging about music, whether it's good or bad! I hope you all enjoy!