Piracy 2: Music

This article is a follow on from an article I wrote on software piracy, which can be found here.

Well, once more unto the breach dear friends, as I continue my explorations into the deep, dark world of copyright theft and piracy. This time I will be exploring piracy within the music industry, looking at the origins of it, how it has spread, how it can be controlled and the public attitude towards it. Also, there’s going to be a little education on the corrupt organization that is the music industry. So, let’s get down into Davey Jone’s Locker.

The First Music Pirates

The year is 1964, and it’s Easter. All over the country, millions of Britons are settling down for their cup “o tea (or beer and a punch up if you”re a Celt). Many of them turn on the wireless, and as they tune in to their favored radio stations, some are amazed to find a brand new station broadcasting on a previously unused frequency. They broadcasted pop music aimed primarily at bored housewives and their venture proved to be very successful; in the end they had nearly 6 million listeners across Western Europe. They also played the new tunes of the time, and many people cite them as playing an important role in the growth of rock and roll. They where Radio Caroline, broadcasting on a wavelength of 199.

Unfortunately they where not licensed by any government. The operation was very, very illegal. So how did they avoid getting caught? Well, they wired up a ship with all the transmission equipment they’d need and sailed out to international waters, just off the coast of Suffolk in merry old England. Truly, they where worthy of the term “pirates”.

Radio Caroline was not the first group of people to do this, but they where the first to make it in a big way. Later on they became legit.

So, 1964, possibly the first incident of large scale music piracy, or at least the earliest I could find. Either way it illustrates an important point, music piracy has been around for a VERY long time, long before computers where common place, let alone MP3s.

Piracy Goes Commercial

The 70’s brought in the popularization of the compact cassette tape. Anyone over the age of 20 should have at least a vague, lingering memory of these (I know I do). They sound quality was good and sharp (Until they where well used anyway), and they where a lot smaller than vinyl, as well as holding a lot more music. Suddenly people had large music libraries, and with the advent of the walkman, they could take their music with them! Tapes appeared everywhere and soon Vinyl was forced to take second place, although to its credit it still remained popular.

But, there was something else new. These tape things… you could record stuff onto them yourself. And you could record over what you’d already recorded. It didn’t take long for someone to put two and two together. Take one radio, wire the audio output into a cassette recorder, add one C74 tape, tune in to the charts and with a little practice and patience you could record the top 20 without any DJ chatter.

Churn out a few dozen copies, head down to the market square and peddle them off at a couple of quid a pop and voila, cash. Then of course, you could also buy the current hottest albums on Cassette too, duplicate them and do the same thing, selling them far cheaper than in the shops.

This era also spawned the famous mix tape, an important part of the courting ritual for 80’s teenagers. The idea was simple; you record one song off one tape, then another of another, trying to put together tracks that will mix into each other. This took time, effort, practice and patience. Imagine making a playlist using a Dictaphone and you’ve got the idea. Oh and you can’t use the next track previous track options on your media player except to fast forward or rewind. And there’s no seek to bar. And you can’t select songs to play. You get the idea. Nevertheless, friends swapped mix tapes of new artists and tracks they’d bought. This would in turn encourage people to go and buy these new albums or artists- a sort of audio demo. Or they’d just get copies of the old tapes if they where really unscrupulous…

Piracy Goes Large

The next three inventions to revolutionize music and piracy happened one generation ago. They where the CD, the personal computer and the minidisk. First is the CD, when it was first released it came as a massive impact. Easier to navigate than a tape, holding far more music, being better quality, and just as portable, they slaughtered the cassette tape dead. Within a few years the technology was widely available, dirt cheap and every new album was released on CD and CD alone. For a while, this made piracy a lot harder, as the new CD’s where simply better than tapes, and CD recording equipment was not available at the time. Hardcore Pirates where not deterred though, they simply used the same techniques they had used to record bootleg tapes, replacing the master tape with a CD. As they where not copying the data, they where recording the sound the method still worked.

Then the PC came along and warped all of that. It began with blank CD’s, originally designed to let business back up large amounts of data. However as these things do the CD’s and the important new recorders (Or “Burners”) quickly found their way into the public domain. A few bits of software released later, and all you now needed to make bootleg CD’s was a CD reader drive, and a CD burner drive. And the best thing? They copied faster than tapes. After another couple of years, every computer came with a Burner as standard. Suddenly you could buy everything you needed to become a pirate in your local PC shop, often by accident.

The minidisk was a curiosity, me and my grand farther both used them and stood by them. For those who don’t know they where strange things that looked like small floppy disks (about 6cm one each side), they where halfway between CD’s and MP3 players really. The later players where only slightly larger than the discs, and recorded the music as data rather than direct audio. Thanks to file compression you could get over 70 songs on one minidisk. They where in effect, the first SD card MP3 players. Later models also included USB 2.0 connections and software to convert MP3’s into the compatible formats. The things where also die hard and could take massive amounts of physical abuse. They remained in use right up until about four or five years ago. Unfortunately, they where killed off by another invention in our current generation of music…

The MP3 and File Sharing

In 1995, the MP3 became available to the public. Computers where now even faster, hard drives where gradually getting bigger and having all your music stored as a digital format on your computer seemed like a better- and plausible idea day by day. Within a couple of years, ripping became easy, and people could mix and match CD’s with ease. However this still required that someone buy the original CD first, and as there was no way to share files bar sending e-mails, piracy remained on about the same level. And then something happened.

Napster. Say it with me people. We all know the name. Napster, the first of the popular file sharing applications, and the dawn of a new era. Now you didn’t need to buy CD’s at all. Now you could just go online and download entire albums, individual songs, movies, all sorts of things for free. Any anyone with an internet connection could do it. Quickly, other file sharing apps appeared, and the ball started rolling. Piracy leapt up at a massive rate, and suddenly, the big groups mobilized.

The RIAAs activity in recent years is a subject that could fill an entire article in itself, maybe an article I will write if there is enough interest. But I think we can bring the history lesson to a close now and move on to the modern day.

What Causes Piracy?

Almost anyone with a PC these days is a pirate, or has dabbled in piracy at least a little. Even people who have never used a torrent or file sharing app in their lives has probably received an e-mail from friends with an MP3 attachment. Even if we don’t include these people as pirates there’s a massive number of folks running around downloading left right and center. Why?

Well, a lot like the software industry, the music industry asks a lot of its customers and artists. Take a look at the average cost of a CD these days, a new album can you set you back ten to fifteen pounds. Look at it another way, the minimum wage in this country for eighteen to twenty two year olds (Big buyers of CD’s) is £4.77. These people have to work for about three hours to be able to afford one CD. Alternatively you pay £20 a MONTH, and can download all the music you want from the internet for free.

I listen to a lot of weird shit. Some of my favorite bands are Dir En Grey, Trax, X-Japan, the Asian Kung Fu Generation, Blind Guardian, Fort Minor and Sonata artica. I also have a big thing for traditional music, especially sea songs and folk. Good luck finding those, or the first four in the previous list anywhere in the shops. Even i-tunes doesn’t stock much of that stuff, if any. The other three can be found in online record shops easily enough, but are still pretty damn rare on the high street. In fact the only record shop around here I’ve seen that stocks any of those artists is HMV. As you can guess, getting hold of my music legally is a pain in the arse of epic proportions.

So there are a couple of reasons why piracy is rampant, one for purely financial purposes, one for the sake of listening to what you want. But there are other reasons too, but these are somewhat more specialized:

Do you know how much of your hard earned money goes to the hard working artists? On average, an artist will see 8-25% of the money you spend. They write the music, they perform it, they spend months perfecting it. Some company then slaps it on a CD and spends a month or two filling out paperwork. Between them the label and publisher take on overage over 75% of the retail price. Seventy five percent- minimum. Think about that for a moment. For the articles I write, I gain 50% of the revenue from them. Triond, my publisher take the other 50%. Fair deal if you ask me, especially as they don’t issue a standing charge to me for the service they provide. The music industry is outright theft by comparison. And here’s something else to make you think (Article by Adam Frucci).

Ask yourself who’s getting the short end of the stick here, and then wonder why people don’t feel guilty for pirating when they should “supporting their favorite bands”. Personally, if I could donate money to ANY of the above bands I’d just download the tracks and send the equivalent they’d get from it to them anyway. To put it bluntly, the music industry is a corrupted giant, and their prices are dictated by nothing but greed. The amount they take from each CD sale is enough to cover their costs several times over. In short, CD’S ARE NOT FAIR TRADE!

In fact, for a moment sod the artists. How about you? Are you happy paying so much for a CD just so someone can have a swimming pool? I’m not arguing against big business, hell everyone likes to make money right? I know I like money. But there’s only so much you can make on a product before you’re taking the piss. Personally I think the only reason the labels have held of for as long as they have is that people where unaware of the fact they where getting ripped off, let alone the plight of the artists. However, the rise of the internet not only brought about the MEANS to make piracy easier, but also a far higher MOTIVE. Now people are educated and know their getting ripped off. What we basically have on out hands is a boycott of the music industry without any negative side effects for the people doing the boycott.

Episode Two: The Artists Strike Back

Well, while we have been sticking it to the man by going under his feet to get our music, the artists have also begun their own quest for revenge. Some of these are subtle, with a few well chosen words and phrases in interviews, other artists have shown they have balls of brass by stopping just shy of flipping the bird. Let me show you some examples:

Radiohead

October 2007, check it out. Exciting stuff, a band releasing an album without using the tried and tested labels! Cutting out the middle man to get them selves a fair deal. But, that wasn’t the only interesting thing about this move. You pay what you want for the album? Huh!?

Getting hold of information on how much In Rainbows made for Radiohead is not easy, but according to one survey of 3,000 people, a third of them paid nothing. Of the rest, the average rate was £4. Radiohead themselves dispute this figure, and as their site is the only place you can download the album, they have the trump card. According to time magazine though, the total they stand to make is $9,600,000. I thought I’d put that in to let you know how many zeroes are in 9.6 million. Wonder if they’d have made that much going through a label?

Remember, while the album may have sold for an average price of 50-75% less than normal, Radiohead took a much larger cut of the profits than they would have otherwise. And given the fact that Radiohead are still going, and seem pretty smug about In Rainbows (Which got great reviews), we can assume they did pretty well out of it.

Download this song!

Go on, click the link and have a listen. Nothing like a good bit of nerd core! For a good laugh try to spot all the various geek and pop culture references in the video. I love this piece because of the sheer poetry of an artist using their trade to stick it to the people making money of them. This song was not intended to support piracy, but rather the fair prices that where supposed to be offered by digital media download. Of course, the labels are still ripping off artists even though online stores. How do they justify it? It’s not like they need to pay packaging anymore is it? On an unpleasant side note, the fat guy in the black shirt who buys the CD… his room and mine look disturbingly similar in terms of quantity of electronics…

Joss Stone hates the music industry, 50 Cent says we need to move forwards.

Credit for this article goes to Ernesto. So, it seems apart from releasing great music (a strange blend of reggae, blues and pop), and being hotter than forged steel, Joss has some very interesting views on the music industry. Here we have a true artist- someone doing what they do for the love of it, and making enough money to keep bread on the table. In a world where it seems everyone only wants to use art to create money, she’s a beam of sunshine. And as for 50 cent… well, it seems like everyone in the music industry could take a lesson from him:

“The advances in technology impacts everyone, and we all must adapt. Most of all hip-hop, a style of music dependent upon a youthful audience. This market consists of individuals embracing innovations faster than the fans of classical and jazz music.

What is important for the music industry to understand is that this really doesn’t hurt the artists.” – 50 cent.

Stick it to them when it hurts.

Like MC Lars, the poetry of this stunt is just beautiful, a massive protest by leading artists against the music industry- on the eve of the Grammy awards!

Well, there you have something to think about. Leading artists from all genres and all countries are trying to fight back against a corrupt and outdated industry. But what can YOU do to help prevent piracy?

Fighting Piracy on the Home Font

I firmly believe that freedom won through bloodshed or fraud is no freedom… Not violence, not untruth, but non-violence, Truth is the law of our being. – Mahatma Gandhi.

I don’t want piracy. I don’t want to be a criminal. I don’t think any person with a decent IQ wants to be. But on the other hand I don’t want to keep getting ripped off, and I want to support my favorite artists so that they can continue making the music I love.

The current system of music publishing is dying. But as we’ve seen from recent activity in the RIAA, cornered animals are the most dangerous. When they know they can’t escape, when they know their doomed, they can do only one thing. Attack, and hope. With online sales increasing and CD purchases dropping the music industry is squealing about how its profits are suffering. According to the latest reports though, its profits are not suffering. And even if they where, they could stand to loose a few million a year and STILL turn considerable profits.

The music industry is a spoilt child who’s having his toys taken away. Like any child it will throw tantrums and probably get violent. But in the end it will realize that piracy is a product of its greed, and will probably sulk for a few years before learning its lesson. You can help this process in many ways:

• Support the artists who are fighting for a better deal. For example even if you don’t like them, buy Radiohead’s “pay what you want” album as a gift for a friend.
• Join petition groups and be pro active. Petitions themselves achieve very little, other than ensuring a company knows why it’s sales are crashing.
• Boycott. Don’t buy CD’s until the price has dropped to what you would call reasonable.
• Encourage your favorite artists to get a better deal from the music industry, not just for you, but for them too
• Listen to internet radio. It’s a great way to experience new artists and genres without the need to download illegal copies.
• Join music forums and rally a posse! You will meet other music fans and spread awareness
• Tell people the truth. Let them know where their money is going when they pay for music and try to get them onside.
• Keep up to date on music news. You never know when interesting articles are going to come up, or information that you can use.
• Finally, don’t give in to piracy. Doing so simply vindicates the labels and publishers, and denies artists even a little of their hard earned money.

To the Publishers and Labels

• Stop being greedy bastards
• Change and adapt rather than trying to stagnate everything else
• You can’t fight the world. Give up now and cut a deal before you REALLY have problems.
• Stop making up problems
• Listen to your artists
• Try marketing “fair trade” CD’s. You know, where a realistic percentage goes to the artist?

Well, I’m brining this article to a close now, as its hefty enough as it is. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading it all. I hope you enjoyed it, and above all are now a little more educated on music piracy. To be honest, this is probably the area of piracy I dislike the least, as it really is the publisher’s and label’s fault, and no one else’s, hence why I wrote so much. Please Digg/ Stumble/ Whatever this article and click the “Like it” Button, (assuming you did enjoy it), so that it can reach more and more people. Comments are always appreciated, and feel free to use them to share your own thoughts and ideas with the world.

Join me next time, when I discuss piracy in the movie industry. Until then, “Hard on the beach oar… she moves too slow… way down to Shawnee town on the Ohio…” (It’s an old sea song…)

Evis T is a resident of Wales, UK. He writes many articles on subjects that interest him, and some articles on subjects that do not. His hope with publishing his work on the internet is to create a greater understand and peace in the world, aiding the dream that one day we may all live in peace and happiness together. Also, he likes the money.