Piracy 2: Music

“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 Leading artists from all genres and all countries are trying to fight back against a corrupt and outdated industry.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.