This week’s discussion topic is about how music is “sold” or shared (legally and illegally) on the internet. Composers and musicians have traditionally been able to earn income through sales of their recorded works and compositions. File sharing compensation laws and illegal file sharing sites have changed this in the internet age, making it more difficult for artists to be paid for music distributed over the internet. This assignment has you read about the fairly new Music Modernization Act, signed into law in 2018, and also includes jazz composer Maria Schneider’s testimony to Congress about how the large players in data collection have gotten around paying artists for the intellectual content/creative property. Artists and record companies continue making efforts to work with lawmakers to look at current file sharing law.
Research this topic to find a variety of viewpoints which could help you form an educated opinion on the topic.
Assigned Readings:
USF Music Copyright Policy: http://www.usf.edu/it/documentation/music-copyright.aspx (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Interesting article from a while ago that is still applicable to today…(click the “read more” link…) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/technology/personaltech/08pogue-web.html?_r=2&ref=personaltechemail&nl=technology&emc=cta1Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Jazz Composer Maria Schneider testimony to Congress about musicians ability to make a living in the new digital era, and creative property issues. https://vimeo.com/89327769 (Links to an external site.)
Explanation of the Music Modernization Act – new laws meant to help define how music is sold/distributed online.
https://iconcollective.edu/music-modernization-act/ (Links to an external site.)
Day One: July 14:
Post your opinion on whether you think musicians are being treated fairly in the current online music marketplace (downloads, YouTube, and music services like Rhapsody and Spotify.). Also post your opinion on whether illegal (free) music file sharing should be illegal or not. Explain why you think this way. If you reference an article or book (as you should), please cite or provide a link.
Respond to the following
The online music marketplace has made it both easier and more difficult for artists to make money off of their music. Musicians trying to break into the music industry have found great success over YouTube, such as Justin Bieber and Alessia Cara. (Greenwald, 2021) Moreover, streaming services such as Spotify have made their music more available to audiences who are unwilling to pay for music. However, Spotify has been criticized for paying artists too little per stream. “The company officially establishes a payment of between $0.003 and $0.0084 per stream, with an average payout of $0.004 per stream”(Freeyourmusic.com, 2021) While YouTube provides a platform for artists to become popular, it is also known to allow users to post videos containing musical works that are not their own. Essentially allowing an unrelated third party to make money off of an artist’s work. Almost every online music platform has problems in regards to supporting the artists involved, however they still provide a means for artists to make money on consumers who are unwilling to pay for music. Whether or not a musician is treated unfairly by the online music marketplace is entirely dependent on the musician’s experience. However, I would agree that illegal music downloads hurt musicians livelihood. “The latest piracy statistics show that over 1.2 billion songs get illegally downloaded each year.” (Spaji?, 2021) If these songs were downloaded on Apple’s Itunes platform, where they charge a dollar per song, that would mean an annual revenue loss of 1.2 billion dollars. Despite the problems of free music platforms, they do help minimize illegal downloads by redirecting would be pirates to free streaming services. The purpose of the internet is sharing information, music pirates are actively engaged with sharing information albeit illegally. If musicians perceive that they are being treated inequitably, it is on them to find a solution to these problems.
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