My focus for this blog post is digital piracy. Digital piracy is a problem that the music industry has been dealing with since Napster first learned how to streamline the controversial issue.  Some people believe that the act of piracy is wrong and threatens the future of the music industry. Others believe that this act of piracy is just life’s way of helping music to evolve. While another group of people actually partake in the illegal act.  I am here to discuss this issue and hopefully shed some light on the ongoing struggle.

While reading an article written by Chris Ruen on newrepubic.com titled “Bored With Hollywood Blockbusters? Blame Digital Piracy.”  In this article the Arthur defiantly took the opposing view on the issue.  He believes that artist work hard on their music and deserves to be compensated for it. In fact he goes as far as to argue that digital piracy is the reason that pop culture suffers from stale ideas. Chris suggest that if piracy was regulated big record labels would have the money they need to take chances on new talent instead having to look for people ready to regurgitate an existing sound in order to make a buck. He then carries this idea over into the world of film.

I was lucky enough to watch a documentary that not only addressed piracy but also explained its positive effects on the musical industry. The documentary was titled “Face The Music” and Alaneo Gloor & Sean Lewis created it. In this documentary they argued that piracy was a form of advertisement. It was suggested that artist make more off of touring than they would for selling cds. Furthermore it is argued that cds raise artist awareness and therefore music should be used as a form of promotion to help sell out tours and merchandise.

I personally agreed with both reference pieces. I think if the people who were making the music are receiving a proper compensation for their work that they would be inclined to take risks and invest in different acts. However, I respect the forward thinking that “Face the Music” brings to the table. This is a classic example of turning a weakness into strength.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJc53KhtrUo

References

Gloor, Alaneo, and Sean Lewis. "Face The Music - A Documentary About Music Piracy." YouTube. YouTube, 4 June 2012. Web. 04 Oct. 2015. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJc53KhtrUo

Ruen, Chris. "Bored With Hollywood Blockbusters? Blame Digital Piracy." N.p., 25 July 2014. Web. 04 Oct. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118858/digital-piracy-ruining-pop-culture