Over the past decade, the music industry has been drastically affected by online piracy. Online Piracy" is the illegal sale and / or distribution of copyrighted music via digital download or online sales of copyrighted disks, tapes or other media. Recent online piracy has sky rocketed because people have become "hip" to trading music over peer-to-peer networks such as Napster and LimeWire. These sites have been the despise of major record labels because it has caused a steep decline in their profit from record sales. Major labels and companies started to experiment with licensing their records to new and specific online services. Industry consultants and researchers say that online music sites that were used legally did not solve the problem for major labels. When you think about it, most users go to the Internet to listen to an artists music but how many actually purchase albums off the internet… Not many if you ask me… Consumers are using these sites as a substitute for buying music.
Overall music sales have continued their years-long slide. Total industry sales were about $10 billion last year, down from $14 billion in 2000, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Revenues from digital download services like Apple iTunes (AAPL) and Amazon MP3 (AMZN) are still growing strong, but they're not generating enough revenue to make up for the sharp decline in CD sales. Overall spending on music is forecast to shrink 4% through 2013, according to a recent report by Forrester Research (FORR).
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The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is the trade organization that supports and promotes the creative and financial vitality of the major music companies. The RIAA members include the music labels that make up the music industry as we see it today. Recently with the help of the RIAA , major record labels and LimeWire have reached an out-of-court settlement for $105 million with the peer-to-peer service and its CEO Mark Gorton.
Mark Gorton and his service were found liable by federal district court Judge Kimba Woods last year. Besides the decline in record sales, LimeWire and other sites like it have caused thousands of lost jobs and fewer opportunities to aspiring artists to successfully break into the entertainment industry.
As an aspiring music producer, this subject hits home.... Online piracy has put a dent in everybody in the music industry's pockets! Im glad that this particular situation has been handled and i have faith that the RIAA will continue to do its job!
For more information on the RIAA, click HERE
As an aspiring music producer, this subject hits home.... Online piracy has put a dent in everybody in the music industry's pockets! Im glad that this particular situation has been handled and i have faith that the RIAA will continue to do its job!
For more information on the RIAA, click HERE
