The future of popular music

A response paper to this essay which talks about the future of popular music. Ever since the invention of Napster in 1999, the explosion of illegally downloaded music has been affecting the music industry in many ways and it keeps getting worse through time. Mediafire, SongCatch, LimeWire, and many other websites have allowed artists' music to be downloaded quickly and free. This inflicts an enormous problem on the music industry and those who work in it. Although there are other sources of income like concerts and advertising, the fact that musicians' work is no longer being paid for seriously decreases the amount of revenue generated for this business. This poses the question, where is the music industry headed? One can only hope that there will be a solution reached to resolve this predicament. The issue of piracy has been debated for years now. Some believe that if the government simply allows the free downloading to continue, the popularity of artists will increase generating a higher interest in attending their concerts. Therefore, profits will be created without citizens having to pay for the music. Others believe it is too risky to take the chance without being certain of the effects. If a compromise isn't met, the music industry is headed for some serious trouble and maybe even failure. Many new celebrities have been born due to television shows. The usage of telecommunications in order to create fame seems that it is working out very successfully. Stars like Miley Cirus, Zac Effron, Selena Gomez, Demi Levato and more have been recognized by the public from the Disney Channel. Another show that has generated many celebrities is American Idol. Stars like Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson first became recognized due to their presence on this show. Although these performances definitely do create celebrities, I do not believe this is where the music industry is headed. These stars are only a small percentage of those who become famous year after year and they do not meet everyone in the country's music taste. As someone who is guilty in sharing files and downloading music for free, I can see both sides of the argument. However, I believe that if pirating music was no longer a crime, it could actually fix the rapid decline of the music industry. Free entertainment would expand peoples' music tastes and allow for a widespread interest in many different artists. Therefore, music would not be localized in different areas of the country. With the vast interests in music, a desire to attend concerts would be spawned. The concerts would create extreme amounts of income for the industry because not only would citizens pay a lot of money for the shows, but also advertisers and business owners would want to promote at the concerts. When the fans get what they want and don't have to pay for it, this gives them more money to spend on shows. In summation, by allowing music to be downloaded for free, it will create an entirely new fan base for all artists, thus creating revenue through concerts. Another viewpoint in which I identify with is the idea that the music industry has faced this type of problem in history previously. This theory is known as the “CD Theory.” This theory explains that the music business has already failed and readjusted. When records turned to tapes, tapes to CDs, and CDs to MP3 files, the industry was in turmoil. However, it was always able to adjust to the new technology and many believe that this can happen with free downloading. Therefore, money will be generated due to the changing technologies (for example the CD into MP3 players) rather than way we listen to music changing. Customers have bought over 100 million IPods since the beginning of their sales in 2001, and every time a new model comes out, millions of dollars in revenue is generated. The declining rate of the music industry's capital is lower than it has ever been before. It loses about 5 billion dollars annually, and over 3000 music stores have become bankrupt in the past couple of years. Many believe that this is due to pirating music and sharing files. Although this may be true, if the government were to legalize free downloading, this problem would be fixed due to concerts, advertising, and the changing technologies of the music business. The entire nation should just follow the CD Theory and allow the problem to mend itself.