The subject of illegally downloading music has been in the news for many years now, and it looks like a story that won’t go away quickly…but does the music industry help itself at all?
Fair enough, no one likes to lose money.
This issue has been brought back to life due to the recent release of the Spotify iPhone app and how you are able to listen to almost any song for free (minus the £10 a month subscription fee). Once again, the music industry has stated that every year they are losing billions of pounds due to members of the public downloading music illegally.
Fair enough, no one likes to lose money.
What gets me is that the very same music industry allowed Radio 1 to have the “first play” of Leona Lewis’ new single “Happy” on September 6th….when the song is not available to buy until November 9th.
That is over two months.
So for over two months, Simon Cowell and his record label expect Leona fans (I’m sure there’s some out there) to listen to the new single only when the radio stations decide to play it. That doesn’t sound like a good plan to me.
Let’s break this down, research shows (1) that more than 60% of all people who download music illegally are aged between 14-24. Compare that to the fact that Leona Lewis, and more widely the X Factor, is targeted mainly at teenagers, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out what the likely result is.
I understand the need to build up demand of a song, or any product, before the date of release…but surely two months is pushing it? People will find a way to get their hands on the song, and it will end up in the music industry losing out.
It also means that by the time the song is available to buy, it will be overplayed, people will be bored of it and won’t buy it anyway!
Surely a much better idea is to build publicity around the artist and the upcoming release of their single, with the first play coming the week before the release?
I understand that the music industry is losing a lot of money thanks to the power of the internet, but they could also make their lives a lot easier by using the internet to their advantage to launch the product, rather than alienating their listeners and forcing them into downloading illegally just to get their hands on their new favourite song.
I understand that the music industry is losing a lot of money thanks to the power of the internet, but they could also make their lives a lot easier by using the internet to their advantage to launch the product, rather than alienating their listeners and forcing them into downloading illegally just to get their hands on their new favourite song.
Firstly, there really shouldn’t be any Leona fans out there after what she did to Snow Patrol’s run! She should be standing trial for crimes against music; no one needs to use that much vibrato in their singing, its bordering on yodelling.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, you make some very good points Mr Spafford. What interests me about the whole illegal download issue is how they calculate how much the music industry actually loses to these downloads.
If I hear a song on the radio that I think is alright and I want if for my generic touch screen mp3 playing phone/internet device, I may well download it illegally (not that I would obviously!). However, I don’t think this should count as a loss for the music industry. If there was no free illegal download I just wouldn’t bother buying it at all, I’d just do without. For every 10 songs I (hypothetically) illegally download I’m not sure I’d pay for any of them if they were only available legally, so the music industry hasn’t really lost anything.
But if I have the song illegally and play it in my car with 4 friends in, perhaps two of them will hear it and go on to download it legally. In this case, from my (hypothetical) illegal download, the music industry has made 2 sales that wouldn’t have occurred if I hadn’t illegally downloaded it in the first place.
Okay, so this is an extreme example, but not completely implausible. I still maintain that illegal downloads probably don’t do as much (and yes of course they do some) damage to the music industry as people reckon.
Adam
You forgot to mention mums - mums love the x factor and Leona and are also just getting to grips with this crazy thing called the internet and 'downloading music that is free before I can by the LP'. Not that im refering to or quoting my own mum in any shape or form.
ReplyDeleteSteph :)