Piracy of Music and Why It Is Beneficial

Pirates! When one first hears this reference, the mind conjures images of Somalia and the Horn of Africa or perhaps Johnny Depp, a swashbuckling pirate flitting around the Caribbean. Today, these are the only references that common citizens have to this supposedly 'taboo' word. However, most do not realize the extent to which piracy pervades today's society. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, total losses in the music industry last year totaled in excess of twelve BILLION dollars and over 70,000 jobs lost. This, though, is an inaccurate representation on the RIAA's part. Yes, of course pirating any form of media is a crime. It is one that is unavoidable. Due to exaggerated claims by industries such as RIAA, governments have begun to take extreme actions to combat internet piracy. These claims blow the issue of pirating out of proportion, when in reality, the artists behind the music can actually benefit from their music being downloaded illegally.

A prime example of a government over reacting to such a petty crime is the country of Italy, which has recently initiated a one-strike policy when it comes to illegally downloading anything. If a citizen is allegedly found to be illegally downloading any form of media, the Internet Service Provider of said citizen will severely cripple, if not completely terminate, the access one has to the Internet (Techworld.com). In today's world, this is a basic infringement of human rights when one cannot access such a vast and expansive source of knowledge. Furthermore, through actions such as these a government damages the citizen's life immeasurably, cutting the citizen off from an integral part of life in the 21st century. Though this is an extreme example, similar life-altering punishments exist here in the United States. Undoubtedly, you have seen the warnings at the beginning of a movie about unauthorized reproduction resulting in punishments of $250,000 or upwards of five years in prison. What would this do to a life? It would destroy it. Completely and utterly destroy it. The government feels no qualms about doing this to its citizens, as industries such as the RIAA have vehemently argued how artists lose money.

Sure, this is true to a certain extent. Yet, this is their main point as they themselves are the ones who lose money, when the band has a chance to recoup their losses. Besides, from recently published statistics, one can see that a solo artist only earns slightly over a thousand dollars a month from the sale of their works through online mediums (InformationIsBeautiful.net). Why so little? Because of the various costs that one incurs from selling music such as a managers, licensing fees, and distribution fees. Also, each artist must pay a small dividend to the RIAA, as, in essence, it is acting in a similar function to a union, representing and defending the artist. After all of these fees, the artist is left with very little from their actual work. You may ask "then how does an artist make it in today's world?" The answer, quite simply put, is sales. Sales in concerts, merchandise, and rights to their works for commercials, movies, and the like. Majority of this money goes straight back to the artist, so when you consider it, pirating music is not as bad as it may seem.

To elaborate, artists receive publicity from people listening to their music. Often times, this publicity is a direct result of one person hearing a song by a relatively unknown artist and then further spreading the word to their friends.