MUSIC DOWNLOADING

Music Downloading

Music Downloading

The growing popularity of downloading music from the internet definitely gives rise to a new music industry value chain that differs from the traditional value chain. With the invention of the portable mp3 players I think that there has been a considerable increase in music downloads over buying compact discs. Personally I haven't bought a CD in many years just for the fact that there are usually only a few songs that are any good on the whole disc. Having the ability to purchase just the songs you want over paying the full price of the CD I think has consumers leaning more toward downloading. Another reason I think the market is very good for a music industry download store is that now there are even mp3 player adapters for your car which make it easier to place all your music on one device to listen to instead of carrying around a bunch of bulky CDs. The main part of the value chain that can be knocked out through online downloads is the distribution part of the primary activities and costs. With the music online and downloadable there is no need to press and package CDs or distribute them (Lessig, 2005).

Technology has enhanced over the years after Napster was shut down and introduced many websites similar to it. These websites also produced the ability for users to download audio files without spending a single cent. The spread of these websites created a problem for all recording companies (Mewton, 2001). These companies that were owned by the Recording Industry Association of America filed lawsuits seeking out users who illegally download music on the internet. These dilemmas were created for the personal satisfaction and greed of people who believe that music should be free rather than to be honorable and spend money on buying the album to download online. There is a difference between purchasing an album online and downloading an album through a file-sharing website. Through purchasing the album, the record label and artist that produced it would receive legal profit and help lead to creating more music. When downloading an album illegally, people who created the music are robbed of their music. Music labels are also robbed of their revenue and are caused to fire employees, sign up fewer artists, and also lay off artists. Many artists believe that making music is an art. Though many people like what artist's make, they do not have any respect to purchase what they have created. People who illegally download music believe that there is no point to buying the song if it is online for people to access it for free. Instead, people just search up the songs they like and download them for no cost, leaving the artists who created these songs heated. It is unjust to freely download what the artist has created.

Basically the only portion of the value chain cost that changes is the price for the CD and packaging because it is no longer needed when selling downloadable versions of the songs...