Music piracy continues with no end in sight

Joe Beck

According to a recent study conducted by the Princeton Survey Research Associates, nearly half of all American adults have downloaded unauthorized music. The survey, which was sponsored by the American Assembly and Google, found that 46 percent of Americans pirated music in 2011 alone.

Piracy is more prevalent among young adults; 70 percent of whom have acquired music or video files illegally. “They don’t think of this as illegal,” said Michael Gerity, who represents several bands who have been affected by pirated downloads.

Gerity attributed the rise in I.P. theft to the rise in cost per song, and the music industries inability to adapt an Internet-friendly world.”The industry has moved so slowly that piracy is the de facto… you would see a lot less piracy if they would start offering songs at 79 cents each.”

Despite losing the overhead of having to supply physical copies of the media, the price per song has jumped more than 20 cents. An entire album can easily cost upwards of $20 on iTunes and similar digital music distributors. 

MCC Freshman Carlos Blanchard has admitted to pirating music. “I don’t think it’s theft because the music is going to get out anyways,” Blanchard said. “Music shouldn’t be about the money. Artists should create just to create.”

While many do not see the damaging effect of Internet piracy, a recent study indicates that the losses to the music industry may be staggering. According to the study done by the Institute for Policy Innovation, $12.5 billion was lost due to illicit downloads. 

Most of the damage is taken by the publishers and the distributors rather than the artist. According to Gerity, musicians only receive about 12 to 15 percent of album sales. Regardless, Internet piracy is gaining attention from law enforcement. 

The owners of Megauploads.com, a peer-to-peer sharing site, were arrested earlier this year for enabling pirates to upload. Shortly afterwards, Btjunkie.com shut down its operation for fear of prosecution.

Most piracy complaints end in a several hundred dollar settlement per download. Only about 1 to 2 percent of downloaders are considered heavy offenders.

  • Mesa Legend Staff

    These are archived stories from Mesa Legend editions before Fall 2018. See article for corresponding author.

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