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... member of the Grammy-nominated band Garbage who have put up rarities on their site, feels that the technology is "a cool way to distribute things that otherwise may not get released. In the process of recording, you end up with a lot of odds and ends that may be of interest to fans but aren't necessarily something you want to put out as an official release" (Goodman 25). Chuck D, who is well known for being unhappy with his former record label and embraces the technology of the Internet, accurately portrayed the fears of the record companies at the New York Music & Internet Expo when he joked that the lawyers at record labels "are like, 'Sire! Sire There is an MP 3 on the horizon!
They are coming quick!' " (Sullivan Chuck D). For small, unsigned bands, MP 3 can be a very efficient way of distributing music to new listeners and potentially have more benefits than for larger bands. Because "in a world where all but a handful of performers are denied access to radio and MTV, and even fewer get a meaningful marketing budget, MP 3 exposure is one of the few new tools artists can seize to build an audience" (Goodman 38). An unsigned New York band called Fire Ants have had one of the most popular songs on mp 3. com's rock site. The band has found that their popularity has skyrocketed since gaining exposure on the site (Goodman 25, Jones Making It).
Eric Massimino, of the band felt that "the Net has helped Fire Ants develop a following that might take years to establish via the traditional, convoluted network that is the music industry" (Jones Making It). Mp 3. com is a site which, at the last check, claimed to have over 18, 000, 000 songs to download. The site allows bands to post songs for site visitors to download freely and has avoided legal trouble, because artists agree to have their songs posted on mp 3.
com. Record Company Viewpoints "Cyberspace poses unparalleled opportunities for the industry -- and unparalleled difficulties in copyright protection" (RIAA Piracy). This quote, from part of the Recording Industry Association's web page, sums up the view of many of the record companies on technology. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a trade association, was formed in 1951 to combat unauthorized record manufacturers.
Today, the RIAA's web page states that "[p]erhard the most important mission of the RIAA is to protect the creative content of our member companies and their artists through an aggressive anti-piracy program" (RIAA Piracy). The RIAA's membership includes the Bertelamann Music Group (BMG), EMI-Capitol Music Group North America, Sony Music Entertainment, Time Life Music, Universal, and Warner Music Group. These are essentially six of the largest record companies in North America who are have nearly all popular music artists on their rosters. The RIAA is working with 110 other companies to enact the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) as a standard to have secure control over the distribution of digital music.
SDMI The RIAA explains that the SDMI "will answer consumer demand for convenient accessibility to quality digital music, enable copyright protection for artists' work, and enable technology and music companies to build successful businesses" (RIAA SDMI). The SDMI is still in the planning stages, but is on a "fast path toward expanding [the] digital music marketplace" (RIAA SDMI). The SDMI has the support of not just record companies, but technology and business oriented companies who are willing to pay the initial $ 10, 000 fee to join the SDMI talks and organization. Included on the list of companies now involved with the SDMI talks are Canon, Compaq Corp. , Microsoft, Philips, Sanyo, Sony Electronics, Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments, and Yamaha, among others.
Just this short list (there are about 110 participating organizations), shows the variety of companies who feel that there is a need for a standard for digital music distribution. A draft of the SDMI Foundation's General Principals states: o 1. 1 The lack of an open and interoperable standard for security is a significant impediment to the growth of legitimate markets for the digital delivery of copyrighted recorded music. The SDMI Foundation was formed by the worldwide recording community to develop a Specification for the secure distribution and use of music in digital form that meets the needs of the worldwide recording community and its customers. By supporting a wide variety of agreements between rights owners and consumers, such a Specification will enable multiple new and flexible models to emerge in the marketplace. o 1. 2 The Specification will only be successful if it meet the technical constraints and needs of, and is widely accepted by, the technology industries and their customers. Thus it is hoped that multi-industry dialogue through SDMI will lead to a Specification representing consensus of a broad range of participants in the technology and recording industries.
In striving toward that goal, it is expected that SDMI will operate by substantial consensus. o 1. 3 The SDMI Specification is to be a voluntary specification. It will be up to each company in the technology and recording industries to decide for itself, in light of the demands of the marketplace, whether and to what extent it will implement that Specification in its products. These statements reflect the underlying concern of the record companies - they want to have secure distribution to control the loss of money from illegal copying and distribution now found on the Internet. The RIAA has taken other steps against new technology in the form of lawsuits and threats when they feel their (money-making) interests are in danger.
These will be discussed in the next section, The Rio and Lycos's earch Engine. The Rio and Lycos's earch Engine The Rio is a palm size portable MP 3 player. If you were interested in making your mp 3 files more portable, you could purchase a Rio. The page linked to above, is Diamond Multimedia's (the makers of the Rio) page advertising and selling the Rio. The Rio stores up to 60 minutes of music, will never skip like a CD player, and runs for up to 12 hours on one AA battery.
Controversy surrounds this product, of course, as it makes the already popular legal and illegal mp 3 s more popular because it allows them to be portable. On October 9, 1998, when the Rio was introduced, the RIAA filed a restraining order to delay the release of the player, but it was released shortly after anyway. The RIAA's main problem with the Rio is that it allows users to play illegal MP 3 files. Another issue which the RIAA was concerned about was the use of the Rio to upload MP 3 files onto other PCs. The makers of the Rio claimed its product could not do this, but Webmonkey reports that software already exists to use the Rio in this way, enabling the further illegal distribution of illegal songs (Powell Legal). Lycos also came under the fire for their MP 3 search engine.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) of London has started proceedings against FAST Search & Transfer ASA, a Norwegian company that licensed the search engine to Lycos. In the past, the IFPI had only targeted individual sites on the Internet that had posted illegal MP 3 files, but has now taken action against the search engine that the IFPI claims finds mostly illegal copies of popular artists. Benefits to Record Companies Some record companies are embracing the Internet and MP 3 technology. Smaller, independent labels use the new technology to find more potential listeners and buyers. Good Noise is one example of this trend.
Good Noise allows users to download music of artists on their label and six other labels. The Good Noise site allows users to sample and then purchase individual tracks or whole albums to download onto their computer. Affiliated companies include Fingerprint, Luna Sea, Propellant Transmissions, Rykodisc, spin ART, and Van Richter record companies. Views of Music Fans and Consumers Technology allows music fans to easily find new bands, but also allows fans to easily break the law and copy and distribute already well-known bands songs in MP 3 form. Some people will obviously take advantage of the technology to obtain and exchange illegal copies of their favorite songs. Others though may use the technology to find new bands, purchase their CDs, and therefore support the traditional record companies.
The mentality of some is that the big "music companies profit by charging huge sums for a small piece of plastic: why not show them that others can steal, too?" (Economist "Copyrights"). Many individuals all applying this mentality can have implications though. Wired News reported that there has been a drop in the proportion of purchases by 15 - to 24 - year olds (32. 2 % in 1996 to 28 % in 1998). The RIAA claims that MP 3 files may be responsible for the drop in this important market (Wired Cutting). These implications brought about by users of illegal MP 3 s help to explain the record companies' concern about the possibilities of the MP 3 format. The success of a band like the Fire Ants, though, is dependent on users downloading a track or two for free and then deciding whether or not to purchase the CD.
The potential...
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Research essay sample on Recording Industry Association Mp 3 Files
