* HOME * TYPES OF MUSIC * DIGITAL MUSIC

DIGITAL MUSIC

I. Introduction
II. Benefits and Costs
III. The Inconclusive Legal Campaigns
IV. What to Do?
    1. Tie Internet Distribution to Sales of Containers
    2. Tax and Royalty System
    3. Secured Formats
    4. Subscriptions
    5. Advertising
    6. Doing Well by Doing Good

I. Introduction

Almost all music is distributed today in digital, rather than analog, form. Until recently, most digital music was sold in containers called compact discs. Developed and refined between 1965 and 1985, compact-disc technology swept the consumer market during the late 1980s and early 1990s, displacing almost completely long-play vinyl albums.

In the past few years, a new method of distributing digital music has become increasingly popular: transmission of containerless files via the Internet, followed by storage on home computers.

Music distributed in this manner typically is replayed either through stereo systems attached to the home computers or through portable devices analogous to the "walkman."

The technology that has made this new method convenient and popular is MP3 , an audio compression file format.

Musical files compressed using MP3 occupy approximately 1/12 of the disk space occupied by uncompressed files, enabling them to be transmitted faster and stored more easily. Two groups have embraced MP3 technology especially enthusiastically. First, musicians unable to obtain recording contracts with the major record companies have found that, at modest cost, they can record their material in MP3 format and then make it available over the Internet.

Second, high-school and college students have discovered that they can obtain on the Internet MP3 copies of most of the songs of their favorite musicians. A high percentage of the MP3 recordings available in this manner were prepared without the permission of the owners of the copyrights in the music.

This essay attempts to sort out the legal issues presented by this new technology. Section II catalogues its social advantages and disadvantages. Section III analyzes the various legal challenges that have been or might be brought against users of the new technology. Section IV suggests some ways in which the legal and business landscape might be reconfigured to handle better the combination of opportunities and dangers presented by the new technology.

II. Benefits and Costs

Widespread adoption of the technique of distributing digital music via the internet -- either in MP3 format or in some other form -- would give rise to five important social and economic advantages.

Cost savings associated with "disintermediation." Currently, most of the retail price paid by a consumer for a compact disks goes to the manufacturer of the disc itself, the distributor of the disc, the retail store where she purchased it, or the record company that produced the recording. The composer and the recording artist (often the same person) rarely receive more than 16% of the purchase price.

If the music were distributed over the Internet by the artist himself, almost all of costs associated with making and distributing discs could be eliminated. The result: musicians could earn more or consumers could pay less or both.
Elimination of overproduction and underproduction. Under the current system, the record campanies must guess how many copies of each CD consumers will demand. Distribution of containerless digital files over the Internet would eliminate this problem.
Convenience and precision. The many annoyances associated with buying music in retail stores (travel time; the disappointments when CDs are out of stock; etc.) would all be eliminated by Internet distribution.

The less substantial annoyances associated with mail-order purchases of CDs (waiting for delivery; being forced to purchase an entire CD when one is only interested in a few tracks) would also be eliminated. Consumers would get exactly the music they wanted (and none of the music they didn't want) instantly.
Increase in the number and variety of musicians. The set of musicians who would like to make their music available to the public and the set that significant numbers of consumers would like to hear are both much larger than the set hired by the recording companies. The opportunities available to new artists and to bands that appeal to "niche" markets would increase rapidly through widespread adoption of the new technology.
Semiotic democracy. In most modern capitalist countries, the power to make meaning, to shape culture, has been concentrated in relatively few hands. One of the great cultural benefits of the Internet in general lies in its tendency to decentralize this semiotic power.

In two respects, Internet distribution of digital music would contribute to that decentalization. The first, already mentioned, consists of the expansion of the set of musicians who can reach wide audiences and the associated diminution of the cultural power of the "big five" record companies. The second consists of the ease with which "consumers" of digital music can manipulate it, recombine pieces of it, blend it with their own material -- in short, can become producers. The next generation of compression formats -- MP4 -- promises to increase radically those opportunities for interaction and ateration.

Regrettably, distribution of digital music via the Internet also has one, very substantial drawback: It undermines the ability of music creators to earn money. Two circumstances, in combination, give rise to this problem.

First, MP3 files are unsecured. In other words, nothing prevents a person who has acquired (with or without permission) an MP3 file to make an unlimited number of copies of it.

Second, unlike the copies of musical works made using analog technology (such as ordinary casette tape recorders), the copies made using digital technology are perfect. In other words, each copy is identical to the original. The result: unauthorized, perfect MP3 copies of copyrighted recordings are widely available on the Internet for free.

The proliferation of unauthorized free copies has frightened both the recording industry and many musicians . The laments of the recording companies leave many observers unmoved.

It is commonly said that the major recording companies have been engaged in oligopolistic pricing for years and can stand to forego some profits. Even if that is true, however, the pleas of the musicians merit our attention.

A dramatic reduction in their revenues both may deprive them of a fair return for their labors and may create precisely the state of affairs that copyright law (according to the dominant theory thereof) was designed to prevent: socially suboptimal production of musical works because of their nonexclusivity . In short, Internet distribution of digital music may result, not in an increase in the amount and variety of music available to the public, but in a decrease.

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* HOME * TYPES OF MUSIC * DIGITAL MUSIC

I. Introduction

II. Benefits and Costs

MUSIC PROMOTION

Skyrocket Your Music Career
Discover How To Make Millions Without A Record Deal

NOTE READING

Read Ledger Line Notes Fast!
Learn To Read Ledger Line Notes - Easily And Quickly!

PIANO

* HOME * TYPES OF MUSIC * DIGITAL MUSIC

I. Introduction

II. Benefits and Costs

MUSIC PROMOTION

Skyrocket Your Music Career Discover How To Make Millions Without A Record Deal NOTE READING

Read Ledger Line Notes Fast! Learn To Read Ledger Line Notes - Easily And Quickly! PIANO

Skyrocket Your Music Career
Discover How To Make Millions Without A Record Deal

NOTE READING

Read Ledger Line Notes Fast!
Learn To Read Ledger Line Notes - Easily And Quickly!

PIANO