Music piracy has the ability to harm the music industry by taking away revenue, but also help the industry by giving artists exposure

The internet is a vastly growing place, where people from all over the world can connect and interact. This allows for many thought, ideas, and even music to be shared all over the world. This is heavily impacting the music industry.

The internet has created this place where music can be shared instantly and millions of people can access it. It has also given people the ability to illegally pirate music, and get music you typically pay for, for free. Pirating music is an easy and free way for people to download music. This plays a huge role in modern music.

Piracy has the ability to both help and hurt the music industry. Piracy tends to harm the industry by taking away extra revenue that pays the artists, however, it also gives the artist more exposure, and allows for their content to reach a broader audience.

Piracy harms the music industry by taking away money from the artist

The immediately noticeable thing that piracy does is strip money from the artist. A product that you typically pay for, you are now taking for free. The money that you would normally give the artist to listen to and have their album, you are getting for free. This heavily removes a large profit the artist would make off of their record.

The RIAA, the Recording Industry Association of America, discusses how piracy has cost the music industry jobs and money. The RIAA says that piracy has cost the music industry 12.5 billion dollars, and over 70,000 jobs have been lost.

If an artist solely makes all of their money from their recorded albums, then their means of income is being stripped from them. Piracy is making them spend their time and energy to be rewarded with people stealing their content. Artists work hard to produce their music, and piracy is, in a sense, making them work for free.

The total revenue from recorded sales of the music industry has steadily dropped over the past few years. This chart shows how much of a decrease in recorded sales the industry has suffered. This is all happening as the internet is becoming popular, and people are effectively pirating music. This downward slope of revenue loss is happening right as pirating music is becoming more popular, which leads people to believe that pirating has caused a huge loss for the recording industry.

Patrick Warfield, an Associate professor of Music at the University of Maryland, College Park, briefly discusses how piracy is harming the creative aspects of the music industry.

Patrick Warfield discusses how piracy is a reason for less creativity in the industry. It becomes more expensive and difficult to hire great producers, which limits the creativity that could be achieved with better producers and musicians.

Piracy positively effects the music industry by giving more artists much exposure

Piracy is completely free. The user doesn't pay anything to download and listen to the music that they are getting. This often leads people to listen to newer things. If something is free, people are more likely to capitalize on it, and take advantage of it, over if they had to pay for it.

Since people are getting the music for free, they can reach out and experience a broader range of artists instead of spending money on an album and hoping that they like it. Piracy allows users to get a listen as to what the artist is offering.

If the user really enjoys the content that they are provided with, they may go out and purchase that album. Piracy gives users the opportunity to sample music, and get a listen as to what the music is, and then make a decision as to whether or not they should spend their money on the content.

Many people argue that piracy isn't actually harming the music industry at all. A study was conducted that concluded that music piracy does not displace legal music purchases, and there is unlikely to be much harm done on music revenues.

A lot of the people that pirate music, either won't purchase the music at all even if they couldn't get it for free, or they would use the content that they got for free to in turn support the artist, by buying the album or supporting the artist in other ways.

Many people who do pirate, but don't buy the album will often contribute to the artist in other ways such as attending the artists concerts, or buying merchandise from the artist.

The chart from earlier shows that that has been happening. The chart shows that recorded music sales have dropped, however, concert revenue has vastly increased. Piracy can open the doors for people to hear about artists, and then, in turn, they spend their money, instead of on an album, but on attending a concert.

The chart also shows that total music sales have not dropped very much. The recorded music revenue has decreased, however, the total music revenue hasn't changed much in the last decade.

Patrick Warfield feels that piracy isn't the answer to increasing exposure for artists. He argues that there are perfectly legal ways to give an artist exposure, that doesn't involve illegal pirating of music.

Mr. Warfield discusses how even though an artist can get their music exposed relatively easily through the internet, it is still difficult for the artist to make money just from touring and performing concerts. Mr. Warfield also mentions alternatives to piracy that still allow users to access the content for free, while remaining legal. Soundcloud is a very effective tool for users to get a sample of music before making a purchase on an album, just like piracy can do.

The future and advancement of technology cannot prevent piracy

Piracy is a very controversial topic in the music industry. Many people believe it is harming the industry, while many others think it is helping. New programs and tools are being developed to give users free content, to try and stop people from pirating.

I do not think that these legal methods, and advancing technology can stop piracy. I believe that piracy will always be around, and there will still be free ways to get music. Industries can try and create new ways to prevent piracy, like new coding that stops users from accessing and sharing the content, however, I think that people will always find a way around it. No matter what companies try to do, somebody will always find a way to bypass their security measures and spread content for free.

Free websites and programs like soundcloud and spotify can help deter some people from pirating music, by giving them a free legal way of obtaining music, but I don't think it's enough to stop piracy all together. It may stop some people, but there will always be people who want to own the content, and won't separate themselves from piracy.

Mr. Warfield discusses how the record industry adapts to newer technology. The record industry develops a way to use newer technology in a very successful way, but they do it fairly slow. He also goes on to discuss what he thinks the future advancement of technology holds in store for the music industry.

Music piracy is all in the users hands. Nobody can prevent or encourage piracy other than the user. Piracy has its positive and negative effects to the music industry. It is up to you to decide whether to partake in it or not.

listen to ‘Music piracy ’ on Audioboo

New technology has vastly impacted the music industry

listen to ‘Technology impacts the music industry ’ on Audioboo

In my final ePortfoliio I want to discuss the influences that new technologies have on the music industry. I want to focus on how legal products, such as iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, and other services have changed the ways that artists become recognized and make money. I also want to discuss the influences illegal technologies, such as  pirating music, have changed the way an artist makes money and gets popularity. I intend to focus on how methods such as YouTube and pirating music can get an artists name out there, and vastly increase their popularity, while sometimes stripping the artist of money taken from album sales. I also want to discuss how paid services, like iTunes, have changed how the artist makes money when compared to older technology like CD's. I intend to compare and contrast how the newer technologies have altered the music industry, and compare the new technologies to older technologies. I also want to talk about how streaming services play a role in the industry. Streaming music have shifted some people from downloading music to only streaming it. It makes the music easily accessible and you don't have to permanently store it yourself. Previously, an artist would make a majority of their money from album sales, but the newer technological age has changed the way they they gain popularity, and how they make money. The music industry is forever changing. New mediums for distributing music constantly arise. It has gone from records, to cassettes, to CD's, to now digitally. I want to focus on how the newest medium, that is apparent in our day and age, have changed the way the industry functions.

Mobile Social Networking allows users to interact in many ways, including gaming and sharing media

Smartphones are one of the most popular new technologies, and they are constantly upgrading and becoming better for the user. Smartphones are basically a computer in your pocket. There are many apps for smartphones that allow social networking. One of the new popular types of apps, are ones that are only accessible on your smartphone, and allow you to social network.

These social networking apps are most influencing on teenagers. One-third of all teens have a smartphone with social media apps. The most popular types of apps focus primarily on the user being popular, and not on celebrities. Apps like Twitter, and Instagram, allow all the attention to be put on one person, and allows them to feel famous with their increasing number of followers. These apps give teens the attention that they desire.

Media Share allows the user to socially interact in more unique ways, through images and video

One of the most popular types of mobile social networking is media share. Media share allows the user to share audio, video, or images across the internet, from their mobile device.

One of the most popular types of media share is Instagram. Instagram allows the user to take a picture, or a short video, and send it to all of their followers. This allows users to visually share what they are doing to everybody. They allow other people to see what they are doing, and it gives them attention.

One of the more recent mobile apps is Vine. Vine is still a new app, but it is vastly increasing in popularity. Vine allows users to take a short, six second video, and send it across the internet, through vine. When Vine first started, Instagram only allowed for pictures, so it did differ from Instagram by showing video instead of pictures. Since the release of Vine, Instagram added video to their app.

Media Share apps allow the user to feel more popular, and spread what they are doing to others in unique fashions. These are primarily targeted towards a younger audience, or those who enjoy taking many pictures and videos. Media share apps allow the user to post in a more interactive way, rather than just posting a status on Facebook or Twitter. They allow the viewer to become more engaged in what they are doing, and they have become very popular among teens.

Social Gaming allows users to interact with friends, while playing a game

Social gaming is another type of mobile networking that is popular. Social gaming allows people to interact with each other through playing games. These games allow you to compete with others to see who can do the best, or rely on them to help you out in your game.

Screenshot of Candy Crush Saga 

One of the more recent, and popular social games is Candy Crush Saga. Candy Crush Saga requires you to match pieces of candy, and complete certain tasks complete a level. This game strongly incorporates you to interact with others to succeed. You only have a set number of lives in the game, and you can run out by failing levels. You can use others that are online, and ask them for extra lives. If they give you the lives, then you can continue playing. There are also areas that require others to send you a ticket to advance, and continue playing the game.

Temple Run was another social game that allowed you to interact with others. In Temple Run, you were running away from a temple. and you had to avoid any obstacles in your path. The game measured how far you ran every time, and it showed your results to others. The game allowed for competition between you and your friends, by seeing who could get the farthest, and highest score.

Different social games allow for the users to interact differently. Candy Crush Saga relies on others to allow you to advance, and continue playing, while temple run allows you to compete with others. Social gaming is very fun and interactive for the user, which is why it is popular. It completely engages the user through the game, and incorporates their friends in it.

Social Networking is constantly evolving. It has changed from being websites on your computer, to everything right in your pocket, on your phone. Smartphones allow for certain social medias to only be available through a mobile device, and not through a computer. Mobile Social Networking is becoming more and more popular, and will remain a dominant way to socially network.

Digital Rights Management is intended to prevent piracy, however, the restrictions it places on users may often cause them to want to pirate the material even more.

The Digital Rights Management, also known as DRM, is various technologies or security codes that are used to copyrighted works from being illegally copied. What DRM does is it removes usage control from the person who possess it, and gives it to a computer program. For example. DRM is used to restrict the number of copies that can be made of a DVD, a music CD that has information to prevent it from being copied, or an eBook server that restricts you from copying and printing material. In simple terms, DRM is used to limit what you can do with digital media.

DRM is intended to help solve a legitimate problem of piracy, which is illegally copying media and distributing it freely to others. Piracy is a huge problem is the media industry, it allows people to gain access to content for free, while the people who created the content aren't receiving anything for it. DRM is intended to stop piracy, however, DRM can be hacked.

In March of 2010, the gaming company Ubisoft deployed its new DRM technology. The new DRM would require customers to remain online to play purchased content, however, their new DRM was cracked within one day. Within a matter of hours, the DRM that Ubisoft deployed was now cracked, and ineffective. The games that were created using the new DRM were already available online for people to pirate and get for free.

DRM is simply not very effective in today's marketplace. DRM is very easy to hack into, and break the DRM restrictions. People are figuring out new ways to get things for free everyday. DRM is becoming old, and very ineffective. It is trying to stop piracy, but it is not working. Torrenting websites still have current content, which is constantly receiving the newest media. If anything, DRM is driving people to want to torrent the content more.

The limitations that DRM puts onto users content often bothers those that have purchased, or intend to purchase, the content. This will drive them to pirate a cracked copy of the content, in order to remove the restrictions and limitations. Like Ubisoft's DRM, many other gaming companies use DRM to protect their content, but it often causes piracy. People would rather not spend money on something that requires them to constantly be online, and when the connection goes down, the game crashes. A lot of people would rather get a cracked version of the game, and not have to deal with the hassle that DRM creates.

DRM also creates a hassle for those who purchase music online. DRM can often restrict the device that the content can be played on. If the user purchases the music, they should be free to put it on whatever device they want to. The legally purchased the content, so they should be able to do what they want with it. DRM prevents them from being able to do so. A user could have purchased a song off of iTunes, but they wanted to put the music on an Android device. DRM could restrict the user from being able to transfer the file to that device. This could lead to a user pirating the music in order to avoid DRM, and do what they want with their content.

In modern day, I feel as though DRM just isn't effective. It is causing more problems for the people who purchase the content, than those who pirate. People will always find ways to hack into software, and get it for free. DRM is helping very much with that. It is simply restricting their paying customers, and often times making them lean towards pirating to have full access to the content.

It is not possible to be addicted to media because the user has full control over how and when they use media.

I do not think that it is possible to become addicted to media. You can be very dependent on media, and rely on it to do simple tasks, however I do not think that it can be classified as an addiction. According to http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/addiction/, an addiction is when you have no control over what you are doing. An addiction causes mental or physical conditions that require you to fulfill your addiction. Using media helps to improve our lives, and it doesn't cause any mental or physical strains that force you to use it. Media is all done by choice, and isn't a necessity to live. You can go without using media.
Many people, including myself, use media daily. I use it to stay informed on the world, to socialize with friends, and for entertainment. I can very easily stop using media and the internet. It would make finding information more difficult and i would have to find other ways to entertain myself, but it is not something that I am forced to do. I have complete control over when and how I use media.
Using media in the classroom can be very beneficial to helping students get a better grasp on information. It allows the students to use the technology that they enjoy using while learning. Technology in the classroom seems to help students focus more on the information given to them.
Technology in the classroom also has its drawbacks. It is very tempting for students, while using their laptops, to stray away from the information present and do whatever they want to do. The internet is right there for them to do anything. They can use their social media, play games, and do whatever they want to do. There should be limitations on how technology can be used in class. The technology should be controlled or monitored to ensure that students aren't getting distracted by the vast and easily accessible internet. If the technology is able to be monitored or controlled then it would force the students to focus on the information present, and help them understand the material.
Technology is a very powerful tool. It can greatly help people, through socializing or learning, and people can become very dependent on using technology. It is still not possible for an addiction to arise from using various forms of technology.

Interactive mediums have a much greater impact on media users than passive mediums by immersing the viewer, and using semiotics in a greater way.

I believe that interactive mediums, such as video games, have a much greater impact on media users than a passive medium, such as television. Interactive mediums allow the user to put themselves in a scenario that they could never reach without the interactivity. Television allows viewers to visually witness depictions of events and scenarios, but there is a connection that you don't get the full effect of with television. Using interactive media gives the user a personal connection to events that are happening. For example, television can explain what war is like, and can show footage of what war looks like, however people can't get the full effect of what war really is like. Video games that allow you to experience a war give you a much deeper understanding of what it is actually like. It still isn't an exact replication of what war is, but it is pretty close. Video games also allow users to enjoy the media. Some people don't like watching the news, they find it boring. Implementing news into an interactive source allows people, especially a younger demographic, to get in touch with what is occurring in the world.
Interactive and passive mediums both use semiotics to convey their message. I feel that interactive media has a broader and more effective use of semiotics rather than a passive medium. Video games allow symbols and signs to directly influence your interpretation of what is occurring. A passive media can only give you the signs, while video games make you interact with the signs first hand. Video games put you in particular scenarios and require you to act accordingly to events. In order to respond to what is happening, you must rely on your interpretation of symbols and signs to complete the task given to you. Several key themes of semiotics in video games are explained in-depth at http://bruchansky.name/exhibitions/the-semiotics-of-video-games/. This website was created by several people, which include a PhD student for semiotics, a person with a semiotics PhD., and a professor of philosophy. Themes such as empathy, narratology, immersion, and intelligibility in video games are all discussed.
Video games have the ability to submerse the user in a very deep and engaging way. They have the potential to give off a great amount of information in a fun way. I strongly believe that video games have a greater impact on media users than passive mediums.