The Desensitization of Music Thievery March 7, 2007

 

It’s hard to believe that despite the fact that stealing music is wrong and illegal, I can’t remember a time when music was not on the computer. The text states that it went “wildly out of control” in the 90s when the internet made it big. Does that mean that there were no issues of stolen music before the golden era of the internet? I find this somewhat shocking; it is just strange to think that no one worried about it at all, until a medium to do so was discovered. All though from another light, I must admit it makes perfect sense, what a paradox.

The way I see it, music is being stolen at such a large and successful rate is for several reasons:

1. CDs at record shops seem to be overwhelmingly overpriced, especially when the band is no longer popular.
2. There is so much music circulating and so many different genres that it would cost a fortune to keep up with it all.
3. As a consumer it is difficult to justify buying a 20$ CD when you only like one song by the band. It is even more difficult to buy a 5$ single track, seeing as there is only one song on it.
4.  There is this idea out there that Celebrities and Bands are above the rest of society. So despite the fact that the music might be amazing, charging so much for a CD may cause some dissonance in consumers. As much as they want to own the CD, buying it represents supporting the band and therefore supporting an idea that you as the consumer or just a piece of a vast society living under the world of
   Hollywood. 
5. Stealing music off the internet or simply burning your friend’s copy is so accessible it would seem foolish not to. On this note, I think that it is also fair to assume that music burners do not understand how they could get caught or the consequences for this action.
6. All stores and other consumer based industries have found ways to protect themselves from loses like these. So there is a mentality out there that bands and musicians should be working to protect themselves from getting burned (pun intended). We can take
   
   A Perfect Circle

   of TOOL for example, Maynard has made his CD’s “non-burnable”.

 

 

On the other hand, I do recognize that stealing music is wrong and that musicians work hard to produce the music that they do.

1.  
   1. It is difficult to write songs, both the lyrics and the music, but also to get up on stage and perform for millions of eager fans.
   2. A Musician is a very acceptable career in our society today, so just because they are probably having a lot more fun and living a more comfortable lifestyle does not mean that they are not working. I think in a sense it can be compared to workers being replaced by machinery. Instead of making the most profit that they can be performing the task that they are good at, their employers are investing their time and money into finding ways to get the work done without depending on the actual worker.
   3. Bands and Musicians are also investing time and money into various other institutions that help keep this capitalist market rolling. Such as record labels, Photographers, Journalists, CD production companies, recording companies and charitable programs.
   4. Numerous bands and Musicians are also creating their own charitable programs with aims to better the world.

 

In the end, I guess that I am just searching for a way to understand how it has become acceptable to steal music but not cable or internet or CDs from the store. I want to find where it became desensitized to this extreme.