The Death of the Music Industry

 

By Sarah Nichols
 

 

                The music industry seems to be breaking records day by day. Unfortunately, it is breaking all the wrong kinds. As CD sales are dropping to an all-time low, the music industry is taking a huge blow. It is understandable that the once ever-so-popular compact discs are dying out. Isn’t that what technology does? It slowly creeps into our lives, ignites a whirlwind, and then is snuffed out by the next new thing. Like its predecessors (vinyl records, cassette tapes, and the phonograph), CDs are slowly but surely becoming a thing of the past.
 

                Nielsen SoundScan, which began tracking music sales in 1991, recorded America’s album sales the week of Aug. 28, 2014—a jaw-dropping 3.997 million albums. Not only was it the lowest album sales since 1991, but the first time it has dropped below 4 million in that span of time. People may agree to the idea of CDs becoming extinct with an excuse like, “It is just their time.” But is their death a premature one? Some say yes, and the culprits behind the CD’s untimely death is due to digital downloading, audio streaming, and online piracy.
 

                The event that initiated the downfall of the music industry was the moment digital downloading became available. Instead of having to buy a physical copy, Apple created the online store iTunes that, for a price, provides digital singles and songs available for download. For a mere 69 cents (sometimes 99 cents or $1.99) individuals can pick and choose what they want to download instead of spending 20 bucks on a physical copy they would only listen to a few songs anyway. While aspects of this are great, there are flaws that were unforeseen when digital downloading was first introduced.
 

                Godfather of punk rock Iggy Pop has very loud opinions of exactly what he thinks of digital downloading and U2’s poor attempt of befriending the age of digital downloads. “We are exchanging the corporate rip-off for the public one,” he says, “Aided by power nerds. Kind of computer Putin’s. They just wanna get rich and powerful. And now the biggest bands are charging insane ticket prices or giving away music before it can flop, in an effort to stay huge. And there’s something in this huge thing that kind of sucks.” In fact, NPD estimates that iTunes has been responsible for 63 percent of music downloaded in the past year and that the music industry will never be able to return from the digital age.
 

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                The rise of audio streaming platforms such as Spotify, Pandora, SoundCloud, YouTube, 8tracks, and a host of other sites makes the accessibility of music easier than anyone could ever imagine. With the  touch of a few keystrokes, anyone can have unlimited access to the many media streaming services from virtually anywhere: from your phone, computer, TV, car or any portable device. It is no wonder that the music industry is suffering. Major stars and artists speak out against the age of digital streaming. They scrutinize the corporations that make a handsome profit off their art that they spent all the money, hard work, blood, sweat and tears creating. Yet, these corporations do nothing to re-invest to keep the artists, that are making them so much money, afloat.

                Amanda Palmer, former lead singer of The Dresden Dolls and front runner of Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra, spoke at the 2013 Virgin’s Disruptors Conference. “…one weird thing is that iTunes, Apple Spotify, Google, whatever, all of the people who are profiting – [and] YouTube – who are profiting off the artists from the small level to the huge levels aren’t really feeding very much back into the creation of new content.  And, that’s actually one of the largest problems, and even though my views aren't nearly as extreme as David Byrne’s, he does bring up the giant question, which is ‘where is the capital going to come from to make art?‘… But wouldn't it seem that the place that is making the lion’s share of the profit should actually also be putting money back into the creation of content to make a healthy ecosystem?”
 

                High-profile bands like Pink Floyd have this to say: “Of course, this letter doesn’t say anything about an 85 percent artist pay cut. That would probably turn off most musicians who might consider signing on. All it says about royalties is ‘we are all fervent advocates for the fair treatment of artists. Fine print is one thing. But a musician could read this ‘letter of support’ a dozen times and hold it up to a funhouse mirror for good measure without realizing she was signing a call to cut her own royalties to pad Pandora’s bottom line.”
 

                Audio piracy is a cheap, fast way to get all your favorite music, and maybe to you a song or two here and there isn’t a big deal. I mean, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber are millionaires. They won’t miss the 99 cents from iTunes or the $17.99 it would be to buy a physical copy, right? Wrong. When everyone across the globe participates in audio piracy, the music industry takes a big hit. Since the emergence of Napster in 1999 and other peer-to-peer sites, American music sales have dropped a disturbing 53 percent from $15.6 billion to $7 billion. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), “from 2004 though 2009 alone, approximately 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded on file-sharing networks…only 37 percent of music acquired by the U.S. consumers in 2009 was paid for.”

               Even headlining bands are noticing the dramatic decline of profit from albums. Iggy Pop states in his John Peel lecture at the radio festival, “If I had to depend on what I actually get from sales, I'd be tending bars between sets.” He goes on to talk about how the recent digital advances have caused the music industry to become “almost laughably pirate” and the electronic devices “estrange people form their morals and also make it easier to steal music than pay for it.”
 

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               Not only does this merely affect CD sales, but the people who work for the music industry as well. Songwriters, recording artists, audio engineers, computer technicians, talent scouts and marketing specialists, producers, publishers and countless others (RIAA) take a great hit from profit losses. In fact a study, by the Institute for policy Innovation pinpoints the annual damage of audio piracy at $12.5 billion in losses to the United States economy, as well as $2 billion in wages, and a devastating 70,000 lost jobs.
 

               Born in the '90s, I was a kid exploring the beginnings of the Internet.  I discovered that I was in the height of LimeWire. I am ashamed to admit in my younger years (I’m only telling you this because I checked the statute of limitations, and I’m clear), I was an audio pirate. From the ages 7 to 14 I built my own corrupted empire; kids from all grades would give me list of songs to download for me to put on a disc for them. I would charge them $5 a CD. I distinctly remember just before my 10th birthday breaking my portable compact disc player and getting my very first iPod - I was instantly smitten. Yes, I had money from my criminal transactions, but it wasn’t enough to buy all the music I wanted. So what did I do? I just downloaded more songs. Sure, I knew it was a “crime”, but I didn’t really know how serious it was nor who or what I was affecting. Only until we had a talk in our Criminal Justice class and I conducted my own research did I realize I was part of the music industry’s problem.
 

                I seriously believe that if we teach kids at a younger age how their actions online can cause irreversible effects, then a lot of these problems will be solved. To my knowledge, there are no such programs available, but maybe this is something to consider installing in our future curriculum. Keep in mind, I’m not telling you to stop jamming out to Spotify or to boycott the iTunes store; they’re both amazing music platforms that I love using. I’m asking for you to stop and think next time you decide to rip a song off PirateBay—reflect on the repercussions of this action. When you digitally download an album, maybe every once and a while you can dish out the extra $10 to buy the physical copy. In the end, it will be worth it to see the music industry be restored to its former glory; there is no telling what we will see from it when it is.
 

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