Posted on 07/10/2002 1:02:19 PM PDT by Reaganwuzthebest
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The record industry pleaded on Wednesday with consumers to stop downloading and recording music for free because piracy was strangling the multi-billion-dollar industry.
Profits have plummeted, especially in Europe. CD sales in Germany last year were 185 million whereas the number of blank CDs used to copy music was estimated at 182 million.
Record executives also believe there are now more unauthorized music files available on the Internet than at the height of Napster ( news - web sites)'s success in the field.
"Music for free means less new music, fewer new artists, less choice, thousands less jobs," said Jay Berman, head of the industry's main trade body, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
Electronic music composer Jean Michel Jarre, who has staged spectacular sound and light shows around the world, fervently agreed, telling reporters: "If music is to continue to support the livelihoods of artists, it cannot be taken without the permission of artists."
They were speaking at a news conference in Brussels to mark the IFPI Platinum Europe Awards that are staged every two years to give out record industry "Oscars ( news - web sites)" to artists who have sold over one million albums across the continent.
The industry may be celebrating the bestsellers but it is clearly alarmed.
John Kennedy, President and Chief Operating Officer of Universal Music International, warned: "If the prevailing music for free mentality is left unchecked, record companies will no longer be able to re-invest up to 15 percent of their revenues in discovering and nurturing the Platinum artists of the future."
IFPI sales figures for 2001 showed a five percent fall in the value of recorded music worldwide to $33.7 billion. Among the steepest falls were in Europe -- Denmark was down 19 percent and Austria 10 percent.
Kennedy, speaking to Reuters afterwards, said the figures speak for themselves.
"In 2000 in America, seven albums sold more than five million copies. Since then, none has sold more than five million copies," he said, putting the fall down to consumers who spurn the record stores and search elsewhere to get their music for free.
Kennedy said Irish supergroup U2 sold 10 million copies of their first Greatest Hits compilation album. The second volume is due out this year and he wondered: "Are these figures still attainable?"
Just yesterday at a stoplight I was carried away on the rhapsodic melodies of some witty lyricist whose artsong was booming from the speaker of a soon-to-be-deaf person's 4 cylinder lowrider: "Gonna F* you up you F*ing F*..." followed by more F*s.
Watch your back Cole Porter, there's talent in those crayons!
More doesn't mean better. If the record companies would release albums with 15 worthwhile songs instead of the hit song and a whole bunch of crap formula we've been fed, more people would pay for albums.
I strongly DISAGREE!
The basis of all capitalism is that those who create MUST be well-paid for their hard work, talent and sweat. No one here begrudges Bill Gates the fruits of HIS efforts. Songwriters deserve the exact same potential pot of gold at the end of their rainbows as book authors, software designers and inventors.
I'm always surprised and dismayed when conservatives, who will fight to defend the rights of venture capitalists, and inventors, and innovators, and entrepenuers to be as well payed for their efforts as the markets will allow... these same "conservatives" then want artists to give it away for free.
Stealing is stealing. Stealing music is not one molecule different than going into Barnes and Noble and swiping a book, or strealing a sweater from a dept store.
Shame on some of you guys.
You are so right. One of my newest favorite bands is a bunch from Oklahoma called Cross Canadian Ragweed. They enjoy a huge following in OK and Texas despite never seeing any radio airtime. There is a ton of great music out there, you just have to realize that you aren't going to get it from the radio or the big labels.
LOL - Reinvesting 15% into their own greedy pockets more like it.
Soundcapture v1.0
It is free too... Do a google search for it...
Well, it's changing, anyway. Along with books and eventually maybe even movies, the age of super-corporations keeping a stranglehold on all uses of content (example: Disney still having all rights to that mouse, decades after Walt is dead) are going away.
Something will take its place. Hopefully that something will be more creative and give a chance for little guys to make a few bucks, even if it doesn't produce the same number of millionaires and billionaires anymore.
But, its sooo darned easy to blame copiers rather than the entire screwed up industry.
Most of us want originals even if we have copies, if its someone we really like. But, the potheads who run the industry are getting old now. They've lost their touch, and back when MTV helped the industry, things were really booming. But, have you seen MTV lately? What a crock! What a waste of electricity! MTV SUCKS! THE entire recording industry SUCKS even more!
I'll have to give that one a try, right now I've got at least 100 excellent stations bookmarked on Winamp, and most of them are commercial free.
I grew up in the 60's. I paid for every album I ever had. It didn't hurt me none. Some albums were great, some sucked and I kicked myself for spending the money. You live, you learn.
Enabling people to steal an artists music will do nothing except force the best artists to do something else so they can make a living.
If you guys, in your fantasies, actually BELIEVE that part-time hobbyists, willing to make music for free as a labor of love, will make memorable music, you are truly living in a dream world. The music turned out by non-professionals is invariably CRAP.
Agreed. The problem is that it exists, but the recording industry will probably not take advantage of it. With MP3 pirating, Internet radio and used CDs all opening up other avenues for obtaining music, it's clear that the market will no longer bear current new CD prices. Unless the industry heeds these signs and lowers prices or offers more bang for the buck, it will continue to lose out. It's called capitalism.
Irrelevant to discussions of art. I write and play music for the love of doing it. I've never made a dime off of what I do. It would be nice if I could, but that's life. I do it anyway.
Stealing is stealing. Stealing music is not one molecule different than going into Barnes and Noble and swiping a book, or strealing a sweater from a dept store.
So, you've never hummed a song you liked? Never sung the words or picked it out on a musical instrument? Every one of those actions is an unauthorized copy, substantially more difficult to make than copying a file, but also free.
When you hum, or sing, or play something, does anyone hear you? Have you ever taught it to anyone else? By your reasoning, this makes you a thief. Stop throwing stones. Your house is glass.
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