Digital Music industry is need of an Hour. No one carry music or CDs these days. Everyone listen to Music on their Laptops, MP3 players, IPods and other portable devices. This makes us believe that Digital music is building Digital Music Industry Profitable. Wait a Second -the statistics from International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) tells a total different picture altogether. From year 1990- 2000 Music Industry gained substantial profit and was quite profitable. Their revenues grew from $24 billion to $38 billion during that period. But those days are over. Music industry across the world is struggling. Their sales have dropped 7.1 % to $30 billion for last three years.
This downturn coincides with growth in digital network and high Internet speeds. People no longer prepared to pay for music .Instead they go to websites like Napster, Kazaa, Pandora or YouTube to listen free to music. They can also download free music from Peer to peer network like Aries or eMule. This availability of music at no cost is creating large problems for music Industry.
Music Industry feels Internet service providers are partially responsible for this downfall and loss in revenue promoting digital Piracy. ISP allows music to be downloaded and shared on their networks. Consumers can download music, Files, Software’s from P2P networks in fraction of seconds. On the other hand ISP argues for free and unrestricted access to internet is very important in an open society.
Building an environment with mutual collaboration between ISP and Music Industry is needed to curb digital piracy or illegal download of digital music. ISP can also monitor users who download music from unauthorized sources and restrict their access or terminate their service to such users. ISP can also send notifications or warn users of undesirable consequences for downloading music from prohibited sources and sharing unauthorized material on web. Law enforcement agencies can also be involved to help ISP provides control piracy.
Recently Apple came up with new technologies like DRP (Digital right management) developed to limit music sharing upto 5 devices. DRM free music from iTunes will also be available with additional cost and higher digital quality. DRM technology is promising but this promotes music to be used only for Apple product mainly the IPods and IPads. This will propel monopoly of Apple in digital music. DRM technology would prevent new players to come in digital music technology. Companies like Amazon and yahoo music favors DRM Free music and is moving technology which allows subscription of Music and Music Channels. This is similar to podcast and would allow users to subscribe to music channels also known as “Digital Channels” of their favorite singers or albums. This idea of subscribing to music channel is similar to subscribing newsletter or eBooks. However this would not prevent users to go to other websites or other applications to download music.
In conclusion, music piracy is a problem that has affected many individuals, including music stores, music industries and musicians. The sharing and multiplication of unauthorized material is a trend that has changed the way music is sold or consumed in market .In the end it depends consumer and consumer ethics because technology can only prevent illegal consumption to some extent . It’s the users who need to decide if they want to buy music paying some cost or just steal music with dire consequences in future.
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