There has been much debate over the issue of downloading music from the Internet via services like WinMX, KaZaA and Napster. I have mixed feelings about it as a member of the AFM and a librarian who supports copyright collectives virtually by default. However, I am on the side of free downloading, as I am able to listen to artists whose work I would otherwise ignore. I am able to find and burn onto CDs music that is long out-of-print, so to speak. I have also discovered music that I've downloaded, and subsquently purchased the CD to get more of that artist's work rather than spend time finding more to download. Unknown artists, who outnumber bands like Metallica a zillion to one, are able to get there music "out there", dramatically increasing the chances someone outside their geographic area might discover them. I found artists like Kate Schrock, Emmet Swimming, and Kristen Cifelli during times I was surfing the net. My best pal Jessica Owen uses the net for all its worth to spread her music to the masses.
I wonder if the music industry has considered the benefits of copyright collectives?
There are no easy answers to copying music onto CDs or cassettes. I do think that if the industry moves in the direction of selling only encrypted CDs, including ones that won't play in DVD players, then sound the death knell now. In any event, one of the strongest, albeit biased, arguments I've read in favour of free downloading is by Janis Ian, who as an artist who has been working for 35 years in the business, knows about what she speaks.
visits since 07/15/02
