File sharing via the Internet plays a primary role in the destruction of the music industry. It especially affects the marginalized artists who, despite having a substantial fan base, are not widely renowned.
Recently, I’ve carefully followed the news about my favorite music artist (a Persian singer). Due to the detrimental effects of file sharing, he has been forced to obtain a second job for the sake of his survival. According to him, extensive downloads of his songs make it very difficult to endure such a competitive career in the music industry.
“I earned more money from my annual concert tours than I did from selling my albums,” he said. “True fans never download their artists’ songs for free. During my 15-year career, I`ve noticed that fans are always out there, but the search for “true fans” is a challenge.”
According to Lanier, in his book You Are Not a Gadget, there are approximately 26,000 musicians in existence. Would it be feasible for each of them to find 1,000 true fans at the very least? Even if it were possible, how long would be too long to wait for this to occur?
“The people who are perhaps the most screwed by open culture are the middle classes of intellectual and culture creation,” said Lanier.
As I mentioned in the previous blog — which discussed the journalism profession —file sharing significantly harms the music industry, as well as the profession itself. If our highest quality artists cannot survive this phenomenon, we will be left with poor-quality music. Optimistically, after a generation or two without professional musicians, a new habit may emerge, bringing good music back. However, on realistic and practical terms, as Lanier suggests, it would be better to design a handful of aggregator websites that collect and provide the music of most music artists. After all, considering the new changes to the use of the Internet, musicians should start to think about new ways to get paid.
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