Music Industry Continues Attack On File Sharing

One of the scarier stories in recent weeks for computer users was a judgment of $222,000 against a 30 year-old Minnesota single mother convicted of uploading 24 songs to a popular file sharing service.

The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is the leading enforcer of copyright rules for the music industry in the name of protecting artist rights and revenues. In doing so they have become synonymous with tactics many music lovers see as Gestapo-like, the Minnesota case being the latest and most egregious example thereof.

The RIAA has also recently sent pre-litigation letters to 19 major U.S. universities, including the University of South Florida, threatening legal action if immediate steps are not taken to block campus networks from being used to download music from file sharing services.

A recent case in German courts has also put a significant dent in the eDonkey file sharing network, closing many of the primary servers that contained user file information that resided on German soil. Although servers from other countries have stepped in, the number of available files and users have both seen a significant drop since the ruling in the German case.

The reality is that the traditional music industry has seen a shakeup unlike anything in its century-old history prior. And that same industry has been left reeling from its own mistakes and ineptitude, while often blaming file sharing as the sole reason profits and revenues have been in a tailspin for years.

The real reasons for the decline of the traditional music industry run much deeper, and most often end with a mirror-view the business seems loathe to accept, as in “We have seen the enemy, and he is us”.

First and foremost, the industry did not see the advantage of digital file sharing through services such as iTunes and Napster until long after the horse had left the proverbial barn. The growth of pirate file-sharing networks was such that the industry was caught off guard, and even legal services such as iTunes were able to negotiate rates for music purchases that set a lower standard than today's market would likely demand.

In the meantime, artists have also begun to rebel against the traditional music business like never before. The popular band Radiohead made huge headlines recently in allowing users to download their new album and pay whatever they wished to do so, without any support from a record company.

One of the band's cited influences, composer Joseph Byrd, filed a letter in the 2002 Napster case stating he'd never received a penny from album sales totaling in the hundreds of thousands of units for nearly four decades from a major record label. Dozens of similar stories exist, especially from artists who became famous in the 1950's and 60's.

Another story circulating among musicians is an accounting from singer Courtney Love, who details how $10 million became nearly nothing after paying production, promotion and touring expenses from a recent contract.

These conflicts have made musicians extremely wary of traditional music companies, and most new artists now try and self-produce their own music with varying degrees of success. The music business has responded by supporting fewer upcoming bands and trying to rely more on mass-market appeal, which has in turn lowered the overall quality and diversity of music being offered.

One other key factor has been the wholesale change of MTV from a music promotional vehicle to something that often has nothing to do with music at all, prompting a plea from singer Justin Timberlake on a recent awards show.

It's likely this shift will continue, driven by the Internet and historic industry practices that no longer seem to work. The eventual winners will be those who figure out how to actually make a profit in the increasingly digital age while embracing the new technologies that millions have adopted.

Tom Meek is a computer and media consultant working with businesses and individuals on high-tech needs. Another Day In Cyberville is published weekly in print and online via The Gainesville Voice, a weekly publication of The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group. You can reach Tom Meek at adayincyberville@gmail.com.