Piracy is a long-standing issue in the recording industry and has become one of the many reasons for a decline in the economics of the music business. There is no doubt that it is wrong to pirate music, it is after all illegal. However, there is little research about the ethical decision behind pirating. Is there a connection behind ethical beliefs and the belief that pirating is wrong? The correlation between piracy, ethics, and the future of the music business will provide some insight into this question.
Piracy is the process of acquiring music illegally without payment to the copyright owner (RIAA). Piracy includes sharing, downloading, copying, distributing and peer-to-peer sharing of music (RIAA). Those that are affected by music …show more content…
economy, 700,00 jobs and $2 billion in lost wages (RIAA). The recording industry had seen a constant decrease in revenue since the 1990s when total revenue was close to $30 billion, until 2012 when revenue increased for the first time (Luckerson 2013). According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), “based on comScore/Nielsen data, that 26 percent of Internet users worldwide regularly access unlicensed services” (IFPI). While the numbers do prove that the recording industry has seen a decrease over the past 20 plus years, many believe this many not be due to piracy. An article by Bobby Owsinski from Forbes magazine points out some of these factors. Owsinski quotes studies that challenge piracy as a relevant source of despair for the recording industry. The first, by Sandvine “found that peer to peer traffic is now below 10%, down from 31% five years ago and 60% eleven years ago” (Owsinski 2013). The second point said that Netflix and YouTube are responsible for more than 51% of all Internet traffic in the United States (Owsinski 2013). The article also quoted a Music 360 report that said more than 64% of teens consume their music through YouTube (Owsinski 2013). While music consumption trends are ever changing there is one thing that remains constant, piracy is an issue and an ethical one at …show more content…
The application of this to piracy is if the person illegally downloading considers stealing music to be right or wrong. If the downloader believes that ethically, it is wrong to steal copy written material, they will seek other ways to obtain music. However, if the consumer sees no error in illegally obtaining their music, they will not be conflicting with their personal
Piracy is the process of acquiring music illegally without payment to the copyright owner (RIAA). Piracy includes sharing, downloading, copying, distributing and peer-to-peer sharing of music (RIAA). Those that are affected by music …show more content…
economy, 700,00 jobs and $2 billion in lost wages (RIAA). The recording industry had seen a constant decrease in revenue since the 1990s when total revenue was close to $30 billion, until 2012 when revenue increased for the first time (Luckerson 2013). According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), “based on comScore/Nielsen data, that 26 percent of Internet users worldwide regularly access unlicensed services” (IFPI). While the numbers do prove that the recording industry has seen a decrease over the past 20 plus years, many believe this many not be due to piracy. An article by Bobby Owsinski from Forbes magazine points out some of these factors. Owsinski quotes studies that challenge piracy as a relevant source of despair for the recording industry. The first, by Sandvine “found that peer to peer traffic is now below 10%, down from 31% five years ago and 60% eleven years ago” (Owsinski 2013). The second point said that Netflix and YouTube are responsible for more than 51% of all Internet traffic in the United States (Owsinski 2013). The article also quoted a Music 360 report that said more than 64% of teens consume their music through YouTube (Owsinski 2013). While music consumption trends are ever changing there is one thing that remains constant, piracy is an issue and an ethical one at …show more content…
The application of this to piracy is if the person illegally downloading considers stealing music to be right or wrong. If the downloader believes that ethically, it is wrong to steal copy written material, they will seek other ways to obtain music. However, if the consumer sees no error in illegally obtaining their music, they will not be conflicting with their personal