The short answer – No. The long answer follows –
Piracy is not unique to the music industry. Every product that can be duplicated and distributed for profit, invites piracy. However, a few things set apart the nature of piracy in the music industry:
- Huge market – As I said in a previous post, everyone likes music. Pirates make money from ad clicks and nothing brings in as many hits as music.
- Easy duplication and distribution – Amongst all digital products, music is the easiest to rip and distribute. Ever tried scanning an entire book or uploading/downloading a 3 hour movie? I haven’t but I can’t imagine it being a pleasant experience.
- Poor image of the music industry – The investment required to create and distribute music has decreased dramatically over the years. As a result, people grudge (one example here) the music industry for earning a lot despite contributing very little. Pirates use this image of the music industry to their advantage by projecting themselves as modern-day Robin Hoods. Dowloaders use this image to justify their act or subdue their guilt. The artists are nowhere in the picture.
None of these realties are changing any time soon. The music industry’s battle against music pirates will only change the way in which piracy occurs, not its extent. In my last post, I quoted a music industry lawyer saying this – “My assessment is that in two years this type of piracy activity will be completely dead”. She chose her words carefully, especially two words – “this type”.
While music piracy is not dying anytime soon, a change to one of the above mentioned realities might help reduce the extent of piracy – a change that involves the music industry becoming a more benign figure and the artist becoming a much more significant stakeholder.
In 2007, a band called Radiohead (“Creep”, anyone?) released their new album, “In Rainbows” on the internet and let people download it for a price of their choice (including 0) for about 3 months. There is no official information available about the sales figures during this period. Regardless of how much money Radiohead made from this promotion, what is striking is that there were indeed people who paid for something they could have legally downloaded for free. Why? Because they liked Radiohead and because the transaction was between them and Radiohead.
Which leads me to the hypothesis that more people will buy music if – a) the artists put themselves out there and build and engage a fan base, and b) the music industry figures out for itself a less dominant role, in which they are seen as providing value and making reasonable profits.