Learning Objectives
- To develop understanding of illegal
downloading
- To consider the role of the “consumer as
producer”
Legal MP3 Downloading in the UK: 2005
- MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3
- In 2005, the global market for legal downloads was worth £624
million.
- 26.4m tracks were legally downloaded in the UK, a 355%
increase on 2004.
- Legal downloads were incorporated into the UK singles chart
figures for the first time, April 17th 2005 What was the first No.1
to incorporate both?
-“Is this the way to Amarillo” – Tony Christie and Peter Kay
- In 2004 downloads were responsible for 52% of total single
sales, in 2005 they accounted for 75%.
-In 2008 downloads were responsible for nearly 90% of sales.
Many retail outlets no longer stock CD singles.
• On post-it notes write the 2 most
interesting facts/stats you researched
• Stick on whiteboard
How does Digital Downloading
work?
To receive electronic data from a remote system, usually on a
computer via a web browser
Subscription or “Peer to Peer” file sharing services (P2P)
1st phase of downloading was through peer to peer networks,
breaking copyright laws
Anything not paid for is classed as illegal
2nd phase of downloading – The Online Music Store
Per song or subscription basis
Digital downloading took off in a big way in 2003 with the launch
of iTunes
What are some of the advantages / disadvantages of Digital
Downloading when compared to traditional music formats?
Download Sites
Where do you download from?
In pairs list as many download sites as you can think of, both
legal and illegal
A mixture of specialist sites and existing retailers.
Napster, where it all began
•Established by Shawn Fanning, a 19 year old student, in
June 1999.
•File sharing network, provided the technology to give peer
to peer file sharing, Napster itself did not own or sell music.
•In 2000 the band Metallica filed a lawsuit against Napster
when it discovered one of its songs was being passed
around that had yet to be released. The lawsuit failed but
300,000 Napster users were banned for sharing Metallica
MP3s.
•Madonna and Dr Dre were also outspoken against the
service.
Napster continued….
• Not all bands were against the service though. Radiohead
found a whole new audience before their album ‘Kid A’ was
released in the US as a result of its music being shared.
• By February 2001 Napster had 26.4 million users worldwide.
• On March 5th 2001 an injunction prevented Napster from trading
copyrighted music on its network
• Shortly after Napster converted to a legal subscription service,
most of their initial profit went to pay settlements to the
recording industry. They now offer legal access to over 2m
tracks.
Illegal Downloading – can it be stopped?
Illegal file sharing is banned under UK copyright law,
however legal experts claim that the CPS is unlikely to take on
the burden of pursuing offenders.
Internet use is extremely difficult to regulate. It is currently
very difficult to track and prosecute illegal downloading.
The Hertfordshire data suggests that 63% of teenagers admit
to illegally downloading. However many more probably do but
don’t admit to it.
In another BBC survey conducted in 2006 only 4 in 10
interviewed claimed that they understood the law about illegal
downloading .
In the UK the music and film industries are demanding that
the European Parliament creates laws to help them prosecute,
companies suggesting this include Sony, BMG, Disney and EMI.
They have requested access to communications data –
records of phone calls, email and surfing. This would treat
downloader's in the same manner as suspected terrorists.
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) have so far
successfully prosecuted just over 150 downloader's. Half of
these paid on average around £6500 to settle out of court.
The record industry has criticised internet providers for their
hands off approach and says that data to prosecute should be
made more freely available.
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblo
g/2010/jan/07/decade-digital-music
• Write your own blog response….
2000: “80:20 rule”
To 20% selling artists responsible for 80% of all
music sales
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Artists
Sales
ITunes
Read the article on wikispaces:
How does iTunes work?
How and why did it start?
What impact is it having on the record
industry?
The Effect on the Retail Market?
• What kind of impact has digital
downloading had on the retail market?
• What are the advantages for the
consumer?
• What are the advantages for the
industry?
• What are the disadvantages for the
consumer and audience?
Proliferation of Formats
•
The advent of digital media has led to the sudden creation of many new
music formats available to the average consumer.
•
In 2003 there were less than 10 formats available, but by 2007 there were
over 100.
•
Today a single artist release can be packaged in multiple formats. Can you
name some formats:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
On line MP3 purchase
CD single
Vinyl records
Music Video downloads
Ringtones
Mobile full tracks
DVD
Video games
Music Industry
Music and Artist Promotion
Music consumption – a recap
• MP3 technology and download sites have revolutionised the ways
we consume music. In fact the very word consumer is changing in
terms of music as fewer and fewer people are actually paying for
music.
• Some 90% of singles sales are from downloads. Of course millions
of songs are being illegally downloaded and wont feature on any
official charts or figures. Many of these sites are being forced to go
mainstream and turn into pay sites.
• The music industry is attempting to do everything in its immense
power to prevent illegal sites from functioning including trying to get
laws passed to ban or block sites and to get greater access to your
internet user profiles so that they can prosecute you!!
• The music industries argument is that illegal sites will eventually
have an impact on the industry hindering their attempts to financially
support new acts and therefore weakening their creative output.
• However in recent years many young ‘digital’ artists have grasped
the internet as a way to cheaply market and promote themselves…..
Proliferation of Formats
•
The advent of digital media has led to the sudden creation of many new
music formats available to the average consumer.
•
In 2003 there were less than 10 formats available, but by 2007 there were
over 100.
•
Today a single artist release can be packaged in multiple formats. Can you
name some formats:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
On line MP3 purchase
CD single
Vinyl records
Music Video downloads
Ringtones
Mobile full tracks
DVD
Video games
A&R
• A&R stands for artist and repertoire. It is the part of
the music industry that attempts to discover and then
manage/market new talent.
• Task: discuss the ways in which a new music artist can
be discovered, promoted and marketed by a record
company’s A&R:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Radio airplay
Live performance/club nights
Music press interviews
Reality TV shows
Promotional videos
TV appearances
Websites
Word of mouth.
A&R
• Task 1: discuss what you know about the following music
artists. What for them would be the most important
marketing method:
•
•
•
•
•
The Kings of Leon
Sway
Amy Winehouse
Calvin Harris
Rihanna
Task 2: Can you think of another artist that has been marketed
in a non- traditional way?
A & R continued
• Most of these are traditional ‘pre-digital’ ways of a
promoting/marketing a new artist and most are still being
used by the industry.
• However in recent years some artists have embraced
the internet to promote themselves. Why?
• Exposure - Potential to be seen or heard by millions.
• Directness - Cuts out the record industry- no auditions
demos, concert performances.
• Cheaper – you can make your own music and even your
own video very cheaply without a record company's
financial help.
• Freedom – allows you to express yourself in the way
you want .
The consumer as producer.
- The Marxist approach - Karl Marx said
that one reason the masses were being
dominated by the dominant ideology was
through the media. The dominant ideology
(the government, big businesses)
‘control the means of production’.
- In the ‘digital’ the means of production has
been increasingly handed over to new
groups of society – us! The masses and
not the dominant ideology are setting the
agenda for making media.
The consumer as producer
• Why are the means of production being handed over to us?
-
Cheaper, smaller, ease of use –’idiot proof’
- What are we using new media technology to
produce?
-
Films (DV cameras, i-movie etc)
TV (Community Channel, Multi Channel satellite)
Music (home recording, distribution, pirate radio)
Written word (Desktop publishing, internet blog sites)
-
Think of any media you have ever created?
Case Study-MySpace and ‘user
generated content’
MySpace is a social networking site.
It specialises in ‘user generated content’.
What does this mean?
Initially it began as version of MSN, whereby
people could simply chat to each other.
It has now become a forum for debate, a promotional
space to promote whatever product/service you have, or a
place where you can post photos/messages etc.
My Space has been bought out by Rupert
Murdoch’s News Corporation.
Lily Allen and MySpace
• It has been claimed that pop artist Lily Allen's fame is also due in
part to her being promoted on MySpace.
•
In response to an interview question "The way it's been portrayed
in the media, is that you were almost like discovered by
MySpace; how accurate is that?" Allen responded "Not accurate
at all, I had a record deal before I set up my MySpace account
so, erm, that ... couldn't really be further from the truth."
• Nevertheless, Allen's work was widely circulated and gained
popularity due to her MySpace profile.
• Allen’s success reflects the ‘digital zeitgeist’ of her fans and is
perhaps a benchmark for the future whereby artists can cut out the
record industry A&R completely.
• Read article: ‘Mister Space Man’.