Piracy....how?

Let’s face it; there is no real way of controlling this so-called problem of piracy. I’m sure everyone has at least one stereotyped geeky friend who likes to download stuff and, not to mention, carries around a 1 terabyte external storage device in their backpack. How many do I know? Well, let’s just say, I would have to grow some extra fingers on both hands.

Am I ashamed or disappointed in them? No, of course not. But, I’m also not condoning to the wider population either. As far as I know, not a single one of them sells their downloaded material (unlike those dodgy people you see on shows like Target selling from behind a counter of a store). And many of these geeky friends admit in the end that it’s better to go and watch in the movie in cinemas or buy/hire out the DVD of a movie or television series.

What about all the music that is being downloaded then? I think it’s hilarious that there is an outrage over downloading music. If I wanted, I could go down to the local library, issue out a recent released CD from a band I’m interested in for $1, go home and play it on my laptop, burn a disc for myself, add other songs from other bands, and give it to a friend to keep. Not only have I ripped off the band, music companies etc, I have also saved my money whilst gaining some love and appreciation from a fellow peer who did not have to go out of their way to buy their own copy of music when someone they knew had one anyway. For me personally, I don’t like to rip off our Kiwi bands because I have this supposed New Zealand identity I want to uphold and support.

How can anyone control this type of ‘sharing-is-caring’ mentality? For one, I think it can only benefit bands with their music becoming somewhat viral (even used on personally made YouTube videos, which can also bring up questions of copyright) and spreading their image across spaces. I mean, isn’t that how The Beatles became famous in the U.S.? Everyone technically heard them before they saw them.

And let’s be honest, the middle-man is really the one being ripped off here. Radiohead removed the middleman altogether and decided to sell their new album In Rainbows over the internet, with fans paying whatever they felt it was worth – from nothing to £100. It has been called high-risk by critics, but I fail to see how it can be when you are reaching out to a new breed of fans. What did the music industry hierarchy expect when new media technology progressed to what it is now and what it will be?