The other musicians join in “And the band plays on and the taps they flow, The boss man’s yelling but we’ve all gone home, A come a Monday morning I will come atone, but tonight ain’t Monday it’s Friday”… The camera moves back and forth from the two men singing, playing guitars and having a bit of fun to the group of musicians playing a range of instruments from guitars, banjo, fiddle, flute, and accordions and singing. A range of locals have gathered to watch in the distance. The video has something unique in that it looks spectacular with the ocean, the rocks, the unique St. Johns architecture, while there is something familiar in the words for those who work nine to five and the arrival of Friday that spans across any nation in the western world. I am one happy camper every time I play it on Youtube. And so are others as the video has approximately 141 000 hits.
Bootlegged videos of live concerts such as those loaded up by Lyndahere (@lyndahere) are a different story. I have described my feelings about them on this blog before. There is the anticipation about whether the video will load up and break down, the quality of the sound, the extras from the crowd around and the poor quality camera work focusing mostly on Alan Doyle with the camera occasionally moving to something else happening on stage. A very biased view of what is happening indeed. I only watch Lyndahere’s videos in connection with writing this blog. Occasionally I see a good bootlegged video shot by someone else but not very often. Other people like them, who for whatever reason can’t attend fulfilling a need of some sort, but personally I would rather watch something else. Viewing illegal material on Youtube is often made of inferior quality in particular bootlegging. The sound or the video doesn’t work. The user is unable to exchange it and therefore stuck with a dud product. When users see inferior products the reputations of the artists and musicians and those involved are damaged.
Brian Sheil a music producer in an article titled “The biggest culprit today of music piracy today? YouTube” discusses how Youtube is contributing to music piracy. He discusses the role of Vevo that now appears on Youtube after the participating artist’s name and how the record labels are attempting to license their music videos. “Vevo in return pockets a small portion of advertising revenue that you see from ads placed on the music”. I have seen Vevo on a lot of artists and musician’s sites. I don’t like advertising of any kind and unlike Brian Sheil I can’t be bothered with it. Through daily life there is enough unwanted visual and noise advertising. But on Youtube I have just as much chance of getting a video with an ad on it from a music pirate. And if I have to watch a video with advertising I would prefer one in which the profits go to the record labels rather than someone engaged in music piracy.
While I agree with Brian Sheil’ ideas about the contribution of Youtube to music piracy I don’t agree with the solutions he puts forward. Firstly, he and others state Youtube is free. To get music whenever a user wants wherever a user wants a user has to pay for an Internet connection so the Internet is not free. The only place it is free is a public library. Then there conditions on use. One solution to combat music piracy Sheil describes is to established services that allow music lovers to pay for subscriptions and be able to download as much music as they like. “You pay 99 pounds and you can download and watch as much as you want from itunes and Youtube…and that will stop the downslide of music sales”. The only problem with this idea is of course one account can be accessed by any number of users from a number of places. The only thing in my opinion that will put a dent in music piracy is education. Users need to be educated in what they are watching and the impact of what they are choosing on others and the long term consequences. Ethical choices need to be made to create a sustainable future for the music industry. Another solution is for Youtube to change it’s music piracy reporting strategies and take some action rather than leaving it up to others and for users to take an active role in reporting music pirates.
Other research shows Youtube and Vevo have contributed to the fall of music piracy. Sam Price in his article “Music Piracy Study Reveals Drop in Illegal Downloads But Remains Skeptical” in 2012 describes the fall in music piracy based on American research. “Musicmetric has conducted a study which is being regarded as “one of the most comprehensive studies of unauthorized music downloads to date,” which reveals the astonishing numbers of illegal activity being conducted through the use of online file sharing software, such as BitTorrent. The study revealed that in the first half of 2012 Americans downloaded nearly 760 million songs using illegal download software with most of those downloads happened in cities and towns near universities…Perhaps another reason why illegal downloads have seen a slight decline is the increase of traffic being churned through online video services such as Youtube and Vevo which allow people to watch videos online for free. Another entity that, like the streaming services allow people to hear almost any song they like, anywhere, anytime…
The beauty of Youtube is anyone can use it without having to commit to a membership unlike other music sharing sites that users pay membership fees to access. Anyone can create, upload and access videos anytime. Many artists and musicians just want their music to be heard. Users of Youtube argue viewing music for free helps promote the artists and musicians and get their music heard and as a consequence they will become fans. If users like what they hear and they are on a legal site that has access to itunes and have an itunes account they can purchase the single or the album immediately. Or the users will go to concerts and buy merchandise and the artist and musicians will recoup their loses. However, for the artists and musicians to recoup their loses this way they have to come to a city near the user.
Torrent Freak in 2011 wrote in an article titled “Is Youtube killing Music Piracy” state “Half a penny may not sound much, but with billions of views it adds up quickly. If we look at David Guetta, one of EMI’s top artists, we see that his YouTube uploads were viewed 308,000,000 times over the past 12 months. That means $1,540,000 in revenue, for only one artist. Just as a comparison, Guetta and EMI have to sell more than 2 million singles to earn that much from ‘paid’ music”. But this rare.
Then there is the story of Gangnam Style an original video. Schroeder in “Gangnam Style Hits 1 Billion Views on Youtube wrote how “Gangnam Style” was the first video on Youtube to reach a billion views. It was loaded up on July 15 2012. He was a success in Korea and then quickly spread around the world. The Telegraph in the United Kingdom states his video made over 150 000 pounds from Youtube views alone, and 5 million pounds from CD sales, downloads and live concerts. Money was also made through advertising ($8.1 million and 2.9 million downloads). It also is the most liked video in history and now the most viewed video on Youtube of all time. Youtube trends manager Kevin Allocca said in a blog post “In the past, music distribution was mostly regional. It was more difficult to learn about great artists from around the world. But with a global platform at their fingertip, people are discovering and sharing the most amazing music from all over the world”.
Youtube users view a range of music and other information about their favourite artists and musicians some of it legal and some of it illegal. They can be legal videos illegally downloaded and put up under a fan’s name, a video made from images, words and music and bootlegging or live recordings from concerts as those made from Lyndahere. There are also those music videos copied from television and public appearances. A considerable amount of material loaded up onto Youtube comes from music piracy as those who load up ignore the conditions outlined in the agreement. The only way infringement notices can be issued is for users to make a complaint to the legal copyright holder and they can take action.
There are a lot of examples of users with Youtube accounts containing pirated music who are making large amounts of money collecting thousands and thousands of dollars from music videos they had no part in creating. Some having so many hits they have attracted advertising. Music videos can be watched over and over without ever having to buy a song or CD. The money doesn’t go the rightful owners and creators of the music. The RIAA reports music piracy costs the US music industry millions of dollars in lost revenue. The RIAA sites one study by the Institute for Policy Innovation to be around 12.5 billion dollars. The loss of revenue ultimately will drive up the cost of legitimate products. The loss of revenue from music piracy cuts into funding for the development of new products and other less commercially success full types of music.
Torrent Freak writes “The big question is of course whether the revenue from YouTube can match these alleged losses or not. Not an easy question to answer, but these are crucial factors that define how the major record labels will fare in the coming years, probably even more so than piracy….This leaves us with the conclusion that, unlike many record label execs have argued in the past, you can compete with free. You can even compete with piracy. Whether the net result is going to be a positive one has yet to be seen, but YouTube is taking up a larger chunk of the record label revenues each year”.
Using Youtube can expose a user to the risk of viruses, spyware, pornography and violent images. Placing too much information can increase unwanted attention from people. It could compromise the security of your computer and privacy by sharing what is stored on their. “This is most especially true when parents and kids remain responsible and alert; leaving no room for exposure to violence, sex and other unhealthy dynamics that can do nothing but harm teens and kids who happen to be the active market of YouTube” (Pros and Cons of Youtube).
In the article “The Pros and Cons of Youtube” write “Copyright infringements issues are common. You have to be careful in reposting videos in your own sites as these may be protected with a copyright, thus, reposting without the permission of the owner is prohibited and can result to unwanted involvement in legal issues”. A various times the law has been enforced by prosecuting people involved in music piracy. No one wants to be the next test cast for music piracy on Youtube. Users load their creative work up onto Youtube and exposing it to the risk of being stolen by someone else. Stealing can be defined as “taking and claiming any item without the permission of the rightful owner”.
The author of the article "The Recording Industry is Dead; Part 5: What Music is Worth" writes “The question is not one of “can” or “should,” but one of “must.” The rules of the game have been disintegrating since the game began and are now in shambles. The onus falls on us both as artists and as consumers, independent of corporate entities, to instate a system that not only embraces the realities of piracy and technology but also takes advantage of them instead of fighting them. A musical artist’s ability to make a living depends entirely on flexibility. If artists cannot adapt to change, they face inevitable financial failure. If consumers refuse to find a better system, the current system will soon become the instrument of its own destruction. The music industry will collapse; the initiative we must take as artists and consumers is to have an alternative ready to take its place when it does”.
I love listening to and watching videos my favourite artists and musicians on Youtube like Great Big Sea on their official site. I love watching quality videos that sound and look visually spectacular like It’s Friday offered by Dean Brody and Great Big Sea. It is exciting to listen to music I have never heard before and discover new artists and musicians like Dean Brody and rocking to Canadian Girls and Dirt Road Scholar. I love sitting with my girlfriends around a computer and listening to and watching old favourites from my teenage years with a glass of wine. However, what am I watching and at what cost to the artists and musicians I love. Since I started to write this blog I have learnt a lot about music piracy in all its different shades. For every search I make there are a number of choices I need to make that will contribute to a sustainable music future.
References
Bilton, N. 2012 “Internet Pirates will always win” at www.nytimes viewed 4 February 2013
Fitzgerald, B. 2012 “Music Piracy: Moochers Are Also Big Spenders Within The Record Industry, Study Finds” at www.Huffington Post viewed 4 February 2013
Price, S. 2012 “Music Piracy Study Reveals Drop in Illegal Downloads But Remains Skeptical” at Home of Australian Music viewed 4 February 2013
Sheil, B. 2011 “The biggest culprit in music piracy. Youtube” viewed 4 February 2013
Schroeder, S. 2012 “Gangnam Style hits 1 Billion Views on Youtube at www.mashable.com viewed 4 February 2013.
Zelliot 2008 “The Pros and Cons of Youtube” at www.webupon viewed 4 February 2013
“Is Youtube killing music piracy” June 5 2011 at Torrent Freak viewed 4 February 2013
“Illegal downloaders ‘spend the most’ on music says poll” at www.theindependent viewed 4 February 2013
“Gangnam Style reaches one billion views on Youtube” 21 December 2012 at www.telegraph.co.uk viewed on 4 February 2013
“The Recording Industry is Dead; Part 5: What Music is Worth” on Octavebox
