A Merry-Go-Round of Problems

People my age and younger are, for the most part, in tune with the copyright wars of the entertainment industry.  As music lovers are “forced” to move from one method of music acquisition to another as illegal website after illegal website are shut down, how could one remain oblivious? 

From the introduction of Kazaa during my middle school days, it’s been an uphill battle for all parties involved.  The music labels want to make sure they get money in exchange for their products, rightfully so.  But customers want quick and easy methods of acquiring music and videos (so much so that they’re willing to engage in these aforementioned illegal trades).  Satellite radio did not provide much relief—it is expensive, primarily stationary, and still has annoying disk jockey’s consuming too much air time.  “Regular” radio is as terrible as ever, with enough contests, commercials, and repetitive music to drive listeners away in a day.  Compact discs are expensive, hard to find, and with the exception of the “NOW” collection (i.e. “Now That’s What I Call Music 13”), they are tracks by a single artist.  I don’t know about you, but rarely do I like all 13 songs by a single artist featured on a CD.  Hence, why would I be willing to pay for it?

I am by no means endorsing the illegal acquisition of music.  In fact, I lament the poor quality and static-filled songs that these sites provide.  Furthermore, the songs rarely translate well to mp3 players or homemade compact discs to play in the car.  But what I do endorse is the instant gratification and minimal investment provided.

My computer crashes more often than I’d like to admit.  So investing thousands of dollars into a music collection that needs to be backed up on a daily basis to ensure the safety of this investment is illogical…it is just not going to happen.  I barely have time to download the song initially, yet alone essentially download it twice—once to my hard drive and then a second time to my back-up hard drive. 

Until the entertainment industry can find a way to provide music, movies, and television shows in a high-quality format that is not deemed as an “investment” by the purchaser, the illegal trade of these commodities will continue to surface.  And the sooner the participants in the supply side of this industry stop pursuing the “criminals” and start pursuing the “answer”, the sooner all parties involved will benefit.  The record labels and production companies will get their royalties, while the customer will get a higher-quality product in an easy-to-use format.