Impacts of Music Piracy

Impacts of Music Piracy In the future, the only way musicians will make money is by playing live. New federal legislation says universities must agree to provide not just deterrents but also alternatives to peer-to-peer piracy, such as paying monthly subscription fees to the music industry for their students, on penalty of losing all financial aid for their students. When record companies appeared, services they were providing were necessary in order for people to listen to recorded music, making and selling records was a major undertaking. This was a starting point of development of recording techniques and record studios, at that time making recorded music available to masses required a significant capital and investments, which in turn required a legal structure that would provide stable profits and return on the required investment. Music industry used to provide people with tools that were essential to listen to recorder music and the difference between that time and our days is that record companies charge people for permission to use tools people already have that they did not provide, that in fact people paid someone else for, yet the legal structure that developed during the time when that services were useful remains. The legal structure says if you don’t pay you are breaking the law therefore you are criminal and the reason it h as not been changed is because of â€Å"STARS† the entire structure of the record industry is built around their interests. Records produce good money for the industry and almost nothing goes to the pocket of musician. This particular diagram is a good example of old model of music production chain, In our days there is no need of Publisher, Distributors and in most cases manufacturers, modern technology allows to burn CDs at home publish own records using internet distributing the material across the World Wide Web physically and digitally. In old days, musician had to pay to almost every person in Music Production chain to record, studios, engineers, managers, labels, publishers, legal departments, distribution networks etc. in fact all of the departments and services belong to the same corporation and the record companies are not actually record companies at all. â€Å"To begin with, we should note that the major â€Å"record companies† are not actually record companies at all but huge media conglomerates. Most â€Å"independent† labels are owned by a corporate label. Each â€Å"major† is in turn owned by an even bigger corporation, and so on up the food chain. At the top of the chain sit a tiny handful of media giants: Time Warner, Disney, Rupert Murdochs News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, Viacom (formerly CBS) and General Electric. These corporations are among the world’s largest. All are listed in Fortune Magazine’s â€Å"Global 500† largest corporations in the world. They have integrated both horizontally (owning lots of record labels, lots of newspapers, and radio stations) and vertically (controlling newspapers, magazines, book publishing houses, and movie and TV production studios, as well as print distribution systems, cable and broadcast TV networks, radio stations, telephone lines, s atellite systems, web portals, billboards, and more).† In contemporary world there are very few recording projects that actually require use of the Cutting-edge technology studios. The Internet and World Wide Web have changed the character of music distribution with laptops and desktop PCs loaded with hardware and software necessary for high-quality sound recording. All the hardware and software applications are available for the average class people not mentioning internet piracy and â€Å"cracked† software that is available to download using peer-to-peer applications. The problem of piracy has been rising for the past 10 years, and the numbers of â€Å"pirates† are growing day by day. From my personal experience every person that is using computer came across piracy and became victims or even the pirates themselves and the reason for that is simple, easy and user friendly peer-to-peer software takes only couple of minutes to setup and another minute to become familiar with interface and all the features, in another 10 minutes it is possible to find your favorite artist and download your favorite album. That is in fact so convenient that it is becoming only the question of conscience whether it is a problem or an opportunity to become pirate. Realizing the problem of piracy Sony tried innovative approach to earn money on digital music, In 2000 Sony launched online music store â€Å"the Store† where the price for a track was $3.50 that turned off many early adopters of the service moreover, users were actually only renting the tracks for that $3.50 and after a certain point the files expired and could not be played again without repurchase, which was not a successful attempt and service failed quickly. Having that experience In 2003 Apple inc. run iTunes Store, with tremendous success with the Ipod sales which no doubts influences Music industry and the policy of digital music distribution. That is a breakthrough for digital music and especially for mp3 format. According to information by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the end of the second week of January, 2008, the store has sold 4 billion songs, accounting for more than 70% of worldwide online digital music sales. There were many disputes on the World Wide Web and newspapers and other mass media sources about Ipod users and digital music in overall, where topics like â€Å"Ipod users are thieves† were headline. My own opinion is that it looks like a Dog chasing own tail, on the one hand technologies are growing very fast and there is nothing to put on the 200 GB HDD except tons of music and movies, the same with iPods it is highly improbable to have that amount of music in physical quantity, 40gb of Ipods capacity is approximately 5000 tracks which is around 200 albums†¦ In our days it is becoming more and more difficult for the music industry to ignore the basic economics, technology progress and the outdated legal structures of the industry such as unenforceable property rights (because it is impossible to sue everyone) and â€Å"zero† production costs (Peer-to-Peer and file sharing systems became way too popular). All the big labels such as SONY BMG, Warner and others have now given up on DRM (â€Å"Short for digital rights management, a system for protecting the copyrights of data circulated via the Internet or other digital media by enabling secure distribution and/or disabling illegal distribution of the data. Typically, a DRM system protects intellectual property by either encrypting the data so that it can only be accessed by authorized users or marking the content with a digital watermark or similar method so that the content can not be freely distributed.†) Music Companies still trying to charge for their music, but it’s becoming more and more clear that as long as there is a free alternative (Peer-to peer and other file sharing systems), the price of music and other media will have to fall. â€Å"LONDON — U.S. rock star Prince gave away his new album for free with a U.K. tabloid newspaper, weeks before its official launch, in a move that has caused dismay among music retailers.† Some artists already started to use the situation and instead of fighting with the â€Å"problems† started to look for the advantages and opportunities. Marginal production costs are zero and like in case with software applications, it doesn’t cost anything to produce another digital copy that would be as good as the original, as soon as the first copy exists anyone can create additional copies. Unless effective technical, legal or other artificial barriers to production can be created, simple economic theory dictates that zero marginal cost plus competition (The possibility that consumer will create and spread another copy) results in a zero price, unless government creates artificial barriers to a free market. â€Å"Sure, Radiohead is on a sustained run as the most interesting and innovative band in rock, but what makes In Rainbows important — easily the most important release in the recent history of the music business — are its record label and its retail price: there is none, and there is none.† In October 2007 Radiohead announced that their new album â€Å"In Rainbows† will be available to download free of charge, the fact is, the networks and peer to peed file sharing systems have grown into easy-to-use distribution methods for music even easier than what Radiohead has bee offering. According to Forbes website (www.forbes.com) about 240.000 users has been downloading album using Peer-to peer (BitTorrent) sources â€Å"according to Big Champagne, a Los-Angeles-based company that tracks illegal downloading on the Internet. Over the following days, the file was downloaded about 100,000 more times each day—adding up to more than 500,000 total illegal downloads.† Radiohead offered to download their album for free the only requirement was to set up an account on the website, but according to statistics that turned out to be not â€Å"cheap† enough! The recorded music industry †¦ has for too long been dependent on how many CDs can be sold, writes Guy Hands, EMIs chairman. The industry, rather than embracing digitalization and the opportunities it brings for promotion of product and distribution through multiple channels, has stuck its head in the sand. Radioheads actions are a wake-up call which we should all welcome and respond to with creativity and energy. Nokia made a step forward offering music downloads for free on their mobiles by signing contract with Sony BMG â€Å" Nokia will offer free 12-month access to music from artists of Sony BMG, the worlds second-biggest label, to buyers of its particular music phones, the worlds top cellphone maker said on Tuesday. Last December, Nokia unveiled a similar deal for its Comes With Music phones with the top record label Universal.Comes With Music is expected to launch in the second half of 2008 on a range of Nokia devices in selected markets, Nokia said in a statement.Nokia gave no financial details.Sony BMG, home to artists including Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen and Celine Dion, is jointly owned by Sony Corp and German media group Bertelsmann AG.The new music offering from Nokia the first cellphone maker to push heavily into content would differ from any other package on the market as users can keep all the music they have downloaded during the 12 months.† My personal opinion is whether you agree or disagree that the prices for the music will be zero or about zero but it is going to happen if the authorities would not take drastic measures to solve the issues as it appears that there is no â€Å"easy† solution†¦ The new era is coming, the era of free recorded music and my believe is that everything is going in a right way, recorded music will become one of the marketing tools to get people to pay for the live concerts, that will put emphasis on organizational skills and on new dimension of the performances and performance quality which will result in cultural socialization and stronger community. In countries like Brazil people already started to use situation as an advantage and opportunity, people doing huge amount of remixes which resulting in new styles and music cultures like Techno Brega â€Å"In the North of Brazil, you have the Techno Brega movement. [..] You have a music producer who has a recording studio. [..] Probably a small one with good equipment. They invite the artists to these studios to make the CDs. They deliver it to the street vendors, so that they can replicate them. The only people making a profit out of CD sales are the street vendors. The musicians dont expect any money from releasing the CDs.† People realized that CD sales model is not an effective way to earn money in our days it is outgrown to promotion side of business and what people are doing now is using CDs to record actual performances and then sell it to people who have attended the performance which is a good souvenir and memory of the event. Services and web resources are developing for the benefits of artist. Web resources such as www.myspace.com or www.sellaband.com could be of great benefits to artist. Sellaband is a very perspective web project which is aimed to promote artist but in slightly different way then www.myspace.com, Artist creates a profile, uploading all the necessary information and maximum of 3 demo songs and looking for â€Å"believers†, each believer have to invest at least 10$ in artist and as soon as the amount of believers will reach 5000 the artist will receive 50000$ to record the album, after the album has been produced the believers will receive limited edition CDs with all the bonuses, all services are absolutely free as for believers as for the artist, that is a very bright idea as the â€Å"believers† could be a very good source of money which is very important for the first album, the amount of believers could be less then 5000, the main concept is to rise 50000$ therefore, i n this case it is possible for artist to divide the source of money between believers and himself so that it could be 50% from artist and 50% from believers. In conclusion, record labels are going down and struggling to make profits from CD sales and it appears that digital music selling is more reliable for revenue then CD sales. Copyrights and intellectual property rights law have to be updated to cooperate with current issues of piracy and file sharing protocols. CD Sales model has to be reincarnated to CD promotional model in order to regain the value of physical product with the emphasis put on live performances which should result in quality and cultural aspect of performances.

Progressive Reform and Howe Essay -- essays research papers

Lourdes Vazquez Section 1I Question 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Changing America People face change in many ways. Some embrace it, some run from it, and some don’t even notice it. Change surrounds us every moment of every day; change is constant. Change is one of the words the words that can be used to describe America as it moved into the twentieth century; change was everywhere as the nineteenth century gave way to the roaring twentieth. This change however was radical as the people off this time witnessed a world which they had once known and cherished vanish before their eyes only to be replaced by big business, corrupt politics, and horrid working conditions. In response to all this many citizens decided that they too would make changes. These people were known as progressives and though they differed in what they felt needed to be done to address all the change that surrounded them, they were still a set of people who embraced the idea of not simply making changes, but making them for the better of all versus a select few. As with any story, that of the progressive era, has not one, nor two, nor even three sides but many. Despite the many views manifested by the progressives, the movement itself was one that greatly affected American life and is thus a vital and utile historical concept. The word progress suggests moving forward or making improvements, thus it can be said that the progressive movement was just that, an effort to move onward; onward to reform and away from the detrimental effects that industrialization had brought upon the nation. Political machines were running cities, big business was controlling everything, and the working conditions people had to endure to scratch out a living were atrocious. America was filled with ideas and concepts its people had never seen before. Small businesses were crushed by big ones as there existed no legislation to regulate them. The nation had always maintained a laissez-faire philosophy when dealing with the business and was having difficulty in doing otherwise. Likewise businesses were not cooperative as they did not see any reason for changing the hands-off policy America had been founded on. America had never seen industrialized labor before either. Everything had always been done on the farm, for a couple of peop le, not a couple hundred. The government in general had always had very hands off... ...tself. In all however, it was these many changes, as different and as spread out as they were, that define an era filled with change, changing lifestyle, changing family structure, a changing workplace, changing businesses, and changing cities. People had no choice but to confront these changes with changes of their own. Was there a typical type of person who confronted this change? No it takes all kinds and the progressive era was no exception. In fact, what made the progressive era so effective was the myriad of people who define it. The many ideas and concepts possessed by reformers of the country came together to meet political corruption, big business, and labor disputes head on.. All these issues were handled in different ways, with different philosophies, but they were handled nonetheless. How can the progressive era not be seen as a historical concept? A concept is not a strict or rigid idea, it is just that, a concept, a loose idea under which many similar ones may fall, for when it was all said and done, reforms were made, and more changes took place, until America’s people had somehow responded to all the changes that have helped shaped it into the nation it is today.

Energy Drinks Research Essay

Many energy drinks are found in the market and many people are consuming them without knowing the bad effects on their health, having the misconception that they help in enhancing and boosting the body energy. Ingredients: Other than the caffeine and carbohydrates energy drinks contain: B vitamins: Energy drinks contain B vitamins that exceed the daily-recommended amounts. Gingko: German pharmacological studies suggest that this herb increases blood flow to the brain and may be effective in treating depression and short-term memory loss. Guarana: An herbal stimulant popular in Brazil. The reason guarana is so stimulating is that it contains two to three times the caffeine of coffee. Carnitine: A compound generally found in animal foods that’s theorized to enhance fat burning and improve endurance performance. Mechanism: Energy drinks cause many things that include: Insomnia and alertness: Most energy drinks contain caffeine and herbal stimulants that stimulate the central nervous system, giving a sense of alertness. This stimulation can cause a person who is sleepy to wake up. However, it can also prevent a person desiring to sleep from dozing off. In addition, the caffeine in energy drinks blocks the effects of adenosine, a chemical in the brain involved in sleep. This in turn activates neurons in the brain as though there were an emergency, often preventing sleep and causing insomnia. Increased heart rate: When caffeine blocks adenosine and the neurons are activated, the pituitary gland releases adrenaline. This hormone makes the heart beat faster and consuming the large dosage of caffeine found in energy drinks can lead to high blood pressure and heart palpitations. Increased blood sugar: When adrenaline is released into the system, this causes the liver to release extra sugar in to the bloodstream for energy. In addition, energy drinks contain high amounts of sugar, which can be digested easily and also used as a quick source of energy. When consumed, the body experiences a sugar high then often crashes. The sugar enters the bloodstream, provides a blast of energy and when the sugar is burned up, 30 to 45 minutes later, the body usually experiences a sugar crash. At this time feelings of dizziness, slowed reflexes and decreased performance may occur. Dehydration: Caffeine is a diuretic or a substance, which causes urination. The caffeine in energy drinks causes the kidneys to move extra fluid into the urine, which can lead to dehydration if done while sweating during exercise. The high levels of sugar in energy drinks slow the absorption of water that dilutes the sugar in the bloodstream, enhancing dehydration. Also, consuming a drink with a high sugar concentration before an athletic performance can cause gastric distress and diarrhea, resulting in dehydration. Energy: Most energy drinks contain large amounts of caffeine, which can provide a temporary energy boost. Some energy drinks contain sugar and other substances. The boost is short-lived, however, and may be accompanied by other problems. Side Effects: Energy drinks can cause inflammation in the stomach; bleeding and ulcerations in the duodenum. While consuming energy drinks alone will not damage your liver immediately, prolonged consumption of certain ingredients in popular energy drinks may have ill long-term effects on your liver. For example, many energy drinks contain herbal concentrate products like kava kava or taurine. An overabundance of either of these herbal supplements can lead to liver damage or liver failure. For example, consuming large amounts of taurine may lead to complications in individuals with type-2 diabetes. Caffeine and Guarana affect the adenosine receptors in the brain. Caffeine also cause dopamine to be released in greater amounts which makes you feel more alert and energetic and happy though it does not provide any energy. Resources: http://www. deseretnews. com/article/635202412/What-ingredients-do-energy-drinks-have. html? pg=all http://www. ehow. com/about_5256218_do-energy-drinks-affect-body. html Books: â€Å"The Nutrition Bible,† by Jean Anderson.

Analysis Of Civil Disobedience In Antigone - 1078 Words

Many people around the world and in books are getting in trouble for their acts of civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is refusing to follow certain laws as a form of political protest. In Antigone, written by Sophocles, Antigone rebels against the laws of Creon and buries her brother, Polynieces, when everyone was ordered not to. Modern day people around the world like Antigone are also defying laws. Women in Saudi Arabia who went driving when laws forbid them to and they got into a lot of trouble with the government, Israelis who try to smuggled Palestinians into Israel and were thrown in jail when caught, and Rosa Parks refusing to give her seat up for a white man and then facing the consequence of jail. Antigone defies the social†¦show more content†¦Women in Saudi Arabia believe that they have the right to drive and they decided they were going to do what they believe is right for them and their community. They stood up for what they believed in and showed the law t hat they were capable of driving instead of being driven around by men. They decided to show the law they deserved this right. Girls around the world are acting like Antigone and are finding ways to show that they should do what they believe is right and not what society thinks is right for them. Whenever defying the laws you also have to embrace that there will be consequences for your rebellious act. While Israelis, Llana Hammerman, was smuggling in Palestinians in Israel she could be caught and â€Å"if tired and found guilty, Ms. Hammerman could be fined and face up to two years in jail† (Cook Par. 5). Ms. Hammerman knew the consequences, but did not let that discourage her from doing what she thought was right. She believed that Israelis need to start having communications with the Palestinians again because they need to know they were just people too. Ms. Hammerman and Antigone did not let the punishment from the law discourage them from defying the law. After blurring her brother and getting caught, Antigone was facing her consequences from Creon. Creon is talking to Antigone and is confused as to why she did what she did and she said to him, â€Å"I’ll die in any case, of course, I will, Whether you announce my execution or not. But if I die young, al lShow MoreRelatedAntigone‚Äà ´s Law: a Critique of Patriarchal Power Structures1121 Words   |  5 PagesStructures    The heroine Antigone sacrifices her life to defy the patriarchal society in which she is imprisoned. By confronting and resisting Creon’s authoritarian rule, Antigone empowers the oppressed people of Thebes. On the surface, her motives seem clear; she defies civil law in favor of a higher moral law. Antigone declares she acts out of a sense of honor and obedience to the gods, however her words and actions reveal additional motives. Antigone follows her own unique law, whichRead MoreSophocles Use of Social Commentary in Antigone1334 Words   |  6 Pages great art has the ability to reach whoever appreciates it no matter their origin. In Antigone, Sophocles does this by creating a fictionalized Thebes in which he reflects upon the politics, religion, and societal norms of his own world. He creates a ruler, Creon, whose tyrannical actions serve to promote the merits of democracy and criticize the contemporary government. He also creates a protagonist, Antigone, who challe nges the validity of the social structure while upholding ancient traditionsRead MoreThe Truth Of Courage : Socrates, Oedipus, And Antigone2414 Words   |  10 Pagesbelieve and the power of belief over our will. In Greek literature it can often be seen as the difficult path—an unconscious act of boldness, but before all it is the conscious decision of a person to act despite the danger. Socrates, Oedipus, and Antigone all manifest courage in their own ways. It can be displayed by human and divine acts of courage. One might focus more on self-sacrifice for the good of others, while another for a personal gain or explanation. Ultimately there is no courage withoutRead Moretheme of alienation n no where man by kamala markandeya23279 Words   |  94 Pagesï » ¿ANTIGONE KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING This tragedy is set against the background of the Oedipus legend. It illustrates how the curse on the House of Labdacus (who is the grandson of Cadmus, founder of Thebes, and the father of Laius, whose son is Oedipus) brought about the deaths of Oedipus and his wife-mother, Jocasta, as well as the double fratricide of Eteocles and Polynices. Furthermore, Antigone dies after defying King Creon. The play is set in Thebes, a powerful city-state north of