Discuss how Music Industry been affected by internet and music download.
The last few decades have ushered in the digital and internet era which have revolutionized the world media and communication including music production, marketing, and sharing. The internet platform has drastically changed lowed the time for transfer, sharing, and dissemination of the information. In the music arena, the ease of access and cost has been advantageous to the music consumers where they enjoy a variety of products at lower costs. This has been a major set back and likely undoing to the music producers. Music producers have feared the growth of the digital and internet world which is the source of the music pirating ad threat to the music industry revenues.
The understanding of the of the internet growth and the information digitization in regard to the music industry and how the music is distributed to the end consumers in order to appreciate the effects it has to the welfare of the main stakeholders. According to Landes and Posner (1989), in promoting creative art and welfare of the stakeholders, copyright protection and limitation to access is inevitable. Weakened music copyright has caused havoc in the music industry where music privacy has thrived especially due to the internet growth. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to understand the generic effects of the internet which have led to digitization from the perspective of the general public. Digitization of the music and increase in music piracy in the distribution channel has led to demotivation of the music producers, especially due to lower revenues generated from music ((Waldfogel, 2012a; 2012b)
There are extensive studies in the empirical literature focusing on the effect of the music piracy in the music industry. The studies have found how the internet has let to digitization and thus increase in the music piracy by looking at the level of sales made over time by the producers. That is, the internet has enabled the ease to access and to share the unlicensed music, in terms of online piracy ((Aguiar and Waldfogel, 2016; Handke, 2012; Waldfogel, 2012a; 2013).
However, the last few decades has internet has offered an alternative to the licensed digital music where the consumer is able to access the MP3 music downloads from unethical internet sources. Waldfogel (2010) observed that technology for file-sharing and the downloading has different adverse effects on the sales of music. This is dependent on the number of the illegal music on the sale of a particular artist. In this regard, some customers may be interested in paying for a particular song in an album instead of buying the whole album from authentic sources. The file-sharing and downloads of individual songs from a particular album can be considered to affect more on the album sales rather than the song sales.
Much of the recent empirical studies have failed to illuminate on the effects of the internet on the music and the transcending effects to the music producers. It is at the heart of this research paper to answer the question of the internet and music download and how it has impacted the music industry. The first question to ask is how the consumer perceives the unlicensed music download being the alternative to the licensed purchase of the online music. In this respect the question on the displacement of the music sales by the illegal online downloads and the trade-off that exists in the economics of the copyrights. Secondly, the paper address how the online music downloads have affected buying behavior of the consumers. And finally, the determinants on the internet music distribution and their overall contribution effects of the internet and music download.
In analyzing the dataset, the study will present the questionnaire to the music consumers where few relevant questions will be asked to assess their online behavior. The target population will be 1000 internet users and music consumers. They are only expected to answer the questions presented without giving personal information, focusing on music purchase preferences between licensed and unlicensed, sources, their rates of download, music format and their opinion on the effect of the illegal music downloads (Knopper, S. (2011).
The study found that the internet has influenced on the consumption behavior in the music industry. First, the majority of the respondents were found to use free websites for music downloads. Second, the higher numbers of the population download music at least ones per week. Third, only a few of the respondents buy legal music from the licensed websites. Fourth, the study found that most of the people buy a CD for legal music. However, only a few young people buy the CD because most are tech savvy and found no need to buy CD. And finally, when asked about the effect of illegal downloads, most were neutral to the music industry.
Research Questions: Music Industry been affected by internet and music download? Based on Research on finding and Literature reviews
Explanations of Terminologies
This research question targets to answer the question of the effect of internet and music download to the music industry especially the music producers and artists. The solution to this question gives the answer to the major breach of copyright protection of the music art facilitated by the emergence of the internet and online music distribution through downloads. It will also explain the customer behavior due to the influence of the internet and the availability of music online. This information can be used to solve the rampant illegal online music distribution which has adversely affected the music industry in terms of the profit-making through lowered sales revenues.
The recent empirical studies in the recent have not adequately answered the question of the effect of the internet through music download to the music industry. Thus the gap has existed that need to be addressed to determine the extent of impact to the music industry specifically the results of online piracy and distribution of illegal music files.
The holistic approach to the research will be addressed in this section, that is, how the research intends to answer the research question. Research methodology will give a step-by-step explanation on finding the answers the research question. In this regard, a chronology of the steps followed is given through sectioning starting with the research design, delimitation of the study, the population of the study, the sample of the population, the sampling techniques, instruments used for data collection, methods of data collection, and finally, methods of data analysis.
This refers to a general strategy that this research paper chooses to achieve the methodology of the study by addressing the research question. This subsection constitutes the activities of data collection, measurement, and analysis.
The most effective and efficient approach in carrying out this research was through research survey. The suitability of the approach was measured in regard to the type of the population and the question of this research. Therefore, it is the intention of this research to use research survey in answering the research question so as to achieve the intended research objective.
In this research, a sample of a population is used in the research survey, as a representative of the Brisbane internet users population as a whole. In line with this research, a sample was a part of the population which was selected to represent the whole population. The findings from the sample in this research expressly generalize the response of the whole population of internet users. In conducting this research survey, the answers from internet users in Brisbane was sought using questionnaires in both online and offline.
This paper use internet users in Brisbane as the target population for carrying out the research. This is the population within reach of the researcher and the most economical area of the research. Therefore this research investigated the internet and music download and the effects they have on the music industry. To analyze this, the opinion and the perception of the internet users of all ages were sought.
The researchers expected the answers depending on the user experience in the internet and music download through websites and other file sharing media. To achieve these users were expected to answer simple questions related to the internet and music download. The scope of the questions covered; the sources of the music downloads; the rate of downloads; whether the respondent has ever bought legal music; the format of the music they bought; and answer to the open question.
The number of internet users in the world is ever increasing with time. The scope of this research is limited at Brisbane where it will sample the internet users both men and women. An internet user means that the responder has to be active in browsing through the internet and also listen to music regularly.
The internet population is the most suitable as it constitutes the dramatis-personae in the internet use and music downloads. It was expected that majority of the internet users are the young adults and youths because they are the tech-savvy. Therefore, the research is expected to get most needed and relevant information from the selected group that will lead to the formulation of convincing and credible answers to the research problem and evaluate the results. The study targeted to reach 1000 internet users both men and women, across Brisbane. To reach the whole population sample, both online and hardcopy questionnaire were used. Internet targeting was used according to the intended usage and search history. It was also expected that the research would take four weeks involving five researchers to do the survey.
The internet population is large and diverse, meaning that it is almost impossible to use the whole population to get answers to the research problem. On the contrary, a small population may warrant the research to use the whole population of the research. A large population is time-consuming and expensive to carry out, therefore, the researcher gets a part of the group as the representative. For the purpose of this study, a small group of the whole population of internet users is used and the results thereof expressly adopted as the finding from the whole population. In this regard, a sample is the representative of the internet users in Brisbane. In this case, the study used a sample of 1000 internet users.
Although the research is interesting, responded needed encouragement for filling out the questionnaire. First, the researcher has created convenience for the respondents to access the questionnaire online. Second, the researcher will use media targeting to direct the questionnaire to the most appropriate people for providing the required and relevant information. Third, the research will also particularly target the young generation which has the highest number of internet users. And finally, the research questionnaire will be available at the major internet cafes. The questionnaire will be given to the buyers when paying for the services, which offer a chance to attract the attention of the people. All these objectives increase the chances of reaching the respondents.
Due to the large number and diversity of the suitable respondents, the researchers used a random sampling method in selecting the respondents. This is because the distribution of the questionnaire will be done randomly thus giving a random sample. The survey will be voluntary, and the respondents are not expected to provide personal information except the age and sex. For the purpose of the sampling, the instruments will be made available at all major cyber cafes and online through internet targeting in the social media and web browsing. At the end of the research period, 1000 internet users had filled out the questionnaires and were ready for analysis.
The research used questionnaires as the tools for data collection in the research survey of the target population. The instrument contained simple and straightforward questions which the internet user was expected to answer without providing personal information. The information gathered was treated with the highest privacy possible to avoid people feeling insecure about their information. The researcher guaranteed the protection of privacy of the responds information, which at some levels encouraged the users to participate in the survey voluntarily.
The researchers distributed the questionnaires in the major internet cafes around Brisbane and made sure they were administered to the intended population. The work of the researcher was to be at the exit of the internet’s café and after the clients make the payment, give them the questionnaire which they fill and drop in a sealed box at the exit. Then the researchers will be collecting them every evening and deliver them to the collection office. At the end of the four weeks, we had managed to complete the research. The questionnaire included the following questions:
Age…………………………Sex:………………………………..
Question 1: Where do you download music? A. Itunes B. Spotify C. Play.com D. Another (free website)
Question 2: how often do you download music? A. Everyday B. Once a week C. Once a month D. Never E. Few times a month
Question 3: Have you ever bought legal music? 1. Yes, 2. No
Question 4: What format of legal music do you buy? 1. CD 2. MP3 download from the legal apps 3. None
Question 5: In your opinion, tell us how illegal download affect the future of the music industry.
From question 6 to 10, choose the level of your choice. 1 = strongly disagree 2 = Agree 3 = Neutral 4 = Disagree 5 = strongly disagree
Question 6: Download to free music is illegal.
Question 7: Illegal downloads will affect the music industry
Question 8: make hard rules for illegal music downloads
Question 9: Government should block and make a fine on illegal pages
Question 10: Paying for legal music is a good thing
Methods of data analysis
After the questionnaires were collected, their findings were entered, analyzed, and statistically weighed using SPSS data analysis software. From the analysis, the graphical representation of the data was drawn and used to assess the findings.
The research survey managed to get 92% responses of the target sample. Their responses were analyzed and presented to provide the following findings:
Out of the total respondents, more than 50% used free websites and others sources to download music.
The rest was divided among the Itunes, Spotify, and play.com users, among them Play.com taking the least percentage of use.
A graphical representation was drawn to represent the frequency of music download by the respondents as shown below. From the graph, the number of the people who download music at least per week is higher than any other group.
The trend increase from those who made daily downloads reaches optimum at those who download on a week, from which it lowers to those who download once a month. The number of few times per month is higher compared to those who download once a month. It was also found that any one time, the majority of those surveyed have ever downloaded music.
The research established that the majority of the internet users do not buy legal music. From the chart below, it shows more than 75% of the respondents do not buy legal music; only a few people were found to have bought legal music. This is especially because of the availability of the internet sources of illegal music which have suppressed the growth of the music industry.
When asked about the format they buy of the legal music, most internet users preferred CD as they were more legal compared to online sources. However, 10% of the mostly youths from high school prefer to use the internet to download music. This group has higher access to the internet technologies which make music readily available, therefore, saw no need to buy CD ( 2015).
When asked about the effect of the illegal music download to the music industry, the sentiments of more than a half (more 50%) of the respondents gave neutral feedback.
The graph below analyses the scale of choices given by the respondents from various questions.
From the analysis of the above graph, it can be concluded that:
There is a need for more rights to the copyright protection and rules to control the effect of illegal download of music which has adversely affected the industry.
The government should introduce complex laws and heavy fines to those who distribute illegal music via websites, then close them permanently.
There is a need for better methods for downloading legal music from the internet. The method should ensure the protection of the copyrights of the producers and the artists.
The industry should invest into the applications through which they promote their music and attract downloads from their music funs.
This research has brought the attention to the effects of the internet to the music industry. The research has shown how the internet has facilitated the distribution of illegal online music which has hurt the music industry in terms of music sales and revenue. The research is important to the music industry players as they will be able to establish better mechanisms to protect their music and also reach their consumers. Moreover, this study will be used by the government to measure the consumers buying behavior and the part most affected by the illegal downloads, to come up with legal intervention. Further research will be required to measure the impact of the interventions in promoting the music industry.
Conclusion
This research has explicitly, explored the effects of the internet and music download to the music industry. From the findings, it is clear that most people prefer online and illegal because it is cheaper with few conditions. And especially young people use internet technologies to access music online rather than buying the legal CD; they see it better to download. The growth of music will depend on the appropriate measure that will be taken to curb the menace of online piracy. If proper solutions to the problem are adopted, music producers and artists will enjoy their work while earning better revenue from it (PricewaterhouseCoopers. 2015)
References
As Music Streaming Grows, Royalties Slow to a Trickle. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/business/media/streaming-shakes-up-music-industrys-model-for-royalties.html?_r=1
Aguiar L., & Waldfogel J. (2016) Even the Losers Get Lucky Sometimes: New Products and the Evolution of Music Quality since Napster. Information Economics and Policy
Handke C. (2012) Digital Copying and the Supply of Sound Recordings. Information Economics and Policy, 24 (1), pp. 15-29. Retrieved https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infoecopol.2012.01.009
Joel Waldfogel, (2012a) Copyright Protection, Technological Change, and the Quality of New Products: Evidence from Recorded Music since Napster. The Journal of Law and Economics. 55 (4), pp. 715-740
Joel Waldfogel, (2012b) Copyright Research in the Digital age: Moving from Piracy to the Supply of New Products. American Economic Association. 102 (3), pp. 337-342
Joel Waldfogel, (2013) Digitization and the Quality of New Media Products: The Case of Music Economics of Digitization, University of Chicago Press
Knopper, S. (2011). The New Economics of the Music Industry. Rolling Stone. Retrieved https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-new-economics-of-the music industry-20111025?page=5
Landes W.M., & Posner R.A. (1989) An Economic Analysis of Copyright Law. The Journal of Legal Studies, 18 (2), pp. 325-363
Mansell, R. (2013). Imagining the Internet. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
PricewaterhouseCoopers. (2015). The Future of the Music Industry. Retrieved https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/entertainment-media/outlook/segment-insights/music.html
YahooTech. (2015). Streaming Music Revenue Beat CDs in the U.S. Last Year for the First Time. Retrieved https://www.yahoo.com/tech/streaming-music-revenue-beat-CDs-in-the-us-last-114048448124.html
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