LIMEWIRE

Limewire™: The one that started it all

http://www.limewire.com/
(This is an image of the lime wire program in use)

 )To talk about internet piracy and not bring up lime-wire would be wrong. This was, after all, the pioneer for internet piracy. Like bitTorrent©, it had a sincere motive and and had intentions for legitimacy. Limewire came in two models, Free and Enhanced but most people downloaded the free application as there was little difference between the two. What this company got into trouble for was the fact that there was no compensation by  Lime GroupLLC to the record companies. However, due to the fact that it Peer to Peer sharing, it was difficult to figure out show who would be compensated. 

INTERNET PIRACY EXAMPLE: 'TORRENTING'

Torrenting

Here is the prime culprit for internet piracy: µTorrent™. This legitimate (as in it pays taxes) corporation facilitates the downloading of files by allowing the previous downloaders, to essentially share that piece of information to another. What makes this technology so valuable is that this process speeds up the download the more seeders (the ones sharing the file) are involved in the process. This has become the go-to way for people to illegally share data. And while some of the files are (or could be) purchased, in cases they have not been. 

Here is an image of a torrent program:

For more information about torrenting: http://www.utorrent.com/features

THE DIGITAL AGE {opinion}

The Digital Age

In the direct step with the dawn of the digital age, there has been an extraordinary increase in the amount of internet piracy occurring around the world (primarily in the more technologically advanced nations). The reason that this is occurring more often now than in the past is that it is so much simpler to achieve than before that it is illogical (by the consumer's perspective) not to. Not only is it simple to find songs on certain file-sharing websites, music has also available all throughout the internet (YouTube, Pandora, Spotify). No longer are people locked into buying an album or settling on the limited songs of the radio. 

TurnTable.fm 

While I write this, I am listening (and DJing) on a website called Turntable™ where I can listen to music uploaded by 'music aficionados' and producers looking for input by a digital audience on whether the song is 'awesome' or 'lame'. Even though it is beneficial for upcoming artist to have their music grow, these websites impede on their profits. This seems to be the fork in the road for the media industry. As it is hard to truly crack down on piracy, due to the fact that the majority of music sharing isn't illegal and is operated by legal corporations. The profit center for this industry has transitioned to live entertainment, ad revenue of YouTube (and other music sharing websites with adverts), and merchandise. The two options are: to adjust the business model, or fight to keep the status quo. The more progressive option is to adapt to the new world of music. 

Many new artist have. Certain promoters on user-uploaded media platforms to get the word out and link the song to their bandpage (either on SoundCloud, Facebook or BeatPort). This can help them get recognized by record labels, but more importantly event organizers. As a active, social man in my 20s i often frequent small venues to see artists and occasionally spend (extra) money to go a large venue with a lot of artists. These concerts are large revenue streams for these artist for a long time to come (and isn't a one time purchase like a song). If people don't have to pay to listen to an artist's song, they can download (then listen to) this artist's songs. If they have a liking to them and share it to their fans, thus increasing their fan base within weeks (due to the exponential 'tree' increase of the internet). This not only will lead to more ad revenue, but more attention in other regards as well. Its all about how they adapt to the new landscape of music, rather than condemning the audiophiles that are just in search of musical exploration without the costs. It makes people more willing to explore and take a chance on an unknown artist, then settling for the safe overplayed artist. 

HOW DID PIRACY BEGIN? {Opinion}

In the antiquated years of known nostalgically as the 'Vinyl Music Era', music was cherished like gold and treated as such. Music was to be purchased at one place only: the record store. This is where the records' artwork were admired by potential purchasers. People assisted you in purchasing the record by making recommendations according to the music listeners (the consumer) preference. For this reason, purchasing (as well as making) music was more of an experience and less less often occurring. While there may have been people selling stolen records, or selling second-hand vinyls, nobody could reproduce the vinyls and receive satisfactory. The difference between then and now begins with the cassette.

The cassette brought on the idea of reproducing songs to share with friends. 'Mix-tapes" were used as a way to pick out the music to which you would like to listen to, or just copy a whole cassette to give to some to listen too. While this may have been good for the growth music, it also (slightly) effected the music industry's profits. The inception of music copying lead to piracy, but did not really have much effect until the dawn of the 'Internet Era'.