THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

ASSESSMENT TWO

Brandon Woods
Email: brandon.woods@connect.qut.edu.au | Student ID: n9668756
This research paper will focus on the different types of music piracy and will delve
into whether or not it has become better or worse in the twenty-first century. This will
be achieved by discussing different cases of music piracy and talking about famous
court cases surrounding the topic.

Since the mid-to-late twentieth century, music piracy has been an ongoing issue
within the music industry. The persistent launching of various music piracy websites
and streaming services is gradually sending the music industry into a downwards
spiral, but can it be saved? Websites and services such as The Pirate Bay, Napster
and Lime Wire have changed the way we, as an audience, listen to and distribute
audio files; but streaming services such as Spotify are on the road to saving the
music industry and preventing these files from being distributed under the radar. For
years there have been numerous legal cases of digital audio piracy that have made it
into the hands of the media, surrounding repeat offenders, enormous corporations
and even artists themselves. Repeat offenders have been named and shamed by
the media, but this has been done numerous times, and still, millions of digital media
files are being illegally downloaded per day. The act of music piracy predominantly
occurred in the late twentieth century resulting in these court cases but has vastly
decreased since the introduction of legal streaming sites such as Spotify and
Soundcloud. How does music piracy play a part in the twenty-first century? Is the
amount of digital music piracy rising or falling?

Since the new-age concept of streaming services has arisen, piracy has vastly
decreased, for the better. Having these streaming sites enables consumers to legally
stream songs at no cost, having there be no need to illegally download music. As of
2015, there was a 44% decrease in piracy, thanks to Spotify, Soundcloud, as well as
television streaming services such as Netflix and Stan (Lavoie, 2018). Although
some would say that these on demand streaming services are reducing music
piracy, some say the opposite. Over the past five years, Taylor Swift and her two
latest records (1989 and Reputation) have not made an instant appearance on
streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, causing outrage amongst fans
and the general public alike for many different reasons. The main issue surrounding
this was the fact that these streaming services are not paying artists for the music
that is streamed on a user’s free trial of the service, although this relates to piracy in
the fact that because these records weren’t on these websites, it only encouraged
illegal downloading of them even more. Troy Carter, the head of Spotify Global
Services stated that “a lot of it Is going to be pirated. It kind of sets the industry back
a bit” (Sanchez, 2017). The act of Swift not instantly having these records available
for streaming caused the album to be uploaded to peer-to-peer file sharing websites
for illegal download, and within the first few hours of upload, had a combined total of
1648 seeders on torrentz.com, which is more than average, according to Sanchez.

The music industry is home to hundreds of thousands of artists who make a living
from the sales of their musical recordings. From A-list celebrities like Katy Perry,
Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran, to small independent artists such as Jamie Lawson,
artists of many levels of popularity and net worth put their food on the table from
making music. The act of music piracy is simply taking away artists’ rights and
royalties, but some of the world’s most successful artists have taken a stand against
the illegal act. One of the most talked about music piracy cases in history was the
lawsuit between Napster, Inc. and American heavy metal band Metallica (commonly
referred to as Metallica vs. Napster, Inc.) On 13 April 2000, the band filed a lawsuit
against Napster after a demo of their unreleased song “I Disappear” was heard on
the radio. It was discovered that the website had leaked their music to the particular
radio station, and as a result, caused outrange amongst Metallica and their fan base.
Napster attempted to stop the band from suing them by banning users from their
website and enforcing stricter policies, but the case was not dropped until the band
gained justice. A spokeswoman from the band stated that “Metallica will continue to
pursue its legal rights,” enforcing their decision to keep fighting for their musical
rights. Lars Ulrich, the drummer of the band stated that "the problem we had with
Napster was that they never asked us or other artists if we wanted to participate in
their business. It's good that they are going legit" (Dansby, 2001). After a lengthy
battle between Metallica and Napster, the band won the case, and as a result,
Napster was shut down due to bankruptcy (Fitzpatrick, 2000).

As well as the band suing Napster Inc., they simultaneously filed lawsuits against
three universities; University of Southern California, Indiana University and Yale
University for ‘encouraging’ their students to illegally download and distribute music.
A spokesperson for the band stated that the colleges “have knowingly sanctioned
and encouraged [their] students to pirate" the tracks and that the students can
access the software through university computer networks. (Fitzpatrick, 2000).
Although the universities attempted to persuade the band into not suing them by
blocking the illegal file sharing websites, that was not enough to convince them
otherwise. While Metallica was in the midst of a lawsuit between Napster and the
three North American universities, Dr. Dre was amongst the very few other artists to
threaten to sue Napster if they shared their audio without consent. Dre and his
record label Aftermath Entertainment issued a warning against Napster and ordered
the company to remove Dre’s music within a week, and because this was not done,
Dre continued to file the lawsuit against them. “He charged the company with
copyright infringement and unlawful use of a digital audio interface” (Johnson, 2000).
Even though artists have a large influence in the media, the general public are also
targeted for their actions surrounding illegal file sharing.

The general population are commonly under the radar when it comes to illegally
downloading files. Approximately 57 million Americans are illegally downloading
music as we speak, although a very small percentage of these offenders are caught.
Although piracy is still occurring, consumers still purchase music legally. James
Geddes from online technology blog Tech Times states that “many of these
consumers are also purchasing music legally, but resorts to piracy because they
don't want the songs badly enough to actually pay for them” (Geddes, 2016). In the
rare occurrence that a consumer is caught illegally downloading files, they are
charged a large fine, either per file or a total amount. In 2012, a Minnesota woman
was accused of 24 counts of illegally downloading digital audio files. The case is
spanning past its sixth year; and the woman’s fine was $9250 USD per song,
equating to over $220,000 USD.

Another case surrounding the general public and counts of music piracy involves a
college graduate from Providence, Rhode Island. In 2009, a Boston University
graduate was accused of 30 counts of illegally downloading and distributing songs
and owed four record labels a fine of over $675,000 USD. Although the offender
admitted to illegally downloading hundreds of songs, he was caught with only 30
songs from artists such as Nirvana, Green Day and the Smashing Pumpkins, and
was forced to file bankruptcy to pay the fine (Lavoie, 2018).

After discussing music piracy as a whole and talking about how it has changed in the
twenty-first century, it can be seen that the amount piracy has in fact become better
since the introduction of on demand streaming services. The positives clearly
outweigh the negatives when it comes to how Spotify has played a large part in the
act of music piracy, and one step at a time, is revolutionising the music industry.
Although there have been some cases where repeat offenders have been fined
hundreds of thousands of dollars, these are rare, and these cases are continuously
declining. Because there have been no other major lawsuits like the ones discussed,
it can be clearly seen that the act of music piracy is declining, and in coming years,
will hopefully become a remembered myth.

References
Bales, L. 2018. “Are Netflix and Spotify Really Reducing Piracy?”. Content Cafe. Available
at: https://www.contentcafe.org.au/articles-stories-everything/are-netflix-and-spotify-really-
reducing-piracy

Dansby, A. 2001. “Metallica, Napster Settle”. Rolling Stone. Available at:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/metallica-napster-settle-20010712

Geddes, J. 2018. “57 Million Americans Are Downloading Music Illegally: Study”. Tech
Times. Retrieved from http://www.techtimes.com/articles/137083/20160229/57-million-
americans-are-downloading-music-illegally-according-to-new-study.htm

Fitzpatrick, E. 2000. Metallica sues napster & 3 universities. Billboard - the International
Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment, 112, 3. Retrieved from
https://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/983112?accountid=13380

Fitzpatrick, E. 2000. RIAA, Metallica Win Napster Round. Billboard – the International
Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment, 112, 8-8, 123. Retrieved from
https://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/984862?accountid=13380
Johnson, T. 2000. “Dr. Dre Sues Napster”. MTV. Retrieved from
http://www.mtv.com/news/1428249/dr-dre-sues-napster/

Lavoie, D. 2018. “Jury orders student to pay $675,000 for illegally downloading music.” ABC
News. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8226751&page=1

Sanchez, D. 2017. “Spotify Says Taylor Swift Is ‘Increasing Piracy’ and ‘Setting the Industry
Back’”. Digital Music News. Retrieved from
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/11/14/spotify-taylor-swift-music-piracy/