Media Ethics And Laws

As a small time promoter of music and musical acts, with family and friends also involved in the music industry, the issue of piracy hits close to home.  Once the digital era took over, artist, engineers, and record executives have been scrambling to find a resolution to the issue of mass illegal reduplication of their intellectual properties.  I spoke out about this issues in the mid 90's to friends and colleagues, but my words fell on def ears.  People were just not aware of the of the power of the technology, and couldn't foresee the advancements in sound quality and speed that were soon to come. I can remember a time when having a cd meant you were either an artist signed to a label, or music engineer/executive.  It just wasn't common to see the average wanna-be rapper or garage band with an audio cd.  Soon, it became the standard. By then (1997) 35% of American homes had computers, and almost all of them had cd burners.  Why would be people pay for record if they could get it for free.  This gave birth to sites like Napster, and Limewire, who were subsequently shut down for copyright infringement.  The introduction of mp3 technology, made it allowable to triple the amount of music you could store on one cd.  MP3 gave us the need for a device that could store endless amounts of data and audio.  I myself have three Iphones/Ipods in my home.  I realize now after years of supporting artist I've enjoyed, that artist and labels are going to have to adapt to these changes.            

The rulings against Napster in  2001, and Limewire in 2010, to cease operationg, did not fear every company with similar services. File sharing sites like Mediafire and MP3 Bee are still around, and violate the exact same copyright laws that Napster and Limewire were sued for. Rappers like 50 Cent, have found ways to use their fame and capitol to land them advertisement deals, movie roles, and ownership in up in coming companies.  The money 50 cent made alone on the sale of Vitamin Water in 2009 made him 200 million. Now he ownes stock in small company who makes high-quality headphones, and has been given 260 million to produce 5 movies.  I think this type of entrepreneurship is key to survive within today's music industry, as well as many of the other entertainment industries of today.