Matthew Rosenthal December 11, 2013 English 1010 Honors Music Piracy Didnt Kill the Recording Artist

Since the invention of the Internet, an enormous amount of information and media has been made available to the general public. In their lawsuit against Napster, Metallica complained, It is sickening to know that our art is being traded like a commodity rather than the art that it is.1 However, record companies tried to fight rather than to adapt to the quickly changing situation: music was being shared by thousands of people on a daily basis. Since then, many arguments have been made against music downloading. The most common of which is that stealing is stealing; it is simply not right to take someone elses work without paying for it. A less moralistic but more misguided has been put forth by Rick Carnes in his article Has Music Piracy Killed the Recording Artist. Carnes argues that the real recording artists are gone because of music downloading. However, he is wrong in equating less attention paid to record sales is with less attention paid to recording. Even with music downloading, recording still holds a necessity in the careers and development of artists. Rick Carnes believes that the true recording artists are a dying breed. A recording artist is a musical person or group that focuses on recording and selling records, rather than touring. Carnes believes that music piracy is to blame for the
1

The Trouble With Napster, Richard Kwon. October, 2000. http://www.layouth.com/the-trouble-with-napster/

loss of recording artists. His logic: by taking away the monetary incentive to record an album, music pirates have forced artists to focus on the performance aspect of their musicthe showrather than the music itself. As a result, many musicians focus less on writing and recording the music and instead focus on developing hit videos. Carnes quotes Damian Kulash of the group OK Go to argue his point about the dismal future of recording. Kulash brings up an interesting point: when artists spend so much time, effort, and money on their music videos, why would they spend time on the musical aspect? Carnes also draws an analogy to this contemporary problem to a phenomenon in the 19th century. European composers were not protected by American copyright law, so their music was pirated and available cheaply for American consumers. Carnes ignores the point that the same technology that has enabled Internet music piracy has also given artists unprecedented access and ability to record their music and distribute it to wide audiences. With the technology to support highfidelity sound cards, Digital Audio Workstations (DAW), and industry standard recording equipment at affordable prices, recording artists have actually been on the rise. From the late 1990s until now, we have seen the growth of do-it-yourself music groups such as: The White Stripes, Radiohead, Oasis, and Periphery, who have used computer technology to record albums. Unknown artists, such as Keith Merrow and Tosin Abasi, have used downloading and streaming technology to reach a wider audience than would have ever been possible before the advent of broadband Internet and sophisticated home recording software.

Without a doubt, Internet music piracy has led to huge declines in record sales for artists. However, according to Timothy B. Lee, in his article, Think piracy is killing the music industry? This chart suggests otherwise, this might not be such a bad thing. Lee cites a study that suggests that although record sales have gone down since 1998, the total revenue from concerts, publishing, and mobile phone/internet music sales has increased tremendously.2 Still, Carnes believes that album sales are an afterthought. Despite artists not being able to make as much money selling their albums, recording music has remained a necessary part to promoting musicians. Indeed, it is still the best medium for artists constrained by time and space to reach a mass audience. Carnes makes a false distinction between the true recording artists and a lesser form of recording artist, which he defines vaguely as relying on home recording equipment. He writes, the studio musicians who were able to devote their lives to improving their sound and their technique are a dying breed, replaced by home recording studios and sample-looping software (Carnes 6). These home recording artists are studio musicians. As the president of the Songwriters Guild of America, Carnes should be more familiar with the quality of modern home recording technology. He should know that artists are now able to make records at home that rival any big studios quality with the added advantage that they are not physically and financially bound to a studio. In addition to this, the home recording trend is

Timothy B. Lee, Think Piracy is killing the music industry? This chart suggests otherwise. October 7, 2013. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/10/07/think-piracy-is-killing-themusic-industry-this-chart-suggests-otherwise/

creating multi-talented musicians: those who can write and produce music, cutting out the middleman, the corporate record labels, engineers, and producers, and making it easier to create music. Carnes also argues that because music sales have declined, the focus for artists has shifted from creating good music to creating good music videos. This argument is not new. Alarmists have warned about the dangers of music videos since before Buggles debuted Video Killed the Radio star on MTV thirty years ago. The focus has not shifted from making music to making music videos. Yes, the music has changed, for better or for worse, from Duran Durans Hungry Like the Wolf in the 1980s to Miley Cyruss new release, Wrecking Ball. But the music still precedes the video. Even artists like OK Go who are cited by Carnes as representing this supposed shift, and who are arguably known better for their YouTube videos than for their music, cannot gain fame without the catchy songs that accompany their videos. Carnes makes a mistake similar to other doomsayers of music piracy; that is, he equates a change in production and distribution of music to the end of it. To this end, he recalls a phenomenon in the 19th century in which US songwriters had to compete with free music coming from European composers. As a result, Carnes says songwriters could make their money only through performance instead of publishing. He writes, The traveling minstrel show was the only place that Foster could eke out a few dollars (Carnes 10). Despite Fosters continued association with 19th century minstrelsy, he still managed to write some of the most lasting songs in American popular music. Artists in any medium always have to balance their needs

to grow their artistry and to make a living. Whatever Carnes wants us to think, recorded music isnt going anywhere. Just as the advent of recorded music did not destroy the live music industry, we cannot expect an increased focus on performance to destroy recording. Carnes doesnt mention record labels. However, his argument is an implicit defense of the studio system in which A&R representatives and executives picked the winners and losers in the music industry. And while this system did foster great talent, its artists perpetually sought greater freedom to create. In 1968 The Beatles created the Apple Records label to free them to produce music without corporate influence. In a similar vein, Jimi Hendrix built the Electric Lady studio. In more recent memory, artists as diverse as Pearl Jam and Lauryn Hill have complained of record labels more interested in their bottom line and stock prices than in fostering artistry. The real problem with arguments like Carness is that they rely on a myth that never really existed. Even indisputably true recording artists like Brian Wilson, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan, made their names first as performers. Its possible that home recording, digital downloads, and social media have reversed the old order from one in which performers became recording artists to one in which artists use recording to promote a performing career. So while music piracy represents a change, even a revolution, in recorded music, it is not the end of anything. As a lobbyist for the Songwriters Guild of America, Carnes represents a status quo that for many years kept new artists from achieving success and restricted the creative potential of the chosen few.

Works Cited Carnes, Rick. "Has Music Piracy Killed the 'Recording Artist'?." The Huffington Post. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-carnes/has-music-piracy-killedt_b_803596.html>. Kwon, Richard. "The trouble with Napster." LA Youth RSS. <http://www.layouth.com/the-trouble-with-napster/>. Lee, Timothy. "Think piracy is killing the music industry? This chart suggests otherwise." TheHuffingtonPost. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/10/07/thinkpiracy-is-killing-the-music-industry-this-chart-suggests-otherwise/>.