Purpose
The use of the internet to download and share music files is a very controversial issue. This topic is especially of interest to me because I download music quite frequently. To get a better look at how frequently students do this, and whether or not they feel it is ethical. I decided to conduct a survey. Other questions dealt with alternative options to downloading music and the legal action that ensues doing so.
Method
I decided to conduct a survey. I conducted a ten question survey of fifty Anderson University students. Distributed to friends and members of the track team, the survey was very straightforward and short. The students I surveyed a wide range of students, both men and women, and from freshmen to seniors. I handed the survey to people I knew and asked them to fill it out and return it back to me. Many of the surveys I handed out were not returned only got back seventeen of the fifty I handed out.
Analysis
After conducting the survey, I came to the expected conclusion that the majority of students download music regularly. All but one of the students surveyed stated that they download music off a P2P (people to people) file-sharing program. Several people also, however, admitted that they felt that the piracy of music online is unethical. These were people who also said that they download music regularly. Their response as to why they continue to compromise their integrity was based on the fact that they did not feel that the record labels or the individual artists themselves were actually being adversely affected. In their minds, their downloading and sharing of this music is only helping the music industry, especially up-and-coming bands who are trying to develop a name for themselves. Instead of handing out promo CD’s, a musician can simply upload their music onto the internet and circulate their music that way; a much more inexpensive and effective method. For example, I had not heard of an artist until I was sent some of their music by a friend of mine. Soon I began to notice that artist’s music more frequently online. Before long, their music was all over the radio and their top songs claimed highly-coveted spots on top hits lists. Many new up and coming artists get noticed on line and their music is downloaded through the Internet. Continuing on the ethicality of file-sharing, I found an interesting trend based on gender. Women, consisting of half the survey, while still downloading music as often as males, were the only ones to admit that they felt it was immoral to illegally download music online. Similarly, women were the only ones that showed any sign that they felt these programs were hurting the music industry. These feelings did not come out of their responses on the survey, but in the brief discussion that I had with them after they finished the survey. None of the men that took the survey said that the felt guilty or immoral for downloading music. They all felt that the industry was rich enough as it is and that they were not hurting it by downloading several songs a week. Only one student who took the survey said that they do not download or share files of any sort on the internet. Their response, as to why they do not, had nothing to do with whether or not they felt it was ethical or not, it was simply because they did not have the adequate hardware to do so. I asked the student if he would download music in the future if he ever did get an updated computer and he responded that he would. Moving on from the issue of ethicality, the survey questioned students about other possibilities that would allow file-sharing to continue, but allow for the record label and individual artists to cash in on the distribution of their music as well. A reoccurring suggestion, posed by four of those surveyed, was to charge a small monthly fee to use the internet programs that shared music files. Anticipating this reaction, I asked a follow-up question dealing with how much students would be willing to pay. Ironically, only one of the students, a male, said he would pay anything to continue to use the Internet to download music. This struck me to be a little funny because the same people that would not spend the money to buy songs legally would pay a small monthly payment to download songs. For less money, one could subscribe to a file-sharing program, download an entire CD, and burn it onto a blank CD, assuming they already had the necessary hardware. I do not think that most people are aware of this option. Common sense would dictate that the Internet would be a faster, cheaper, more convenient way of acquiring music. The final part of the survey asked whether or not students felt that musical artistes, who took legal action against certain internet file-sharing programs, had a legitimate reason to do so. The overwhelming answer was no, they do not. All but two people surveyed responded that musicians such as these are not being hurt at all by this trend and are just trying to squeeze as much money out of the industry as they can. One student responded, “If you’ve seen the MTV show ‘CRIBS’, you’ll understand why I say that these musicians are not being hurt by this and do not need this extra money. They are a bunch of selfish millionaires.” Personally, I tend to agree with the musicians. They have worked hard to get to where they are today. It is their music that people are listening to and they should get paid for it. If I were a recording artist, I would be grateful for the opportunity to spread my music quickly and effectively, but I would also want to make a profit from it as well. The musicians are trying to make a living as well, even though they are making millions of dollars they have worked hard to get to where they are at in life. The courts and record labels share my views. In a recent court case, Internet service providers are required to give the information of those downloading media to the record label if they request it. Possible results may include individuals being sued for downloading music. This may seem as a step in the direction of doing away with the free distribution of music online, but I belive that there will always be a loophole. Students can anonymously sign on and download music or register under fake information. As seen in the past, as soon as one program is shut down, such as Napster, another one will pop up in its place; Limewire, Kazaa, Morpheus: the list goes on and on.
Conclusion
The piracy of music is a hot topic these days. I feel that it will be a controversy for quite awhile, simply because of how difficult it is to prevent. Unless courts and the record labels take more legal action, the music industry will just have to sit back and watch us students “steal” money from them, money which they already have plenty of. I have learned that there are a lot more people than expected who download music illegally. I have also learned that when giving a survey to people I should be more adamant on returning the survey to me. I also learned that many student download music both legally and illegally.