Music Piracy and its Effects on the Demand, Supply, and Prosperity of the Music Industry
Abstract
In an era where pop culture and technology are rapidly growing, intertwining and becoming embedded in the everyday lives of Americans, it was inevitable that their paths would cross. Possibly the most affected medium of pop culture is the music industry. The growth and development of the internet is either their biggest gift or biggest curse. Modern technology has made wide-scale trading of music possible in the form of MP3 files available over the internet for free. Users can simply upload the files to these sharing sites and millions of others at any given time have the ability to download it from them. The Recording Industry Association of America, however, doesn’t share the enthusiasm about these file sharing practices. To them, it is stealing from the record company and from the artist themselves. Consumers don’t tend to see it that way. The issue that arises here is whether or not should music be accessible for free trade over the internet. On the one hand, it is thought that MP3 downloads reduce sales of legitimate CDs. On the other hand, it can be argued that downloading free MP3s could actually encourage someone to buy a CD which they may not have purchased had they not heard it in its entirety. This is known as the sampling effect.

The focus of this research paper will be to paper analyze the impact of music file sharing on the demand, supply, and prosperity of the music industry. The music industry is presently in a state of alarm. Many believe this is attributable to the capability of the Internet to lower costs for authorized as well as unauthorized copies, with the second being significantly more ubiquitous. In this paper, I will discuss the intent of copyright, the role of copying and file-sharing, the difference between explorers and