Free Music: Why Not?

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of downloading copyrighted music. Obviously it is not legal as the courts have shut down Napster for this very reason. Congressman Steve Rothman of New Jersey believes there is no middle ground in the issue saying that “it is pure and simple theft…” (Costs 31). “If you take something from someone who wishes you not to, you’ve stolen it” (Clay). That’s easy enough, but should the music industry support free music on the internet instead of prohibiting it among its artists?
The RIAA claims that it is acting in the artist’s best interest when it lobbies Congress to help put an end to the downloading of copyrighted music (It’s All about the Music). Singer-songwriter Janis Ian thoroughly disagrees and asserts that “if a music industry executive claims I should agree with their agenda because it will make me more money, I put my hand on my wallet…and check it after they leave just to make sure nothing’s missing” (The Internet Debacle). The contract that is given to an artist ...

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Debacle). Did this really hurt sales? There is no way of telling how many of those people were trying out new artists and may have ended up purchasing an album due to their experience. Many of the people would not have bought the CD even if the songs were not available for free. Numerous people may even own the record but do not have the know-how to rip a track off of their CD in order for them to play it on their computer without needing to change out CDs for each new selection of music. Several of them were probably looking for music that is out of print or not available in their area. Some of these may not have been technically legal downloads, but countless numbers also did not ...

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