Sharing the Recording Industry Association Essay

This is in part due to the fact that they have more control over this income than they do the income from CDs. For most artists, CDs are a means to increase exposure, driving revenues from these other streams. There is a growing body of anecdotal evidence that file sharing builds exposure (Ian, 2002).

Essentially, file sharing is replacing much of the function of the recording industry. Artists are able to control their marketing programs online. File sharing, along with social networking websites and other Internet tools, allows artists to control exposure of their music. Previously, the recording industry performed this function in concert with large radio companies such as Clear Channel. This left most artists without significant exposure. File sharing closes the exposure gap between the big name artists and the lesser known ones.

At the outset of the file sharing controversy, the recording industry had purported to speak for artists in its opposition to file sharing. One of the most important side effects of the file sharing controversy has been the split between artists and the industry with regards to the issue.

Artists have stood up to the industry in defense of file sharing, and denounced the notion that record labels speak for the interests of artists. In 2005 a group of artists including Steve Winwood and Chuck D. filed a statement in support of file sharing when the issue was before the Supreme Court (Krim, 2005).

There is little doubt that the recording industry has suffered in the past decade since the emergence of file sharing. However, every industry faces challenges in their operating environment, be they technological, social or otherwise. The success of businesses and industries is entirely dependent on their ability to adapt to changes in their external environment. In this, the recording industry has failed. In business as in life, adaptation is the key to survival. It is possible that some artists have also suffered, but those are the artists who have aligned themselves closely with the industry and utilized the same failing strategies that the industry has been using. Most artists, however, understand that the model of the music business for them relies on exposure to drive concert and merchandise sales.They understand that exposure does not come from album sales alone.

Moreover, the case has been illustrated by prominent artists that they do not make much money from album sales at all. It is not the consumers' love of music that has declined in the past ten years; it is merely one economic manifestation of that love. Other manifestations, including concerts, have remained successful. Artists that have adapted to the new technological environment have been able to leverage file sharing to increase their exposure levels and become more successful. The lesson here is that it is not the existence of file sharing that hurts artists. It is only the failure to adapt to file sharing that can hurt artists. Those artists who have taken their music out of the hands of major labels and exploited the new technology have not been hurt at all. File sharing may hurt technophobic record labels, but the evidence shows that file sharing does not hurt artists.

Works Cited

Michaels, Sean. (2007). 50 Cent: File sharing doesn't hurt. The Guardian Retrieved November 16, 2008 at http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/dec/12/50cent.urban

Thurrot, Paul & Furman, Keith. (2004). Study: File sharing doesn't hurt CD sales. Connected. Retrieved November 16, 2008 at http://www.connectedhomemag.com/Audio/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=42356

Booth, Stephen a. (2002). Access Denied! How the recording industry's new copy-protection schemes could keep you from your music. Sound & Vision. Retrieved November 16, 2008 at http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/features/225/access-denied.html

Ian, Janis. (2002). The Internet Debacle - an Alternative View. Performing Songwriter Magazine. Retrieved November 16, 2008 at http://www.janisian.com/article-internet_debacle.html

Smith, Ethan. (2007). Sales of music, long in decline, plunge sharply Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 16, 2008 at http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB117444575607043728-lMyQjAxMDE3NzI0MTQyNDE1Wj.html

Hiatt, Brian & Serpick, Evan. (2007). The recording industry's decline. Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 16, 2008 at http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/15137581/the_record_industrys_decline

Krim, Jonathan. (2005). Artists Break with Industry on File Sharing. Washington Post. Retrieved November 16, 2008 at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61254-2005Feb28.html.....