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...
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