How the internet has affected Music

Before the invention of the network, medical specialty was available from many sources. Most commonly, people would venture out into their local town and grease iodines palms CDs and eternalises from symphony stores such as HMV and Virgin. Sometimes they would even record a friends CD onto tape instead of buying it. With the advance of technology, people could even record from CD to CD. Music piracy existed before the invention of the Internet. This essay leave behind focus on the effects the Internet has had on the Music industryMicrosoft atomic number 18 one of the most important companies involved in this issue because they make they make the most readily recognised software to access the Internet and to stream media. (Streaming media is when media is listened to or watched when the media is situated on the Internet and not on your computer). Due to Microsofts monopolisation of the software market, few other companies were signifi piece of tailt. However, in previous years , other companies retain started to greatly affect the Internet side of this story. The most well known story of a company defying Microsofts power is the story of Napster and Met eachica.Napster provided a free file-sharing avail which let millions of users across the Internet share their music files, which meant anyone with this program could download any music that was on another users computer. Metallica, a Heavy Metal band make in 1981, are the second highest grossing Heavy Metal band after Iron Maiden. They filed a lawsuit against Napster in the US territorial dominion Court, Central District of California, alleging that the company encourages piracy by enabling and allowing its users to trade copyrighted songs through its servers.This is the main disadvantage of the Internets affects on the Music Industry. Bands, record companies and music shops are all suffering from this new craze to download or share music files across the Internet. The common misconseption is that the music is on the Internet, but most people get music from Peer-to-Peer programs (P2P). This means that people merchant ship share their music with the rest of the world. Users so search for the music they want and download it. Although Napster has now been reduced to a subscription found service, the main program that is used with Internet piracy is Kazaa.Not only can you download music using this program, but you can also download videos, pictures and software through the new Broadband services available to the public. Broadband is up to ten times faster than a normal Internet connection. As you can see from above, you can find hundreds of files to download, some with a download time of only 32 seconds for one whole song. If I can draw back your attention to the magnified section of the picture, you can see there was over 3 million users sharing their files at that point in time.This is the reality of the Internet people download albums instead of buying them, which severely da mages the music industry. However, before the invention of file sharing programs, and before Windows 98, the Music Industry was blood to be helped by the Internet Music Companies were the first to capitalise on the new medium to advertise their company. Record companies such as EMI and Sony set up websites that advertised their corporate image and focused little on product promotion.However, with the release of Windows 98, web pages could be viewed in a secure form, where no one else but you could view the web page. (See left) Once consumers had been convinced that their credit card numbers and their personal details could not be hacked, the Internet was revolutionised. The most illustrious companies to capitalise on this technology are Amazon. com and CDNow. Both offer services where the consumer buys the product from the website, and then the product is delivered to the consumers doorstep.The choice is overwhelming, with the consumer not only having the luxury of buy from home, but they also have a huge choice of products which are not available at their local record store. Here is an example of a rare Judas Priest import which is difficult to find here in the U. K. However, you simply need to type in your details and depending on how you have it shipped you can have it the next day. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage for the Music Industry. It is positive for the consumers and the artists, because their material is easy to buy.Conversely, it is a disadvantage for music stores because people will simply stay at home and buy music. Bands have a lot to gain from the Internet. They can promote their band by making a website full of details, pictures, news and event dates, and even samples of the bands music. This draws larger audiences for bands and they can also be discovered by record companies who have seen their website. A further advantage is that bands can save money while controlling their CD sales.A band can record their own music in a stud io and then distribute it themselves, therefore cutting out the publishing costs. Finally, to the present day, where connection speeds to the Internet are rising, and the number of people sharing music is soaring. How will the Music Industry survive? Microsoft could hold the key. It is rumoured that the next version of Windows will only play media that has been created on your computer, stopping the file sharing craze dead in its tracks. Is it true? Only time will tell.