Essay on "File Sharing"

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Essay 4 pages (1390 words) Sources: 3 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Sharing

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has long contended that Internet file-sharing of music has suppressed its revenues. The RIAA claims that sales of compact discs have declined due to the prevalence of file sharing. They have lobbied Washington extensive and pursued legal remedy against individuals engaged in file-sharing. Yet a growing body of evidence shows that their claims are unjustified. Moreover, a significant number of artists have spoken out in favor of file-sharing. The RIAA has long portrayed itself as a representative of artists, but many artists have begun to counter this claim and stand up for their own views. The recording industry, they argue, may or may not lose money on account of file sharing. The artists themselves, however, do not. Both sides have presented their cases to government and to the public. Intellectual property law is a complex subject. Given that file sharing represents a new arena for intellectual property, it is best to view the issue from a consequentialist perspective. That is, the moral value of file sharing is dependent on the outcomes. With respect to those outcomes, we shall see that file sharing does not hurt artists.

Sales of CDs have slumped dramatically over the course of the past decade (Smith, 2007).

By the middle of 2007, CD sales for year had fallen 16% year-over-year, following up on seven years of declines (Hiatt & Serpick, 2007). Overall, album sales had plummeted from 785.1 million albums in 2000 to 588.2 million in 2006, including downloaded albums. Some observers felt that this signaled the end of the recording industry. The decline in album sales was attributed to ill

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egal file sharing, yet the industry has provided no evidence of this. This is an industry that churns out some 32,000 titles per year (Ian, 2002), the vast majority of which receive little to no support. The industry promotes artists that are more flash than substance, and therefore fail to cultivate the loyal fan base that generates the sort of strong catalog-wide sales that older artists generate. Moreover, the industry's answer to new technology is to market songs individually, or worse as ringtones. Thus the industry has lowered consumers' attention spans, which inevitably will result in a decrease in album sales. The RIAA would have you believe that file sharing is the only reason why album sales have been in decline, but there are several other equally viable explanations.

Most of those, however, are the direct result of industry strategies. Thus, the RIAA has made a scapegoat out of the one factor in which they do not have responsibility.

The RIAA has contended that these sales slumps hurt the industry, thereby hurting the artists. The industry has suffered - it shed some 5000 employees between 2000 and 2006 (Hiatt & Serpick, 2007). Many smaller artists have claimed that the industry was bloated and that those job losses have not impacted the artists. Indeed, even some big name artists such as Courtney Love and 50 Cent have claimed that the industry's problems are not their problems. The industry, they contend, is suffering because it has failed to adapt to the new environment. The industry has a long history of resistance to change (Ian, 2002) and the file sharing situation is merely another example of this. Instead of using the new technology to build artists through expanded exposure, the recording industry is "peddling ringtones" rather than records (Michaels, 2007). This failure to innovate as quickly as customers, and the pursuit of ill-conceived strategies represents the reasons for the suffering in the recording industry, not file sharing. Moreover, by losing its focus on building artists, it has not provided them with the one thing that benefits them the most - exposure. File sharing, on the other hand, does provide such exposure.

This exposure helps the artists derive revenue for a multitude of different streams. Indeed, CDs are traditionally a poor source of revenue for many artists. Courtney Love, a million selling artist, showed the math on a typical big-name artist CD release. Her example showed that the artists themselves only earn a modest living from CD sales (Love, 2000). 50 Cent further detailed that… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "File Sharing" Assignment:

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Writing 101: File Sharing Essay

Background

This assignment will be much more like a typical college essay you may be assigned in other courses. You will be given a broad topic, and you will be expected to narrow down your subject to a specific THESIS, and write an ARGUMENT in support of that thesis.

Task

You will write an essay that takes and supports a position on a specific subject related to illegal file sharing.

Please notice that the task does not ask you to simply write a paper about file sharing....it asks for some specific things:

1. narrow your subject down, but keep it related to illegal file sharing

2. take and support a position: this paper is to be an argument.

3. underline the thesis statement

Work to narrow your focus and develop your ideas with thorough support.

Specs

The following are the minimum requirements for your essay. If your paper does not meet these requirements, there is a very good chance you will not be happy with your grade:

*****¢ Use MLA Format

*****¢ Your paper must be directly in response to the above topic. Informative papers about file downloading will not be accepted. Be specific with your points--you are trying to prove something.

*****¢ Avoid being accused of plagiarism--make your paper uniquely specific.

*****¢ Your paper must be at least onto the 4th page. Papers that do not meet this requirement will suffer extreme point reductions.

Tips

You will be more successful in your essay if you do the following:

*****¢ Stay specific with your topic. Remember, you are only writing about one specific point about file sharing....not necessarily about why it is always good or always bad. Think about what issue you want to tackle, and what position you want to argue on that issue.

*****¢ You will not be graded on what your opinion is, but you will be graded on how you present and support it the ideas. Be passionate, but (much more important) be logical and academic, also. Find an effective mix of professionalism and verve.

*****¢ Use a specific introduction and conclusion to frame your argument.

Evaluation

I'll be grading your essay based on the following criteria. Please read these carefully, as they are slightly different from other essays' grading criteria.

Focus (25 points)

You should pick a topic/focus that requires discussion or debate. The more interesting and successful topics will be those that are not the obvious ones (Most artists are against file sharing), but rather other aspects that may not be talked about so much. This means that doing some light research (Google, magazines, library, MySpace, wherever) and learning more about the topic will be to your benefit. You should be only looking at ONE aspect of the file sharing umbrella topic.

Development (25 points)

As you argue for your one point concerning file sharing, really get in there and explain how and why your point is the correct way to think about this issue.

Remember, you need to consider you audience as people who have not made their minds up yet, so you need to persuade them--don't let them make up their own minds...tell them what to think and why!

Organization (25 points)

Closely linked with focus and development, the organization of your essay allows you to reach and persuade your audience in the most effective way possible. Your explanations should be grouped together and related to your appropriate topic sentences. On the larger scale, your paper should present your support reasons in a logical order. Use your introduction and conclusion to frame your argument.

Mechanics (25 points)

Edit! Edit! Edit! Make your language smooth...Make it better--not just good enough. Remember, you are trying to wow your audience. Make this something that interests them and that they want to read. Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! Your paper should have NO mistakes in spelling, grammar, and MLA format.

I like ***** username: *****

How to Reference "File Sharing" Essay in a Bibliography

“File Sharing.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2008, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/sharing-recording-industry-association/750579. Accessed 5 Oct 2024.

File Sharing (2008). Retrieved from https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/sharing-recording-industry-association/750579

A1-TermPaper.com. (2008). File Sharing. [online] Available at: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/sharing-recording-industry-association/750579 [Accessed 5 Oct, 2024].

”File Sharing” 2008. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/sharing-recording-industry-association/750579.

”File Sharing” A1-TermPaper.com, Last modified 2024. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/sharing-recording-industry-association/750579.

[1] ”File Sharing”, A1-TermPaper.com, 2008. [Online]. Available: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/sharing-recording-industry-association/750579. [Accessed: 5-Oct-2024].

1. File Sharing [Internet]. A1-TermPaper.com. 2008 [cited 5 October 2024]. Available from: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/sharing-recording-industry-association/750579

1. File Sharing. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/sharing-recording-industry-association/750579. Published 2008. Accessed October 5, 2024.

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