Music Piracy - Bring It On!

As a musician who writes, plays, and sings original songs one would typically assume I would take a very strong stand against pirating music. That I should be climbing up on my soapbox and reprimanding anyone who ever stole music off the internet, from another friend, or any other source where free music might be obtained. I mean, after all, it is because of this trend that labels and radio are crumbling, right? And it is because of this trend that I make very little money selling my songs, in turn making me have to work much harder. However, I might surprise you when I say that I am not against burning, stealing, pirating, (insert whatever term you use) music and here are my top 5 reasons why:

1. People are cheap.
   You would not buy the album anyway so let’s get real. Very few people walk into a store or hop on iTunes thinking, “I think today I will buy some songs from an artist I have never heard of.” It just does not happen that way. Most people will not spend money on music they are not sure they will enjoy, meaning they will not ever hear those songs. But, if the music is given to them or they can download it for free, more than likely they will at least check it out. At this point there is then a 50/50 chance of the new listener actually liking the music.


2. Word of mouth is free promotion.
   It happens a lot that if a friend of mine finds a new artist whose music they enjoy I end up being introduced to that artist as well. If it ends up that I like the music then there is a high probability that I will tell other people about it and if any of them like it they will likely tell others, and so on and so forth. The only reason I even ended up hearing this music is because it was free and now the artist is getting free promotion by word of mouth. I tell a person, who tells a person, who tells a person, eventually making it possible for the artist to actually sell some records or even tour.


3. You might buy a concert ticket.
   Even if you did not buy the music there is still a decent chance you will like the music enough to pay to see the artist perform. Had you never gotten the free tunes you would not have heard of the artist and you would not be spending money to see them live. It is basically a snowball affect and it all begins with how accessible the music is. By making it free the accessibility goes through the roof. The only thing this really changes is the way musicians earn their living. Rather than sitting in a studio writing and recording for people to buy records they now rely on a killer live show and touring at least half the year.


4. CD artwork is overrated.
   I mean, who really cares about professional looking print and pictures when you can have a plain silver CD in a jewel case decorated with any color Sharpie and your very own handwriting? I can buy a spindle of 50 blank CD’s and an 8-pack of Sharpie’s for the same price of two CD’s with booklets of artwork and lyrics. I will take the blank CD’s, the Sharpie’s, and my phenomenal artistic skills over some perfectly styled, perfectly coiffed, Photoshopped picture any day. To add insult to injury, CD artwork is usually created by a freelance artist hired by the record company.  Often the band does little more to influence the CD art beyond simply picking from a few final options just as they would select wallpaper for their living room.


5. Musicians and record execs hoarded too much wealth.
   In the previous system, the wealth of record companies and artists got a little too opulent for my taste.  I read that each member of U2 is worth over 300 million dollars!  Is that really necessary?  Chances are those guys would do it all over again as long as they could make a decent living at it.  Does Jon Bon Jovi really need to fly around in two private jets?  This was getting out of control.  I am all for people making money but I don’t like to see people getting obscenely rich if it means the only way I can get music is to pay $16 for a crappy CD with one or two listenable songs on it. 

I would be a hypocrite if I tried to argue the opposing side of this. Even as an original musician I burn albums. And I would venture to say the members of Metallica have probably all “stolen” music at one time or another (I use Metallica because they are a band who is adamant that music should not be free). So until I plan on changing my personal habits I will take the stance that burning CD’s and downloading free music is a positive thing even for struggling artists.