The music industry has been getting kicked in the nuts from P2P and illegal file-sharing for a long time now. They have tried everything they can to try to stop their aches and there has always been one main reason why these illegal file-sharing sites get away with it - THE SONY BETAMAX CASE
Without going too much in to this, BETAMAX (VHS’ forgotten brother-in-law) came to US shores and hollywood went in to a state of panic. The thought that their movies, which millions of dollars were pumped in to making, could be duplicated so easily was a huge issue! Soon a law suit followed led by Universal Studios. They pleaded to the courts that this would ruin the movie business as people will stop buying movies and shift to duplicating movies with the record feature the Japanese company included. After a long battle the courts favoured Sony and technology.
Despite illegal aspects to the technology as long as there are legitimate uses for the technology then it is wrong to not allow the public to benefit. This case will always be brought up during a battle between illegal services and the people who try to oppose. As long as there are legitimate uses - for example, Pirate Bay does allows users to share legal documents (though prob 1% of its entire traffic) – it is unfair to be shut down. This was amended so if a service knowingly knew that it was harboring illegal content and subsequently profiting from it then it is breaking the law. This was Napster’s downfall as all data went through a central server which could be monitored. Torrents’ data does not.
So using these arguments we are to assume that great technology should not be suffocated and withheld from us? So why is it so hard for Spotify to come to American soil? They are offering an experience that is sure to benefit the public and ultimately steer people away from illegal file sharing. They are being forced to hand out huge cash advances. I’m pretty sure Grooveshark didn’t go through so many hoops.
It is incredibly hypocritical for the majors to take such a hard stance on great products such as Spotify. There is no illegal aspect to it and as I, as well as many others, state, streaming is the new black.
This is a simple case of being stubborn. The industry has faltered on so many occasions because they have been unable to work collectively to envision where music is going. Unfortunate for them entrepreneurial minds have. This happened when Apple’s iTunes entered the playing field. Imagine if the profits from the world’s largest music store went back in to the industry and not Steve Job’s back pocket? What a difference that would make! The same thing is happening again. One more kick in the sack. One more dent in what little pride they have.
Shea Warnes | TheTapMusic.com