To download music or to buy?

With more than 10 billion songs downloaded illegally in 2010 alone, converting YouTube videos and sharing audio files have come a long way since the first online music sharing service in 1999. Although the downloading websites themselves are technically legal, using them for the purpose of downloading copyrighted media without permission is not.

Yet despite knowing their actions are illegal, people continue to download music on these websites for the conveniences they offer. According to sophomore Monica Saripella, there are many benefits to downloading music, which is why most of her classmates don’t buy music from places such as iTunes or Amazon.

“Downloading is much easier and more convenient than buying songs,” she said. “And it’s free, of course.”

Saripella said that she, along with other students she knows, started downloading music illegally after iTunes increased the price of hit songs from 99 cents to $1.29 back in 2009.

Junior Maggy Liu usually only spends money to buy music if it is from a lesser-known artist or band, since “the money would mean more to them, as opposed to someone like Britney Spears.”

Most students who download music use websites such as www.youtube-mp3.org, which convert YouTube videos to audio files. Compared to filesharing or using a torrent for music, students said this method is safer and has a lesser chance of being caught by the government, adding to the appeal of downloading songs.

In general, most people in the music industry agree that the government has not been particularly successful in preventing people from illegal downloading, since 95 percent of all music downloads are illegal, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Efforts have been made to stop these actions, called copyright infringement or piracy, but the majority of people are never actually charged.

The Oberlin Review, a local newspaper of Oberlin, Ohio, wrote that both the government and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) take more notice when audio files are distributed to others, although colleges have been known to monitor and punish students who download music illegally.

“It’s hard to prevent people from downloading music because there will always be sites that allow you to convert videos,” junior Shireen Kaul said.

It is also difficult to control this problem without infringing on people’s privacy rights when it comes to tracking people’s online activity, according to Liu.

All this comes at a cost for the music industry, although the severity of the impact is debatable.
Saripella believes that the incomes of music industry workers have been negatively affected. “Since fewer people buy music now, and more people download, music companies make less money off of their songs even though the same number of people still listen to them,” she said.

Just months ago, a new website named Spotify was introduced in the U.S., providing a new alternative for music listeners. Legal and free, Spotify offers a catalogue of more than 15 million songs for users to create personalized playlists. The website also offers a premium membership, which allows for an on-the-go playlist, unlike the free version.

“I listen to most of my music when I’m doing homework online, as do a lot of other people, so the free version of Spotify is enough,” sophomore Eric Kao said. “Its interface is really convenient and easy to use.”

Spotify has received some criticism regarding fair compensation for artists, but this has not stopped listeners from using the free program for their music.

“When it comes down to it, if I can get the music for free, why not? It’s not worth buying all my songs when I can just get them without a cost,” Kaul said.