Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Back in the days of vinyl, that’s the only way you had to listen to music. It evolved to 8-tracks, to cassettes, to CDs and now digital files to be placed on MP3 players such as the popular iPod. Over the years, the music industry has seen a dramatic shift in how we buy music and a shift in sales. Earlier this decade, the RIAA shut down Napster in a lawsuit for piracy. Since then, they have tried to go after individuals for illegally downloading music. However, in a recent case, a judge threw away the case stating there’s no proof the defendant was sharing all the files as it’s not illegal to own the files. That was a slap in the face to the RIAA and the record labels. So what’s the fuss about and why are record labels losing so much money? It’s not because we are stealing music from peer-to-peer networks. It’s for several reasons. One is because of the money loss, record companies are recycling songwriter formulas and shying away from singers wanting to write their own material (research Kelly Clarkson vs. Clive Davis for her album My December to see an example of power the record label has in how successful an album is). No one wants to hear the same song over and over again. Songs are more popular because of