Opposing view: Best legitimate services can't compete with
free illegal downloads.
Not long
ago, a Justice Department official marveled at the fact that while most parents
would be horrified if they walked into their child's room and found 100 stolen
music CDs, very few have a problem with the idea that their kids may have
hundreds of illegally downloaded songs on their computer hard drives.
This attitude that illegally distributing and
downloading copyrighted music through peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa
or Grokster is somehow different (and definitely less troubling) than
shoplifting CDs from a store accounts in large part for the epidemic of
online-music thievery. This rampant theft is undermining the livelihoods
of artists and songwriters, not to mention the very future of
music itself.
The argument is made
that the best way to change this attitude is to cajole people into doing the
right thing, specifically, to offer fans more and better legitimate ways of
getting music online. In fact, the music industry has been doing just this, and
very aggressively. In addition to the recently announced Apple Store, Time
magazine has noted that there "are already a couple of dozen legal,
pay-to-play downloading services, including Pressplay, Listen.com's Rhapsody and
Music Net," which are not only on the right side of the law but are also "more
reliable than Kazaa and its ilk."
But as
good as the legitimate services may be -- and they are getting better all of the
time -- there is one basis on which they will never be able to match their
illegitimate rivals: price. Illegal downloads are free, and no legitimate
business can compete with free.
This is
where enforcement comes in.
It is
completely unrealistic to think that the legitimate "pay-to-play" services can
gain real traction in the marketplace as long as free illegal downloads remain
only a mouse-click away.
No one enjoys
playing the heavy, especially not music people, who would much rather spend
their time making music than worrying about legal issues. But the sad fact is
that simply asking nicely is not going to stop the misguided fans who think
they're doing the world a favor by giving away what doesn't belong to them.
***
Val Azzoli is chairman of the Atlantic Records Group.
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