Peer-to-peer file sharing services have a clear advantage over the record companies, the MPAA, RIAA, iTunes, and any other entity tied to now outdated business models. The paradigm shift happened, and the mainstream music industry needs to embrace that fact. Historically, the music industry has been slow to adapt to change. They protested when cassette tapes came to the market. When digital media was developed, they were slow to incorporate it. When major music retailers ventured online, they used the web to sell more CD’s, not music in a downloadable digital form. In contrast to the inflexibility of the music industry, the open source community was continually innovative. The P2P file sharing services improved the quality of digital music files (mp3), and provided free software, easy search capabilities, and greater variety. The industry countered by trying to secure music files to prevent their free distribution. The secure digital music initiative (SDMI) was the first attempt. It was quickly hacked. Apple Computers later developed the iPod, which was revolutionary at the time because of the large storage capacity. With the rollout of the iPod came iTunes, a website where users could purchase songs for $0.99. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers, convinced the “big five” record companies that his DRM protection system would keep the music secure. The record companies would get 70% of the commission. Jobs also gave users “revolutionary rights”, which would give them some limited freedom to copy the files or burn new CD’s. The Apple DRM would fall victim to the DRM encryptions of the past, and was subsequently hacked. The ironic aspect of iTunes is that it was never meant to turn a profit for Apple; it was to drive up sales of iPods. By 2005, the iPod controlled between 70 and 80 per cent of the digital player market. The total capacity of all iPods sold is approximately 30 billions songs. However, iTunes has only sold enough songs to cover 1.5% of that. That statistic clearly demonstrates the dominance of P2P networks over pay as you download systems. Even iTunes, which the music industry embraced as a means to combat file sharing, is simply an enabler for more P2P use.
Peer-to-peer file sharing services have a clear advantage over the record companies, the MPAA, RIAA, iTunes, and any other entity tied to now outdated business models. The paradigm shift happened, and the mainstream music industry needs to embrace that fact. Historically, the music industry has been slow to adapt to change. They protested when cassette tapes came to the market. When digital media was developed, they were slow to incorporate it. When major music retailers ventured online, they used the web to sell more CD’s, not music in a downloadable digital form. In contrast to the inflexibility of the music industry, the open source community was continually innovative. The P2P file sharing services improved the quality of digital music files (mp3), and provided free software, easy search capabilities, and greater variety. The industry countered by trying to secure music files to prevent their free distribution. The secure digital music initiative (SDMI) was the first attempt. It was quickly hacked. Apple Computers later developed the iPod, which was revolutionary at the time because of the large storage capacity. With the rollout of the iPod came iTunes, a website where users could purchase songs for $0.99. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers, convinced the “big five” record companies that his DRM protection system would keep the music secure. The record companies would get 70% of the commission. Jobs also gave users “revolutionary rights”, which would give them some limited freedom to copy the files or burn new CD’s. The Apple DRM would fall victim to the DRM encryptions of the past, and was subsequently hacked. The ironic aspect of iTunes is that it was never meant to turn a profit for Apple; it was to drive up sales of iPods. By 2005, the iPod controlled between 70 and 80 per cent of the digital player market. The total capacity of all iPods sold is approximately 30 billions songs. However, iTunes has only sold enough songs to cover 1.5% of that. That statistic clearly demonstrates the dominance of P2P networks over pay as you download systems. Even iTunes, which the music industry embraced as a means to combat file sharing, is simply an enabler for more P2P use.
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