April 13, 2004
Kamloops Daily News



Music and musicians used to be inseparable - - you didn't
hear music unless someone played or sang it.   After the
invention of the phonograph by Thomas Edison in 1887, all
that changed.

Phonographs allowed music to be heard anywhere, anytime.
This disconnection between artists and their music has
created problems for musicians and opportunities for many
others.

Once a musician produces a recording, that recording becomes
a commodity.  Whenever there are commodities,  you need
retail merchants.  Then there are distributors, producers
and publishers.   Add in managers for the musicians and soon
you have a multi-billion dollar recording industry. 
Everyone takes their slice of the profits and a few
musicians become very wealthy.

The road to becoming a big recording star is littered with
faded dreams.  For every millionaire recording artist, there
are many casualties and unrealized talent.  We hear the big
name artists played over and over while many talented
musicians barely make a living.  The music industry is happy
with that.

The U.S. is a big player in the global recording industry
and they will take extraordinary measures to protect their
billion dollar industry.   The sharing of music files on the
internet is a cause for concern because anyone with a
computer can get free copies of what the music industry
sells.

It's not surprising that the U.S. music industry should lead
the fight to protect their empire.  They have a lot to lose.  
Their campaign of shock and awe, has effectively intimidated
the average U.S. citizen and discouraged them from even
thinking about music file sharing.

But the assault on average citizens had a setback with a
recent Canadian court ruling.  Justice von Finckenstein
ruled that that digital music swappers were not infringing
on music copyright law.  This was a disappointment for the
Canadian Recording Industry Association.  They wanted to
make an example of 29 individuals who were supplying music
files for free on the internet.

Von Finckenstein said that "I cannot see a real difference
between a library that places a photocopy machine in a room
full of copyrighted material and a computer that places a
personal copy on a shared directory linked to a peer-to-peer
service."

The music industry claims that they are only protecting
their stable of musicians, but you have to wonder.  If the
industry was worried about musicians, then why do they
consistently defraud them?   Investigations into industry
accounting practices show that musicians are not getting
millions of dollars in royalties owed to them by the
industry.

The industry also claims that downloading of music files is
hurting sales of CDs.  But a recent studies from the Harvard
Business School in Massachusetts and at the University of
North Carolina suggest otherwise.  They tracked millions of
music files downloaded through the internet and compared
them with CD sales of the same music.

The studies found that the most heavily downloaded songs
showed no decrease in CD sales as a result of increasing
downloads. In fact, albums that sold more than 600,000
copies during this period appeared to sell better when
downloaded more heavily.

A more likely explanation of falling sales of CDs is a weak
US economy as well as increasing CD prices, say the authors
of the studies.

Musicians are split on the issue of file-sharing of music. 
Some well established groups like Metallica would like to
sit back and let the cash roll in.  Juno award-winning Sarah
McLachlan says that "sharing music is fantastic."  She adds,
"the music industry has had their heads in the sand for a
long time."

Music-sharing on the internet is the next stage in the
evolution of radio.  And like when music was first played on
radio, the music industry is claiming that the sky is
falling.  At that time, they claimed that free music radio
would destroy the recording industry.

Musicians must be compensated for their creative talents but
the music industry is not the only way for that too happen. 
Some musicians, like Kamloops' composer and artist  Sean
Luciw, are bypassing the recording industry altogether. 
They record music in home studios and market them directly
to the public.

Music and musicians are a national treasure and a source of
Canadian pride.  Canadian musicians should be able to make a
decent living without dependence on the uncertain U.S.
dominated music industry.  Internet file-sharing might be
part of the solution.

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