| About seven months ago Russell Furr and three of his friends got together to start a band in Mt. Airy, Maryland. But, here they had a difficulty - nobody knew who they were. Two of the first steps they took to fix this problem were building a web page and making MP3s. Even before the band had played their first live show, they were already spreading the name – Tormention – and their sound. These teenage musicians were pushing the new, controversial technologies as far as they could to benefit the band. According to Furr, who is not only the drummer but also the band's internet guru, online promotion has helped the band get exposure "more than playing live shows and everything." Music industry insiders also praise the effects of MP3 technology. Mac MacLaren, editor of U.K.-based webzine Lemonrock, says "We've always encouraged unsigned bands to let Lemonrock post their songs for free. We believe that if there is a live music scene where bands can play, MP3s provide a way to give the bands a wider live audience, and consequently more potential CD buyers." But, not everyone is so ready to put their music online. Brandon Walz is wary of putting music from his Manassas, Virginia area band, No Diving, onto the internet. He claims that people may “rip him off” by burning the songs that he records and then not buying the album. Although Jon Kaplan uses MP3 and internet technology to promote his Washington, D.C. based band, The Bicycle Thieves, he says "It is very frustrating as an artist to have people care so little about fairness to the artist in the current MP3 debate." Some people claim it is ok to take musician's work for free because they are already making so much money. But, he points out, "you can say that about most professional athletes too and you can't easily go see them for free." This loss of intellectual property rights, and therefore sales revenue, has long been a concern of both the music industry and individual artists. Internet technology had enabled individuals or organizations to upload copyrighted material onto the internet, and then redistribute it for free to the public. Napster, the most notorious of the file-sharing internet sites, was closed down last year by court order following a highly publicized legal war waged by major record companies and fueled by the public grandstanding of such major artists as Metallica and Dr. Dre. But, these were not the only artists who felt strongly on the issue. The Recording Industry Association of America, who fought vigorously to get Napster shut down, has compiled a huge amount of anecdotal evidence that mainstream recording artists were against Napster technology. Eminem is reported to have “That Napster shit, if that gets any bigger, it could kill the whole purpose of making music. It's not just about the money…It's the thrill of going to the store; you can't wait till that artist's release date, taking the wrapper off the CD and putting the CD in to see what it sounds like.” Likewise, Everclear’s A.P. Alexakis claimed that, “I think the fact that Napster is stealing recorded music is something that we have to stop. It's taking money out of my kid's mouth. That's the way I look at it. It's wrong. It's inherently wrong. It's stealing." Now that battle has been won. The courts closed down Napster. The controversy, however, lives on. New services with names like Napigator, Aimster, and Kazaa have sprung up in Napster's wake though. The court was able to close down Napster it had its own server onto which it was loading the music files that the public was providing. Individuals had to then download the files from Napster's server. Therefore, the court was able to order that that central server be shut down. These new services, however, are different because there is no central server. Individuals are simply exchanging the files from one to another. Further, some of these new services use the same file-sharing format. This means that the user of one service could exchange files with the user of another service. It is therefore unclear whether the court system has the ability to effectively shut down these services file-sharing services even though they are being used to trade copyrighted material for free. According to the MP3 advocate website, mp3yes.com, "It's totally legal to create your own MP3s and keep them to yourself. However, it is illegal to trade copyrighted songs with others unless you have special permission from the copyright holder of the song." None of this is disputed. What is at issue is whether legislative and judicial government entities have the practical ability to close down services that allow the illegal trade of copyrighted materials. But, not everyone is worried that the Napster alternatives will ruin the music industry. Furr thinks "they're great" for Tormention. When they get more of their music online, he says "I'll want everyone to hear it. Trust me." Shawn Decker of Indiana-based band, John Q Public, sees the value of MP3s also. "Putting songs out as MP3s is the easiest and most accessible way for the most people to hear [the songs.]," he says. "The way feel about it is if people are into it, it could mean more people to come see you play whether be in town, out of town, out of state, whatever." Both Furr and Decker's bands have pages at MP3.com. MP3.com is different from Napster-like services because all of the music on that site has been voluntarily supplied by the artists themselves. It is like Napster in that it does have a central file server from which individuals download the music they want. But, it is legal because the artist who supplies the music has given permission for it to be redistributed. The downside of MP3.com is that its range of music is limited and it may lack major label acts. But, this is a problem that RealNetworks, Inc., based in Seattle, believes it has improved on. "We don't like to see music pirated by Napster," says spokeswoman Lisa Amore. "But, we are the type of company that believes in digital distribution of content." RealNetworks is the company that designed software such as RealPlayer and RuleJukebox, which are commonly used by individuals to play MP3s on their personal computers. In its more recent advancements, MusicNet in 2001 and RealOne in 2002, RealNetworks has partnered with AOL Time Warner, Bertelsman, EMI, and - for the RealOne product - Zambaa. These new services provide music out of the libraries of these major industry labels to be downloaded or streamed to subscribers. But, what MP3.com lacks in major label acts, MusicNet and RealOne lack in independent labels and unsigned bands. Amore claims, however, that these services "may extend to indies and garage bands” at some point in the future. Progress in this area is to slow for some ambitious artists. Michael Holden, a solo musician in the Washington, D.C. area has posted his music on MP3.com, but that’s not enough for him. “It’s important that I just get the word out to as many people as possible,” he says. “And I’m willing to do it using technology evenif it means I won’t make any money right now.” Being an unsigned artist, Holden’s music is not available on the legal services such as MusicNet. So he is doing the best he can by simply making it as available as possible on the internet. Does he worry about his intellectual property being pirated by Napster-like services? “I would love it if people wanted to steal my music,” he says. “I feel like by giving away my music it will help in the future.” This makes it appear to be a fairly clear divide between established, mainstream recording artists and those that are still struggling to break out. While Metallica and Eminem are ranting about people taking food off their tables, Tormention and Michael Holden are hoping that those people will spare a minute to lend an ear to their music. What strikes fear into the hearts of those established musicians breeds adrenaline in the up-and-coming bands. It is unclear how quickly reputable MP3 services will extend to unsigned bands. And, it is also yet to be known whether those pay-services will ever gain the popularity and clout that Napster once had. But, what every aspiring musician knows is that, in the words of Michael Holden, “I just really like people coming to my shows” and the best way for an unknown band to become known is but putting their music in people’s homes. They can’t afford TV time and it’s hard to get on the radio – but anyone can make MP3s. The technology is here to stay; now all we have to do is figure out how to make it benefit everyone – musicians and fans alike. Return to Writing Ryan's Current Affairs page Return to Writing Ryan's Communications page Return to Writing Ryan's main page SOURCES CITED IN THIS DRAFT Amore, Lisa. Director of Consumer Public Relations for RealNetworks, Inc.; based in Seattle. Interviewed by phone. Decker, Shawn. Music artist with band called John Q Public; based in Lafayette, Indiana. Interviewed by email. Furr, Russell. Music artist with band called Tormention; based in Mt. Airy, Maryland. Interviewed by AOL Instant Messenger. Holden, Michael. Solo music artist, based in Washington, D.C. Interviewed by phone. Kaplan, Jon. Music artist with band called The Bicycle Thieves based in Washington, D.C. Interviewed in person. MacLaren, Mac. Editor, Lemonrock Music Web; based in the United Kingdom. Interviewed by email. MP3yes.com. Web site. RIAA Current Issues – Artist and Manger Quotes Regarding Napster. http://www.riaa.org/Napster_artist_quotes.cfm. Web page. Richtel, Matt. “Industry Stepping Up To Take On Free Sites.” New York Times. December 31, 2001. Section C; Page 3; Column 3; Business/Financial Desk. Stellin, Susan. “Napster’s Many Successors.” The New York Times. October 15, 2001. Section C; Page 13; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk. Walz, Branden. Music artist with band called No Diving; based in Manassas, Virginia. Interviewed by phone. |
| MP3s: They’re No Tease by Ryan Cofrancesco |