Here we go again. The record industry crooks have moved past America. They're ready to hit up the rest of the world over MP3s.
Reuters reported Thursday that the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a trade group that represents major record labels, has begun inundating universities in Canada, Asia, South America, Australia and Europe with fliers detailing the legal and technological problems with online file sharing, an issue that is well known in the United States.
While it is necessary for record companies to take on the challenge of stopping download-hungry computer users, they are swimming against the tide, fighting a battle they will never win.
When Napster was finally forced to cease making free MP3 downloads available, iMesh, Morpheus, and KaZaa became widely used. When those services are all shut down, newer, better point-to-point file sharing programs will reach the masses.
Services like the new MusicNow offer members the ability to listen to various radio stations and artists for a monthly fee. This service is the TiVo of radio, allowing listeners to listen to what they want to, when they want to, without having to deal with commercials.
The music industry has, to some degree, accepted that people will download music, and is now allowing them to do so, as long as they are willing to pay for it.
The record companies should, instead of spending heaps of money fighting against downloads, address some of their own problems first. For example, if people didn't have to pay $15.99 for a mediocre disc with 10 tracks on it, downloading might not be so widespread. Music could easily become more affordable.
If artists are so adamant about receiving their due paychecks in return for their work, they should understand that their fans are being shut out by the ridiculous prices of CDs.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tom Petty began fighting the record industry 20 years ago and hasn't backed down since. According to an October Rolling Stone interview, when his record company wanted to charge the then-exorbitant price of $9.98 for his 1982 album "Hard Promises," Petty threatened to rename the album "8.98" in protest.
On his latest album, "The Last DJ," the title track talks about a disc jockey who takes a stand against corporations telling him what to play based on revenue. Many radio stations banned the single.
Petty can probably afford to fight. Record labels understand that they will always make money off of his albums and will put up with the inconvenience of fighting him to be able to sell his work. Perhaps newer bands don't have that luxury, but it's time they tried.
There are smaller groups that fight against the industry, but there needs to be more. It isn't an impossible battle; they can win. Recording artists are the industry, and there probably wouldn't be a fight for very long if hundreds of them began fighting against the prices of their CDs.
This is the power that the artists and industry do have against MP3s. They are never going to stop the downloading of music; they shouldn't bother to try. What they can do is police themselves. They should start by making their music and concerts more affordable.
It is sickening to hear artists whine about people ripping them off by downloading their singles and then watch said artists on "MTV Cribs" showing off their Bentley collections. What is another Bentley in the garage worth? It might be worth a few more fans.
Gregory Salvatore is a broadcast journalism senior. Reach him at gregory.salvatore@asu.edu.
