Hammond Music

Posts Tagged ‘Akai’

It’s one of the most controversial topics of modern times and there are related stories in the news almost every day. It seems that everyone, whoever they may be and whether they really understand the concept of downloading music or not, has an opinion to give on the subject. Even amongst musicians opinions are divided – there are those who think it spells the end of the music industry and those who are happy for their music to be readily available to a much wider audience of potential fans than they could otherwise have hoped to reach. 

The debate has been going on for years and it really doesn’t look like it’s likely to reach a compromise any time soon. Remember when Napster was finally closed down after a copyright lawsuit from Metallica? Everyone thought that was the end of it – it seemed the age of music for free was over, never to return. But then came Limewire, the Pirate Bay and so many other new filesharing sites, with new and better ways of operating, and never failing to stay one step ahead.

vTo be fair, Metallica certainly had a point, and they are by no means the only musicians to have spoken out against free downloads and the impact it has on the big label music industry. With CDs becoming more and more overpriced it’s not so surprising that people are choosing to turn to downloads, but not everyone realises the effect this could have on the music we all love. However there are those who believe that the music industry as we know it has had its day and that the future of music lies with the people recording their own tracks with DJ software on their home computers and publicising the music themselves online. This is only possible because the music is available online for free, and these are the genuine music lovers who are in it for the music not the money.

The latest musician to voice his opinions is Snow Patrol singer Gary Lightbody. Although his band are hugely successful and far from being unheard, he believes that being able to get music for free is just the modern way and that the penalties for those involved in filesharing are ‘way over the top’. He was speaking specifically about the recent conviction in Sweden of four founding members of The Pirate Bay, who have each been sentenced to a year in jail and told to pay $3.48 million in damages to large entertainment companies. The group are launching an appeal as although they understand hese companies could well be out of pocket, there was no way to know how much by, and it was discovered that the judge was a member of the Swedish Copyright Association. 

There is no sign of an end to the debate on filesharing and certainly no sign of an agreement being made. There is no question that it is damaging to the record label giants’ and huge stadium rock bands’ incomes, but at the same time it enables the little guys at home recording their tracks with an Akai home studio and set of headphones to get an equal chance of being heard. Maybe there is no right answer.