Thursday, January 7, 2010
I stumbled this video on youtube that talks about piracy. Its about the famous rock star Jack Black. Under the information, "Jack Black schools all of you on the truth about piracy. Remember, don't be a douche.". He mention about how he see piracy as some kind of bad practice to download videos, movies and songs without paying. Think of it in their shoes, what if you were the director of a certain movie? would you want others to enjoy it without paying? Letting your hard works go down the drain without earning what you ought to?
In this case of entertainment industry with regards to piracy, downloading songs illegally will affect the Artists directly, in the form of songs popularity, their own popularity and of cause their album sales. Movies box office are not hitting their supposed amount of revenue because people are at home sreaming videos online. This is just one of the few examples. Theres just too much more to list, i'm sure you guys are aware of it but enjoying free music and movies are just taken for granted. Moreover, telling your friends that you bought songs from iTunes and other music stores will be deem as being "stupid" and wasting money when free downloads are available all over the internet.
On the other hand, as read in an online article: "IFPI responds to new UK music downloading study; Illegal file-sharing has an overwhelmingly negative impact on music sales", it states that people who download music illegal are buying more music as compared to average comsumer. This statement is actually backed up by a research done by IPSOS. However, there are other opposing research that is in disagreement with the research statement as mentioned earlier on, hence it is only to some extent credible.
You guys are welcomed to share your comments about this issue and make it more interesting:D
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Hi You Quan,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post on how the director's feel when movies or musics are being downloaded for free from the internet, I think most of us now feel guilty about it. It is because these people have worked hard to produce good work and instead of rewarding them by buying the original copy, we download them for free.Thus, it affects their profit of selling their movies or musics.
Therefore, I think new media partly gave a negative impact on these musicians and directors.
Syabrina 0900355I
I think it's down to the individual here. If someone really believes in buying music legally through iTunes, he/she would do so regardless of any negative comments from friends.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the temptation of having free music and movies is simply too great for most people to overcome.
Shea John Driscoll
0701154G
Hi You Quan,
ReplyDeleteI am sure that a lot of people know that downloading of songs, movies, etc is illegal but people are still doing it. People will want to get all these songs, movies for free rather than paying for them.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteAlthough there's some piracy issues in musics, movies, etc. People still download it for free, because who can resist the temptation not to?
People aren't afraid of being caught because they have the mindset like, there's many people downloading, hence it's difficult to catch all of them. Thus, the laws doesn't affect them much.
Fiona
0800748F
Hi Youquan! I agree that music is being taken for granted as it's easy to download it off the net, and as there's many websites to download it off for free, why bother to pay for it?
ReplyDeletePerhaps that's the mentality of most people these days, to go for the "free" stuff instead of spending money for what people got for free. I think that unless you're the artiste producing the album, it's hard to be ANTI-PIRACY. That's my opinion. :D
Sharon
0805656F
Hi You Quan
ReplyDeleteMost people who download music know that it is illegal. However, I feel that if you really respect the artiste, you would buy their album, to show support. For example, I bought the most of the albums from Green Day, to show my support for them. I feel that as long as there are fans out there who really appreciate the music, the artistes don't really have to worry. They are making to much money anyways. xD
Hi YouQuan,
ReplyDeleteYou revealed the issue of piracy. And I like your topic--"You gain from what they lost." Today, piracy is common to see in our daily life, as Syabrina said, we download the movies and music from websites for free, we benefit but producers are suffered.
On the other hand, Sharon's opinion is also true, with new media, we can download music and movie once released, so what's the point to buy it since already have? Maybe, you want to keep the albums because you are the fan of some super star..But for the rest of people, like me, i am the fan of so many stars. If i want to keep the albums, it will definitely cost me a lot of money. And i would rather use this money to buy some books.
Just for my opinions :)
0906481G
Li MengYing
When it comes to music, maybe the concept of the album on a CD is an outdated one.
ReplyDeleteMost people listen to music from their computers anyway, using MP3 files.
Maybe musicians can take the initiative and realize this, and embrace downloading rather than shun it like it's the plague.
Take Radiohead for example, who gave out their album In Rainbows as a download on their website, with payment being optional.
Maybe that's the way to go in the future.
Shea John Driscoll
0701154G
File sharing and downloading have forced the entertainment industry to adapt and evolve. This has brought about some good developments despite the negative impact on the industry. For example, consumers have more choice in what they buy - they can choose to buy the whole album or a few selected songs. The industry also tries harder to produce works of better quality.
ReplyDeleteTake the movie industry in HK as an example. Piracy hit the industry really hard, I think, in the 90s, and the HK Actors Association led a massive anti-piracy protest. While the public sympathised with their predicament, interestingly, some in the society commented that the industry needed to re-think the quality of their works so that the audience was willing to pay to view them. To give a little bit of background, the HK movies produced then, in my personal opinion, were really not up to scratch - I actually refused to watch any since I would be horribly irritated by the lack of plot.
Do you think piracy has brought about some disguised blessings to the entertainment industry?
Perhaps one of the blessings in disguise is a larger fan base for artistes. As music and movies become increasingly accessible through illegal downloads, more people are able to listen to and view their works.
ReplyDeleteIf artistes take advantage of the downloading platform to reach a wider audience (like Radiohead, as Shea mentioned), they could emerge more successful.
Tan Su Yi Kay 0703121D T04
Hi You Quan,
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Mark that people will buy artistes' music because they appreciate the music/respect the artiste.
I think people's love of music is actually one of the driving factors of piracy - getting what you love for free can be difficult to turn down if you do have the responsibility and discipline to buy originals.
I think Shea and Kay made good points about artistes needing to "take the initiative" and "take advantage of the downloading platform" to increase their revenue. Being easily assessible and convenient to use, new media is good platform for artistes to adapt in.
Aubrey Ess
0706227F
Hi You Quan,
ReplyDeleteWe all know that downloading movies or songs from the net is illegal and immoral, but people still do it anyway. As long as there is an outlet, people will continue to be tempted to download illegally.
Regarding what Shea, Kay and Aubrey mentioned about how music artistes should move in the direction of downloads since this is the demand in the market now, I disagree. By doing so, it would mean that human greed has triumphed over the appreciation of music.
However, despite my stand, the truth is the industry is heading in that direction, where songs are sold on the net as downloads as in iTunes. But unlike how Radiohead made it optional to pay, I feel that all who appreciate the artistes' music should pay to show appreciation and respect.
Jovita Chua, 0704536B
Hi,
ReplyDeleteWell I think this problem is too big to be solve. I do download about of movies and shows. Buying more and more hard drive to store them since they are getting cheaper all the time. But I will buy the movie if I find it really nice and worth buying for even after I have watched the movie. I will be more than willing to pay for good movies and shows but some old classic shows you can never find them selling outside anymore. Only way to get it is by downloading them.
Siang Heng,
0800408G
Hey You Quan,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that if we were in the movie directors' shoes, certainly we would'nt want our effort and hard work to go to waste. Also, I agree with Siang Heng to a certain extent that this piracy problem is definitely too big to be solved. I myself find downloading music illegally more convenient as it is readily available and hassle-less in the internet.
As for downloading movies, i tend to avoid because sometimes the quality is really bad that I have no mood to continue watching, and also the downloading time for movies can take hours! Like what Siang Heng mentioned, if its a movie that I really really like and favourited, I would most likely watch in the cinemas or buy dvds to watch re-runs anytime.
Furthermore, its good to have a cable tv at home and subscribe to endless 24hrs of good movies for e.g. Star movies or HBO. Would having cable tv be a way to discourage the use of piracy?
Farahin
0805286B
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI've never believed in 'stealing' music, and I lie. I admit, I'm one of those who download music illegally via limewire. However, when it comes to bands to I really respect and have a huge impact on me, I will definitely buy their album to support them.
Oli Sykes (Bring Me The Horizon Vocalist) once said in an interview when asked about how people got to know their music, his answer was 'limewire?' which led the interviewer to the topic about downloading illegal music. It was pretty hilarious. But honest.
Piracy is something that is going to happen no matter what and it will take a lot of effort to stop the entire thing. Just think about it, one person buys an album, he/she lends it to a friend, the friend puts the songs into his/her laptop, and there you go. Piracy. P2P sharing and the police or whoever will not be able to catch them.
Daphne-rae Lee, 0701588F
Hi You Quan,
ReplyDeleteI think piracy is a kind of unstoppable activity. Unless the source stop. It is like free stuff are available, who will want to spend money and buy?
But all these pirated stuffs usually compromises qualitites.
Wei Chong
0901463J
Piracy as Wei Chong said is something that is hard to prevent. With technology nowadays, all people need is a good video camcorder and a computer to make a pirated video and produce it in bulk. The authorities are trying their best to clamp down on piracy though....hope it helps..
ReplyDelete0902851E
Mak Ann Wei