The debate on whether or not downloading music is morally right is frequently subject to speculation. I, myself, am a proponent of downloading music.
Music companies will shove it in your face how horrible it is and how it’s stealing to download music without paying for it, but that isn’t entirely true. When I download an album, I don’t view it as stealing. Stealing would comprise of me walking into a store, picking up the album and walking out without paying for it.
That isn’t entirely what I’m doing.
I’m actually sharing music files with people. Since when can’t we share?
I would actually argue that downloading music has a positive effect on the music industry and has contributed to an increase in sales and popularity for artists.
I can personally attest to this.
Over the summer I became familiarized with the local band Mock Orange. I had previously heard of the name, but never wanted to spend money actually buying an album since I hadn’t heard their music and wasn’t sure I would like them.
I suppose I could have continued to search for their songs on YouTube, but I don’t sit around my apartment often just listening to music (because I’m never at my apartment). I’m a drive-and-listen-to-music kind of girl. So, YouTube or Pandora wasn’t really effective for me. I, then, downloaded Mock Orange’s album “Disguised as Ghosts” and fell in love with the band. In the next two months that followed, I had heard that they were going to be performing at a bar downtown. While I was there, I bought a second album and a $20 T-shirt from the band’s merchandise booth.
The money I spent on a CD and a T-shirt is money that I know will personally go right into the artists’ pockets—not some record label or public relations representative. Since artists really make a fraction of the money from album sales, I feel like this is almost a favor to them.
How is that not supporting the artist?
So, do I feel bad for downloading music? No. I’ll support the people who actually MAKE the music, not the loan distributers that are record labels.
