To many people in many cultures music is an important part of their way of life. It is very beneficial for our souls. We can not live without it but the prices of CDs and cassettes tell us to live our lives without music. At this point, the music downloader programs like Limewire, Frostwire, Bearshare which all may become illegal soon, step in and create the discussion of how fair it is to use these programs and get the songs free when the artists try to sell their CDs and earn money.
Music helps people to feel better, it feeds our souls. The research about the benefits of listening to music shows us that most of the mental illnesses can be rehabilitated by music. Over the years music has become more popular and almost a need, like breathing. While students are studying at home, they listen to music; when drivers are stuck in the horrible traffic like Istanbul’s, they listen to music and feel better. As we see, music is a big and indispensible part of life. The question is: If music is that important, why are the cassettes, CDs and other devices that include songs sold for that expensive? Isn’t charging 25 dollars for a CD that cost 25 cents a bigger theft than downloading it from the internet?
Some of the artists offer people to download free music. When the situation is like this you may ask how musicians are able to earn money if they offer free music downloads. The simple answer is that they will make money as they always have, by selling recordings, playing live concerts, and selling such merchandise as T-shirts and mugs and hats. Which one is more unfair: downloading a song from Limewire and depriving a few cents from the artists; or being deprived of listening music for not being able to afford the CD?
Money is not earned easily in these days. The population of unemployed people is increasing everyday. According to the report of ILO, the population of the unemployed youngsters in Turkey has become twice the world average. In this economical crisis, it is almost impossible to save money for CDs or cassettes. When the situation is like this, the users of music downloading programs like Limewire, Ares, Frostwire are increasing. It is totally natural, but according to the government, it is stealing of ideas and has to be punished with pecuniary punishment or even prison sentences. One of the most important programs, Limewire, has just been closed off with a legal notice. This shows that governments will do everything to give artists their dues and closing Limewire off is just a beginning. The question that this recent act of governments brings to our minds is, if the governments are so sensible to the artists’ work, why can’t they be more sensitive to their own people they represent and supposedly safeguard?
In conclusion, as long as the CDs and casettes are expensive and governments do not do anything to understand and solve this problem, the usage of Ares, Limewire and the like will increase by the minute. Whatever governments do to destroy the usage of music downloader programs, the people who worktheir souls out to earn money, will not stop taking the advantage of the technology until the circumstances are appropriate and fair for both sides.
Interview Questions:
What do you think the real reason of using this much pirate CDs is?
On October 27, 2010, Limewire was closed off with a legal notice which said ‘’Limewire is under a court ordered conjunction to stop distributing and supporting it’s file sharing software’’. Do you think there should such sanctions for downloading music fom internet? Why?
How do you think obstructing to download music would affect the society?
