mp"free"

Remember when CD releases in stores was such a big deal? I do. There would be such hype about buying CDs in stores. Then everything became more technological and people would just buy CDs from online. That became the easier and more convenient thing to do (especially when iTunes came out), so it became poplar. After that, people just stop buying CDs all together; instead, they would just simply download them for free. This new method of getting music went viral. It was fast, easy, and free. Millions and millions of people started downloading music for free through programs such as Limewire, Kazaa, and BearShare; just to name a few. These programs are easy to download and navigate which make them attractive to consumers. They also make it easy to download many songs at one time and in a short amount of time. This was every music-lovers dream come true. At first, things were fine and dandy with these programs, and people started getting fined thousands of dollars for using these programs to get free music. This was when illegally downloading music became a serious issue. People were getting into big trouble for not paying for their music. But how was this issue going to be solved? Millions of people were (and still are) actively downloading music illegally. There was no way everyone was going to get caught. Although people knew many other people were getting in trouble for this, I think they figured the chances of them getting in trouble were slim (I know this was my mentality) so they continued downloading for free.

Many people who are against downloading music for free argue that by illegally downloading music, one is stealing money from the artist. While this may be partially true, what these people may not realize is that much more of the money is actually being taken away from the greedy record companies. While that fact does not necessarily make it right to download music for free, it puts many peoples’ minds more at ease. However, the issue still remains: should downloading music for free be legal? People are going to continue doing it no matter what, so in my opinion, a deal should be met. Restrictions or guidelines should be set that protect artists but give consumers power and freewill when it comes to getting the music they want.