With the Internet continuing to expand and being made available for people around the globe to use, practically every entertainment industry flourish alongside this trend, and most notably, the music industry. However, the Internet has a notorious reputation in its ability to facilitate piracy. This has led people to ponder on its downside poised toward songs. But others think that this issue would not harm any music creator. Regarding my opinion, I think pirating music proves to benefit artists more than harms them.
Firstly, illegal downloads can hugely impact a song’s popularity. It cannot be denied that musicians make a portion of their money through music sales, alongside with touring, merch, and other activities. However, not every person in the world would gladly pay for the official version of the song, considering the fact that there are thousands of new songs churning out every now and again and an average person usually supports multiple artists. This is where the free internet downloads come into the picture. Possessing a song for free not only free fans of financial burdens but also allow them to share and promote the artists across the whole wide web. For example, John Michael Howell is a musician producing and promoting his music mainly through the Youtube platform. According to his fans, he often provides his music to the audience for free in order to boost his fame. He had shared that if he were to sell his album like many famous musicians, he would not make his name known to the world.
Secondly, although pirating music can be detrimental to a musician’s reputation, both famous and aspiring, it can also be a way to boost one’s fame. Aspiring artists often take advantage of the ‘free mentality’ of people and create free versions or even free music for people to listen to. This act of goodwill is usually appreciated by many since downloading songs illegally can be a hassle sometimes. Japanese BGM artists (short for background music) have followed this approach for years by creating relaxing beats for their audience free of charge, in exchange for their name to be spread far and wide across the internet.
In conclusion, downloading songs illegally would not harm musicians in any significant way but rather help artists in terms of song’s popularity and the creator’s reputation