With the advent of the Internet came numerous possibilities for us - the common user - to utilise powerful technologies. One such option is the downloading of sound files. Although as of late this has mostly been in the news as a negative aspect of said network, there are also some positive sides to it as well. Personally I feel this has been overshadowed by large media conglomerates suing private persons left and right. Perhaps it is time to make the big corporations see that music file sharing can be used to their advantage.
As a case study I'll be using American music artist Howie Day who encourages his fans to make DAT-recordings at his concerts and share these with other people through the Internet, greatly expanding his fan base.
Although I'm not completely sure what main question I would like to answer in my paper there are some subjects that are relevant to this topic. Among them are:
- how much the music industry is hurt by file sharing, peer-2-peer networks, bootlegs, etc.
- the aspect of goodwill created by allowing file sharing
- ways in which the music industry can implement legal file sharing into their business or advertising strategies
- possibilities or consequences for fan-communities
Visit Howie Day's website for more information on the artist himself or click here for his taping policy.
A good site where there are tons of downloads available is The Internet Archive or go directly to bootlegs of Howie Day here.
A good site where there are tons of downloads available is The Internet Archive or go directly to bootlegs of Howie Day here.
