RECORDING INDUSTRY GOES INTO A SPIN OVER MP3's
By Gail Whiteside
January 1999
Controversy over audio distribution on the Internet is growing,
due to the emergence of MP3 technology. The MP3 format compresses audio files enabling them to be shared over the internet. The quality of the music is high - quite comparable to CD's. One of the current top players for MP3 files is
WinAmp.
The popularity of capturing audio using this format is soaring. Downloading MP3's is becoming an
increasingly common practice among net users. Are they pirates? Well the
recording industry in North America is calling it that, and attaching on
the word "illegal" as well. This situation has a similar ring to
the industry's foot stomping over people dubbing albums onto cassettes.
But MP3's are here to stay, and there's only one direction they'll go
in, and that's up. While record company giants such as Capitol and
Polygram are citing doom and gloom over how MP's will cause a severe drop
in CD sales, a lot of the artists who make the music don't agree. Rappers
Public Enemy say the recording industry is scared. On its website, the
rappers have audio files of their music. Lately the band posted portions
of a longer remix for free download in the MP3 format. They planned to
release one sample a week from an unreleased remix of old Public Enemy
songs called Bring the Noise 2000. But in December the band's distributor,
PolyGram threatened legal action unless the songs were removed from the
Website. Both Chuck D and Gary G-Wiz, one of Public Enemy's producers and
the groups' webmaster, confirmed that the band took the songs off the
site, as requested. Chuck D said posting the free songs was an act against
the entire industry. This boxing match between recording artists and their
record company is something we can expect more of in the future.
In researching this project, I surfed for MP3 sites, and noticed that a
lot of them come with the warning that MP3's are samples only and should
be removed after downloading in 24 hours. This is evidence that there are
plenty of legal ramifications to MP3 use, and entertainment lawyers are no
doubt rubbing their hands in glee over the lawsuit possibilities.
According to an article from the Wired News website, "it drives
the Recording Industry Association of America nuts that users can
distribute songs without paying royalties".
WORKING OUT THE BUGS OF "INSTANT MESSAGING"
(c)
Copyright 1999 by Gail Whiteside.
Not to be reproduced without permission. |
