Is Free Music Alway Good?

Through the development of the web, many music lovers have begun refraining from purchasing actual CDs at stores. Loyal fans continuously purchased CDs or albums online to support their favorite artists. However, the number of illegal music downloads have dramatically increased and it has been said that record companies and artists have been losing mass revenue.

Several classes ago, we had an opportunity to welcome Tom Doberzanski, a keyboard player of a locally raised band “The Zolas”. In his visit he gave us an insight about illegal downloading from an artist’s perspective. Mr. Doberzanski described that marketing and publicity was a key step in producing a successful band. To achieve this, a certain amount of funding must be put into marketing the band and its music to generate loyal fans who will generate enough revenue to create a profit. He mentioned that for a start up band, downloading music was actually beneficial because it is a form of marketing where a band or record company will not have to spend any money on spreading the band’s publicity. Conversely, illegal downloading is benefitial to an artist who lacks publicity and marketing funds because it can create future profit. On the other hand, already popular bands are losing profit from downloading since it completely destroys their reason for spending high costs to get new listeners. This is a loss of potential customers and is hurting the music industry.

Although it may be illegal, it was interesting to find out that downloading music did not always create a negative effect. As a business student, it was an eyeopener to discover that issues that may look unprofitable can be actually profitable depending on the position in the market a product, or in this case a band, is located in.

Here’s a song by The Zolas from their latest album Tic Toc Tic.