Since the dawn of time humans have been intrigued and mystified by music. Society was drawn to music because of its appeal to all classes. This universality of music is why it has survived centuries of transformations, and why it will continue to thrive no matter the circumstances. However, recently there have been warnings about the stability of the music industry. Spawned from the emergence of the internet, file sharing, which allows an internet user to obtain copies of musical recordings without payment, is threatening the foundations of the industry. Some researchers conclude that music piracy is to blame for the decline in record sales over the past few years. The truth to this claim is widely contested.
Regardless of the cause of the decline, musicians have begun to adapt to the changing times by shifting the industries prior reliance on CD sales towards a new breed of marketing. The fact of the matter is, artists (not counting the successful ones) rely on concerts and merchandise sales to create wealth. CD sales amount to a minute fraction of revenue (somewhere around 12 percent per sale or around $1.25). Because of this fact, I believe the emergence of music piracy has only helped less known artists by increasing exposure which in turn causes more concert and merchandise revenue. Stay tuned to part II on this topic, outlining which business entities are hurt by downloading, and how the times are changing..