How the digital age is effecting the music industry, socially and economically.

1. The Future of
Music in a
Digital Age
By Emily Rosin

2. The phonograph and its LP was the first audio format
for music, then came the tape with its Walkman, the
portable player that outdate the 8 track…

3. and then there was…
The compact disc (CD) is an optical disc used
to store digital data. Its been commercially
available since October 1982 and over 200
Billion have been sold worldwide since.
Although, sales have dropped by over 50% of
their peak in 2000.
But why???

4. The Rise of the MP3
MP3 is a compression format that shrinks
digital audio files. Because the files are so
small, they require less storage memory and
are virtually inexpensive to create.

5. File Sharing and Illegal
Downloading
Peer-to-peer file sharing began initially in
1999 when Napster began distributing free
software that enabled users to illegally
share files, specifically copyrighted music in
MP3 format.

6. Social issues
The main question of file sharing, is of its
morality. Some people believe its morally
OK because we should all be able to
access and enjoy music for free, despite
the needs/rights of the artists and
producers.

7. “The cool thing about Napster is
that it encourages enthusiasm for
music in a way that the music
industry has long forgotten to do.”
Thom Yorke (Radiohead)
10 September 2000

8. Economic impact
Peer-to-peer file sharing has caused a
significant decrease in the sales of profits of
music artists and producers. In the 2006
ARIA music survey, 15% of the 25% who
hadn’t purchased music in that year said it
was due to P2P file sharing.
From the parody “Napster bad,
Money good” cartoon after
Metallica sued Napster.

10. Impact on user
"Copyright law does not interest me. It does
not pertain to my existence in any way,
because it never could affect me. I buy the
software I use for business and steal the
software I use for pleasure. I buy CDs that I
want to listen to, but I download MP3 files of
music that I do not think is worth buying or
that I can not find in reasonable price. It is
not like I can get caught, so why not?”
-Anon

11. Research Project Goal
To look at how the digital age is affecting
the music industry;
 Will MP3s kill CDs?
 The Future of file sharing?
 How will it effect music artists and
producers?
 Social and economic impacts of file
sharing.

12. A confession…
…in the time it took me to complete this
presentation (approx 3 days), I illegally
downloaded 401.7 MB of music.