FREE ESSAY ON NAPSTER

NAPSTER

I'm sure you have heard something about the music issues pertaining to Napster. Right now
million dollar lawsuits are being filed on Napster by the famous rock band Metallica. You
can hear about the complaints Napster is facing on television, radio, Internet, or
magazines. The issues regarding Napster is a very arguable topic in entertainment today.
I am going to discuss the main arguments presented by record labels, and also display
some possible solutions being negotiated with at this time.
Two guys who are both 18 years of age introduced the Napster service. Napster is a music
site on the Internet in which online participants can pass songs back and forth to each
other for free. Just about any song is available to download. It is a very simple process
to begin downloading music from the Napster system. Some information about yourself such
as your e-mail address and name is required. After this simple step one is ready to begin
downloading songs. To download a particular song the title and artist has to be entered
and the process begins. The downloading procedure takes anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes per
song depending on the users modem speed and the length of the song requested. Although
Napster seems harmless and great, there has been great controversy in the music and
entertainment world regarding it. There are many arguments facing the two gentlemen that
started this music crisis. Some oppose Napster simply because it is a multi-million
dollar corporation that wants to make money by distributing other people's music. Is this
alternative way of listening to music fair, or does it violate artists' rights? Napster
claims that their service offers the world the chance to listen to and promote the
artists' music, in turn helping them out. Critics and corporations claim that this is a
lie simply because the music artists and record labels are taking huge cutbacks in record
sales due to Napster. It is not hard to understand. If you have the choice of buying a
$15 dollar CD or getting the same songs downloaded for free what would you do? Opposition
by the major record labels has been a significant obstacle. Most of the corporations'
view is that there needs to be a compromise met by the two sides. Both sides are now
discussing some ideas in which both can benefit. One idea is that the artists would get
to choose which of their works, if any was to be available on the service, and what kind
of compensation they would receive from the service. The artists would have the option of
contacting the users to inform them of new releases, concert dates, etc. Another
thoughtful idea is for there to be a blanket license with a standard rate for downloads.
That is, a system that would pay the artists a small fee whenever their song is
downloaded. This idea is preferred by many of the artists around the country. The fee per
track would be a very small fee. A rate of 15 cents a song would be equal to or greater
than what most artists receive from every CD sold. Without some kind of agreement like
this, a service like Napster, despite their claim, does very little to help the artists.
Napster users complain that CD's are to expensive when only one or two songs are listened
to anyway. Critics say the problem with this statement is that those who scream the
loudest for free music are most able to pay, so studies show. A lot of Napster users have
high-speed modems and Internet access, making it easy to download the songs quickly. 
I have discussed a few of the most talked about arguments facing Napster, and perhaps
some possible solutions. With all the arguments still up in the air, it is hard to tell
what the outcome may be. Whatever happens, Napster has made the music industry address
the problem of high priced music. Who knows, perhaps Napster is the wake-up call that the
music industry needed.