The advances in music technologies are very fascinating, albeit gradually progressive… True, the short and sweet of the story is that music recordings evolved from an analog format to a digital one, but the exact stages are what’s important to bear in mind; particularly the current Internet music technologies. This type of audio format quickly rose to replace CD’s as the primary choice of people’s music storage and playing, and it isn’t terribly difficult to see why: a computer hard drive can store thousands upon thousands of music data files, and also allow the user to download/acquire music without having to transfer or copy the music files directly from any hardcopies, like a CD.
However, as beneficial as Internet music technology has been, it has also opened the door to huge challenges in copyright laws. The most apparent is the issue of file sharing: the advances in technology has made it incredibly easy for people to transfer music files to one another and download files themselves, without having to pay any fees to the artist or recording company. However, a more intriguing issue is actually concerned with copyrighting ownership. Economically and historically, it was the record industry executives (‘The Suits’) who held this control by having artists sign over the rights to their songs in their contracts. But now through Internet technology, many new entrants are allowed in music recording, production, and distribution-Some music groups avoid record contracts and sell/distribute their own music over the Internet. For groups whom were signed with a company, this now leads to a clash on who really holds the rights to the songs: the group who put their blood, sweat, and tears into making it, or The Suits?
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