Mechanic Media

There is a huge controversy in the music industry right now, that has been going on for a while. This is the issue of downloading music. What is legal and what is not? Do you even know what's legal? Do you know that it is considered illegal to take a CD that you own and copy those files onto your computer so you could listen to them on an MP3 player? Do you know that it is also considered illegal to transfer your MP3's onto a playable CD so you could possibly listen to it in an older car? Sadly, these actually are illegal.

This issue can affect pretty much anyone who listens to music through their computer or on MP3 players. It's incredibly frustrating to both sides. The recording companies and the RIAA do have valid points when it comes to downloading music just because it's free, but I believe that the average listener should not be punished for transferring files that they purchased with their own money.

Downloading music for free off of websites, that can be easy to find, is not something that is considered a good thing to do. However, it's harder to find someone my age that has not downloaded music for free. This does take away money and opportunities from musicians and record labels, however it doesn't take away enough money to where they can't function. At the end of the day, record labels and musicians are still making significantly more money than the people they are suing.

It isn't hard to imagine why someone would illegally download music, whether it was for "sampling" or just because they wanted a song and had no money. I think that the RIAA is going a little power hungry with suing people, even ones who just transferred files. If you bought a copy, I think you should be able to make other copies as long as they are for personal use and personal use only.

How does the RIAA expect us to be able to pay for the same song two to three times at around $1.00 a time? I know, personally, my family could never afford it.

Also, so many musicians pride themselves on being just about music and the art form, but when they don't receive one small payment, they wage war on the world. I don't think that money is important at all. If I was a musician, I would be happy people were actually listening to my music, no matter how they got their hands on it because that just means there will be more people at concerts buying tickets and merchandise. Those are things that can't be downloaded illegally.