|
Music makes the Web go around 
Kristina Ikavalko investigates whether a new digital music phenomenon means death to the CD Currently, the most sought after item on the internet, even hotter than the ever-popular "sex" is MP3. So what's with this innocent-sounding acronym? Well, a couple of years back, music tracks saved as MP3 files began making the rounds of college campuses disseminating all kinds of new music to a thirsty student audience at a student budget-friendly price -FREE. Now this MP3 phenomenon has reached the general public, exposing a whole new musical world to the average computer user. This music "piracy" has not gone unnoticed by the record industry, which is quaking in its boots. So what exactly is it? MP3 refers to an audio file format similar to video varieties like JPG, GIF or BMP. It compresses a music track to one twelfth of its regular size but sounds as good as the original when played back. Even better, it enables you to download a music file in less than 10 minutes, as opposed to the standard two hours; and it only takes up four megabytes of space on your hard drive. To listen to the music, you just load an audio software tool onto your computer, and you can find an abundance of this type of software available free on the internet (eg www.winamp.com, www.sonique.com). Some estimates suggest that more than 15 million copies of this type of software have already been downloaded for the purpose of playing MP3 music files. To listen to the tracks the files can be downloaded directly onto a portable MP3 music player - like a very compact Walkman - and played back through headphones. Alternatively, the files can be saved onto your computer's hard drive, in which case you then have the option of using your newly loaded audio player to listen to them through your computer speakers or, for better quality , you can connect your computer to your hi-fi system with a sound card. Given the extraordinary spread of this type of pirate audio it's not surprising that someone's ire might be raised. In this case, it has been that of the recording industry who view this sort of "free" distribution of CD-quality music as a direct violation of copyright laws and, more importantly, a.threat to their profit from the lucrative music distribution channels - record stores, TV channels, etc. MP3 is a backlash against the enormous control that record companies have over which music is released onto the market. This anarchic distribution opens up artists' access to a mass audience, bringing exposure to many bands that would otherwise never have been heard. Asturian group Stormy Mondays even attracted the attention of Woodstock's promoters after their song "Blue as Night" was put out on the net as an MP3 file. Legit MP3 websites - most aren't - offer music that copyright owners have already agreed to distribute. So far this has mostly been used by garage bands, although Public Enemy did release their latest CD in this format prior to its retail availability. In addition, thousands of illegitimate websites offer access to countless music titles, as well as the tools required to listen to them once they've been downloaded (eg www.mp3.com). Another bee in the record companies' collective bonnet, is that companies are now manufacturing light-weight, pocket-sized players that can store dozens of tracks (eg RIO PM300 and MP-Man). These are bombarding the electronics marketplace in perfect time for Christmas 1999. The record companies have become frustrated in their attempts at legal action against the free distribution of music on the net and against the manufacturers of portable listening devices. As a result they have decided the best tack to take is, "If you can't beat'em, join'em," and in a desperate attempt to profit from the demand for digital music on the web, have launched the Secure Digital Music Initiative or SDMI. They believe that their own secure format will help ward off the wholesale music piracy introduced by MP3. The initiative brings together the major record. companies (Warner, Sony, EMI, Universal and BMG) but also 150 content, hardware and software companies. Although supposedly a cohesive group, it is clear that the hi-tech members of this committee view things somewhat differently from the record companies. For example, the pressure record companies are applying to manufacturers of digital music players to create device s that will only play their secure format, seems anathema to the very principles of the World Wide Web. After all, the whole point of the net is free access and no restrictions on material. Disagreements aside, the advantage the record company heavies' team has, is their legitimate access to the majority of the world's most popular music. In addition, they are creating a standards war, that if conducted deftly, could see the demise of MP3 and the emergence of the new, record company-sanctioned digital music format. If successful, benefits would not only be reaped by the record companies, but by the high-tech companies who would be needed to help process the potential billions of transactions resulting from an on-line music delivery system. As for the consumer, they need not completely despair at possibly losing access to "free" music. If the music industry has its way and SDMI is successful, the consumer will still see significant cost savings, as most of the costs associated with music distribution through conventional retail channels will be eliminated. In addition, record companies will save on the cost of storing stocks of older and more obscure music as storage space is unlimited in the virtual world. And what about your favourite CD store? Win it have a future in this new era of electronic access to music? The jury is still out. Some believe this cyber spread of music will only boost CD sales. Consumers will be able to sample music first on the internet and then, if something takes their fancy, go out and buy the CD. This would echo the history of the circulation library; when first introduced, many booksellers were up in arms at the perceived negative impact libraries would have on book sales which, in reality, libraries ultimately boosted. However, there are others who firmly believe music distribution on the net could sound the death knell for record stores and the CD as home computers become as ubiquitous as the television in the new millennium. How this drama will unfold is anybody's guess, given the many still unresolved issues between the record companies and the hardware and software manufacturers. And, regardless of its fate, MP3 can clearly be credited with establishing a cheap and flexible system for music distribution on the internet. For this reason alone, it may be difficult to convince active MP3 users to adopt new formats or tools. Realistically, the demise of MP3 is not inevitable and there is already talk of an MP4. In the meantime, there is nothing stopping a computer user from saving CD tracks onto their computer in a compressed MP3 format and distributing them to whoever they like, and nothing the SDMI has proposed can restrict this kind of music-sharing. All I can recommend to InMadrid music fans is that they try their hands at accessing free digital music in the near future before the record companies get their way... FIGHT THE POWER! If you have any comments or queries Kristina can be contacted at kikavalko@ibm.net
© Kristina Ikavalko, "InMadrid" vol. 4, issue 9, September 1999.
Si deseas acceder a sitios donde conseguir ficheros MP3 clásicos, pulsa aquí. |
|