The Impact of Free Legal Downloads
How Musicians on Different Levels Are Using Authorized File Sharing
Aug 20, 2009
In the last week, Radiohead has once again utilized the Internet to release their new material. This time, however, it’s just one song and not a whole album. The song “These Are My Twisted Words”, detailed more here, is just another example of the free online release craze that’s taken the world by storm.
It’s the most recent revolution in the music industry and given its snowballing popularity it doesn’t look like it’ll go away soon. The only question is: just who benefits from this practice?
Consumer Response: Woohoo! Free Tunes! Totally Awesome Dude!
The most obvious beneficiaries of the wave of legal free downloads are consumers. Music fans can now save themselves money and a trip to the record store by getting material straight from a website. It offers hesitant listeners a chance to expose themselves to content they’re on the fence about without having to take a fiscal leap of faith. Time, and not money, is the new investment.
For those listeners accustomed to using file sharing programs like Limewire or other peer-to peer-networks, free legal downloads are a blessing given the efforts the RIAA is making to track down unlawful sharers. Cases like this one are enough to scare users stiff. Even if the RIAA can’t sue everyone with illegal files it’s nice for consumers to not have to chance it.
Envisioning a New Model: Artists Sanctioning Downloads
Now, on to the musicians involved. Moving beyond In Rainbows, after all the gambit did end up netting Radiohead a good deal of cash, established artists have several incentives to put projects out there for public consumption. In Radiohead’s case it seems their primary motive is bringing down the recording industry as it currently exists. They’ve never been shy about criticizing the music biz, and releasing music free to the public is about the biggest middle finger they could possibly give to record execs.
Nine Inch Nails also opted to go the free download route with their most recent album The Slip. Trent Reznor’s stated motive differed from Radiohead’s though. While he certainly harbors a healthy contempt for the music industry (see the Broken EP for evidence), Reznor made The Slip free as a gift to his loyal fan base.
On the other end of the spectrum are upstart musicians looking for a way to spread their name farther than their beat up vans will take them. Websites with audio files like Myspace are the quickest route for new, unsigned artists to gain wide exposure with a minimum of expense. In addition to unsigned acts, less well known bands like Titus Andronicus have allowed free downloads of their work for short periods of time, giving unfamiliar ears a no-cost, no risk test taste.
The Case For Conservation
So, the free online music thing has been embraced by artists on the highest and lowest ends of the notoriety spectrum, so what about everyone in between? Kim Gordon of underground fixture Sonic Youth had this to say regarding free downloads. She certainly has a point; artists like Sonic Youth who don’t hit the platinum mark with each release don’t have the financial cushion to give new material away, but are established enough that it isn’t necessary for them to do so to expand their audience.
Proponents of legal online audio file sharing can rejoice in the way high-profile artists like Radiohead are bringing down the man and upstart musicians can reach listeners halfway across the globe, but artists in between these two states still need income from record sales to keep them afloat. The free music revolution is here to be sure, but its takeover will leave more than traditional business models in its wake.
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