With all of the hullabaloo about music file sharing on the Internet, perhaps it's time to ask the musicians themselves about how they feel. The Pew Internet & American Life Project has done just that, surveying 2,755 musicians and songwriters between March 15 and April 15. Interestingly, the responses are far from uniform. Read on.
Business impact
Survey results show there's no strong consensus regarding the impact of online file-sharing on artists. Of those surveyed, 35% agreed with the statement that file-sharing services are not bad for artists because they help promote and distribute the work of the artists, 23% agreed with the statement that file sharing services are bad for artists because the work of the artists can copied without permission or payment, while 35% of those surveyed actually agreed with both of the foregoing statements.
In terms of affecting their careers, 37% reported that free downloading has not made a difference, 35% report that free downloading has helped, while 8% indicated that free downloading has both helped and hurt. Perhaps significantly, only 5% of respondents report that free downloading only has hurt their careers. Not to be forgotten, 15% reported that they did not know how free downloading has impacted their careers.
As far as who should be held responsible for "illegal" online file-sharing, 37% said that both the people who run file-sharing services and individuals who swap files through those services should be found responsible, while 21% stated that nobody should be held responsible. Moreover, 17% responded that people who run peer-to-peer services exclusively should be held responsible, while 12% stated that only individuals who swap files should face legal consequences.
Apart from the foregoing, a majority of the respondents believe that online file-sharing poses some threat to the creative industries behind music and movies. Fully one-third responded that file-sharing poses a "major threat" to these industries while another one-third stated that file-sharing represents a "minor threat." Most of the remaining respondents said that file-sharing poses "no threat at all" to these industries.
Copyright control
In terms of copyright control, two-thirds of the respondents indicated that copyright holders should have complete control over their art once it is produced. Another 28% responded that copyright holders should have some control, while 3% said that copyright holders should have very little control.
A resounding 61% stated their belief that current copyright laws do a satisfactory job of protecting the rights of artists. However, 59% responded that these laws do more to protect the rights of sellers of art than the artists themselves.
A majority of the respondents reported their belief that current copyright laws do not unfairly limit public access to art.
One-half of the respondents stated that they would be bothered if someone put a digital copy of their music on the Internet without permission.
Offering music online
A vast majority, 83% of the respondents, reported that they have provided free samples or previews of their music online. From this, 35% stated that free downloading has helped their careers, while only 5% reported that it has hurt their careers.
Furthermore, 30% indicated that free downloading has helped increase attendance at concerts, 21% reported that free downloading has helped sell CDs, and 19% stated that hit has assisted in gaining radio playing time for their music.
RIAA lawsuits
Possibly the most interesting finding of the survey is that many of the respondents do not believe that the recording industry's legal attempts to stop free sharing of music on the Internet will cause benefit to the artists.
Indeed, 60% reported that the lawsuits by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against online music file-sharers won't actually benefit musicians and songwriters; the greater the income earned from music, the more musicians seem to back the RIAA lawsuits. But even 42% of the respondents who earn most of their income from their music reported their belief that the RIAA lawsuits will not benefit them (while 35% of these respondents indicated that the lawsuits could help them).
Fast forward
So, where do we go from here? Plainly, the sharing of music files online presents an issue that remains hotly debated. With the musicians themselves far from close to agreeing whether not online music file-sharing is a good thing or a bad thing, it's unlikely that this debate will be resolved anytime soon.
Eric Sinrod is a partner in the San Francisco office of Duane Morris (www.duanemorris.com), where he focuses on litigation matters of various types, including information technology disputes. His column appears Wednesdays at USATODAY.com. His Web site is www.sinrodlaw.com, and he can be reached at ejsinrod@duanemorris.com. To receive a weekly e-mail link to Mr. Sinrod's columns, please send an e-mail with the word Subscribe in the Subject line to ejsinrod@duanemorris.com.