Piracy

Piracy is when a person illegally downloads, copies, and distributes music, without giving payment to the artist, composer, or recording label. This is really unfair to the people that put so much heart and effort into their music. It may be really easy to do with how much access we have to technology, but that doesn't mean it's right. Piracy is just like ripping off an invention, but it's not as physical, or widely known and obvious. Another thing to remember is this: it's illegal. You can be fined, and possibly even arrested for it, depending on the case. 

Music is meant to be admired, but not stolen. Stealing music seems like a victimless crime, but it's not. Downloading a song and not paying for it prevents the artist from getting paid for it. You might think "They sell millions of copies, what is one going to hurt?" But imagine if everybody thought that way. The artist would make very little profit from that song, and how is that fair? It isn't.  You could also be thinking "They're already rich, why do they need more money?" Well, the truth is, they probably don't. But making music is their job. How would you feel if you went to work all day, then pay day comes around and your check is short because people didn't pay your company or store? That's what it's like for them. 

This isn't a proven fact, but more of my own opinion here, but I believe this is why concerts and live performances cost so much now, compared to what they used to back then. Piracy is more common because of the widespread technology and easy access to it. The smaller profit is making artists charge more for their shows to make up for it. Back then, it wasn't as easy, so they could charge less and still make decent profits. Personally, I'd much rather pay the $1.29 for a song, than the $120 for a crappy seat, where I'll barely get to see anything. 

It's really easy to download music the legal way. The best way, in my opinion is to go and buy the album. This allows me to have a hard copy to play in my car or stereo in my room, or anywhere else I might want to take it.  It also gives me a chance to hear the album music as well, and discover songs that are t just played on the radio all day. Another one of my favorites is I just want to buy one or two singles is iTunes. It's super easy, and it goes straight to my phone. Then later, if I want to, I can burn it into a CD to take places or play in my car. You can also enjoy music for free on different websites such as Pandora, or Spotify. 

I highly encourage you to stop pirating, no matter how easy it is. It makes the music industry a better place all around.