All Nonfiction
- Bullying
- Books
- Academic
- Author Interviews
- Celebrity interviews
- College Articles
- College Essays
- Educator of the Year
- Heroes
- Interviews
- Memoir
- Personal Experience
- Sports
- Travel & Culture
All Opinions
- Bullying
- Current Events / Politics
- Discrimination
- Drugs / Alcohol / Smoking
- Entertainment / Celebrities
- Environment
- Love / Relationships
- Movies / Music / TV
- Pop Culture / Trends
- School / College
- Social Issues / Civics
- Spirituality / Religion
- Sports / Hobbies
All Hot Topics
- Bullying
- Community Service
- Environment
- Health
- Letters to the Editor
- Pride & Prejudice
- What Matters
- Back
Summer Guide
- Program Links
- Program Reviews
- Back
College Guide
- College Links
- College Reviews
- College Essays
- College Articles
- Back
Music Streaming Services Are Theft
Before the age of the Internet, the only way to obtain music was to physically go to the store and buy an album, tape or compact disc. By the year 1999, however, internet users found an alternative to obtaining music without spending any money or even walking out of their house. The company Napster founded by nineteen- year- old college dropout Shawn Fanning, provided free music to his users by file sharing with each other. Musical artists on this service were not informed that their music was being shared and distributed without their consent or being paid compensation. In turn, many lawsuits were filed against Napster for copyright infringement. In particular, the band Metallica filed a lawsuit against Napster just one year after the service launched. The court decided the issue in Metallica’s favor, and the ruling ordered Napster to remove all songs produced by Metallica and any other artists who wished not to be on the service. While Napster is no longer an issue in the music world, copyright infringement still exists. Music is no longer traded through users on a service like Napster; music is streamed on different internet radio applications such as Spotify and Pandora. Just last year, Taylor Swift called for a boycott of Spotify because it streamed her music without her permission. As a result, Swift took all her music off of the site. Many other famous artists are following in Swift’s footsteps. Coldplay, Beyonce, and The Black Keys also did not extend permission to Spotify to stream their songs in order to compete with these services. Although Taylor Swift and Metallica do not have anything in common, in regards to their music, they do share one similarity; both artists were deprived of their royalties. Because of deprivation of earnings and lack of consent, music streaming services are copyright infringement.

Similar Articles
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
This article has 0 comments.