Recommended book: How Music Got Free

Took me a while in the end to get round to reading this, and here is my summary.

Witt's book provides an in-depth account of the origins of file-sharing (it goes back longer than you might expect) with vivid descriptions of the principals.

I learned a lot, including that the first pirated song was 'Until it Sleeps', by Metallica. I like details like that.

Defining the year 2000 as the 'banner year' in the timeline of digital music piracy (and I agree), the second half of the book picks up in more familiar territory, and it is here where the real arguments are made.

For instance, Witt ponders: "If something was available for free, and could be freely and infinitely reproduced for free, with no degradation in quality, why would anyone pay to own it for a second time, when they already had it, for free?" (p. 125).

He also critiques streaming, with up to date examples.

It's a non-academic book, so an easy one to swallow.

References

Witt, S. (2015). How Music Got Free. London, England: The Bodley Head.

Just how relevant is the album format in 2015?

Published this article on The Conversation which focuses on Adele's new release '25' and the recent 2015 Mercury Music Prize.

The article considers the notion that music listening is becoming more passive, that albums are getting shorter, and that the album format may very well be encouraging music piracy.

Check it out.

Tweets @musicpiracyguy

The Business Of Music-Streaming Services: How Deals With Record Labels And Publishers Are Made

Stumbled upon this piece from Tech Times recently which explores music streaming services in some detail.

Though it fails to come to any real conclusions, it offers a neat summary of various aspects of subscription services including how it works differently for established and emerging artists - something I have discussed many times on this blog.

Notably, it draws from academic research (albeit fixated on one study).

Have a peek.

Tweets @musicpiracyguy