file sharing

File sharing

Illegal file downloading is commonly used across the world by people who want music, videos and other files on their mobile phones or computers but aren’t willing to pay the price.
When music is illegally downloaded the artists don’t receive the money they should because there are less record sales.
The society realizes that illegal downloading is harming the music industry but they carry on illegally downloading simply because it is beneficial for them; what are they losing by downloading files that aren’t originally so cheap for free?
There is a balance in opinions as to why file sharing is wrong and why right, some of the obvious points of illegal downloading benefiting the society are:

- If it wasn’t for illegal downloading people may not be able to afford to buy music therefore wouldn’t store music on their mobile phones, share with friends and cause the song become popular.
- "I like what's going on because I feel closer to the fans and the people who appreciate the music... It's the democratization of music in a way. And music is a gift. That's what it should be, a gift." – Shakira.
The famous artist ‘Shakira’ has shared her views on file sharing and clearly stated that she isn’t against file sharing but actually it makes her feel closer to the fans because she knows people are willing to illegally share music just to listen to it.
- Famous celebrities are obviously more wealthy than the fans who illegally download so if that’s the case, why should rich people who already have all the money they need, expect fans to pay for albums just because they like a few of the songs from the album ?

Some points as to why file sharing is bad is because:

- Its very difficult for upcoming artists; they need to pay for producing their music and adverts however the money they should earn back for this isn’t given to them by record studios because people are illegally downloading for free.
-  Some celebrities unlike Shakira aren’t happy about file sharing, such as Lily Allen which shared her opinion on file sharing :"I think music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some really rich and successful artists like Nick Mason from Pink Floyd and Ed O'Brien from Radiohead don't seem to think so." To fans it might seem like celebrities will appreciate them more if they download their music but it’s the opposite, if fans ‘love’ the music their favorite artists produce then why would they want to make life harder for them?