Thinks Streaming Services Harm Com325 Ethics Of S

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Thinks Streaming Services Harm Com325 Ethics Of S

The role of the internet in today’s music industry is fraught with controversy. The issues of piracy, file sharing, and digital media rights have resulted in a contentious relationship between the internet and established artists, while simultaneously creating career opportunities for small, lesser known artists who have found success outside of the major labels. Streaming services, like Pandora and Spotify, now offer these little-known artists a chance to gain listeners and compete with big-name artists, who are often reluctant to give the rights to their music to these services.

In 2013, David Byrne, musician and former front man of New Wave band, The Talking Heads, wrote an article for The Guardian explaining why he thinks streaming services harm artists and why he won’t participate in them: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/11/david-byrne-internet-content-world (Links to an external site.). Musician David Allen, bassist for the post-punk band Gang of Four, responded with a rebuttal that said Byrne is wrong: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/16/why-david-byrne-wrong-spotify-thom-yorke (Links to an external site.)

Using original research into the social and economic issues of streaming music, analyze these two positions and explain why you agree with one position and disagree with the other:

  • Do you think streaming takes advantage of artists, or is it the wave of the future?
  • Does it benefit artists more than audiences, or audiences more than artists?
  • Does the advent of streaming services improve or harm the music industry as a whole? How does streaming strengthen or weaken culture?

Your well-written paper should meet the following requirements: