Media Convergence - Music File Sharing

Mix Tapes/Cassette Tapes
Maybe one of the earliest forms of file sharing were cassette tapes, mixtapes as they are affectionately called by some. It has been said that personal mixtapes were, ""the most widely practiced American art form."

Previous to the use of cassette tapes, making personal pop mixes was difficult for the causal music listener, with no access to equipment capable of doing so. However, when cassette tapes and music recorders became more popular, requirements for getting music recordings were reduced to only blank cassette tapes and a recording device connected to a source of prerecorded music such as the radio.


Boombox
The first "Radiorecorder" was released in 1969 by Philips of the Netherlands, and was the first time that a radio broadcast could be recorded without the use of cables or microphones.

CDs
The jump to the digital age opened up a whole new ballgame and the advent of the recordable compact disk marked a new era of file sharing. Music was no longer confined to a single piece of hardware, but also existed digitally, meaning those files could now be shared and distributed.

Personal mixes became easier than ever because, not only could songs be downloaded to a PC and then burnt to a writable CD, but songs could also be uploaded to the internet and other types of software for distribution and pirating.

For a brief period of time, several record companies attempted to create CDs with copy protection. However, these CDs were not compatible with certain audio players and were eventually seen as violations to fair use copyright law.

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This jump eventually set into motion a chain events that led to music situation we live in today. First, according to some sources, it hurt the growth of CD sales. It caused loss of sales in music retail stores. Most notable is, some sources have stated that between 2004 and 2009 a total of $30 billion worth of songs were downloaded illegally (original article).

Brief History of Digital File Sharing
1970s - Floppy disk became the first instance of removable media.  Removable media becomes target of media efforts against sharing of intellectual property.
1980s - File sharing done by modem over landline telephone.
1990s - Basic ideas for filesharing established.  File compression technology improves, but is only available to general public toward the end of the decade. MP3.com is created.  Napster is created, which utilizes centralized structure for servers.
2000s - Gnutella is created as a decentralized sharing network.  Napster is shut down.  Various other file sharing services are launched such as Morpheus and Kazaa, and are subsequently modified or shut down.  Legal file sharing service, "iTunes" is launched.
2010s - BitTorrent protocol and clients become more stable.  Pirate Bay trial verdict was announced.  Megaupload shut down and internet hacktivist group Anonymous responds by attacking various organizations.

How does it work?
P2P - Users connect to a peer-to-peer network to search for shared files on the computers of other users connected to the network.  Larger files are usually broken up into smaller chunks obtained from multiple peers, which are then reassembled by the downloader.
Examples: Napster, Morpheus, BitTorrent

File Sync and Sharing Services - Special folders are created on each of the computers or mobile devices, and then are synchronized.  Files placed in these folders are viewable on both, or multiple computers.
Examples: Dropbox or Google Drive
(source)

A Case for File Sharing
Practicality:

• There are usually only a few songs on an album you like anyway
• It can be used as a publicity tool for bands
• Music listeners and artists stop thinking about music in terms of buyer/seller relationships
• Artistic integrity might not be at the top of producer's priority list
• Many songs would not have been bought even if P2P programs didn't exist at all
• One study suggests that there is no direct relationship between P2P file-sharing and CD purchases (in Canada). (source)

Legality:

• It's legal if artist allow their work to be shared -

"We encourage and promote the free exchange of our own music on the Internet using file sharing programs and P2P networks.  We consider this new opportunity to share our music and ideas with others, and for others to share our music and ideas with each other, to be good for us, good for society and, good for art." (Statement from band Negativland)

"But in the midst of the firestorm, countless other bands have been quietly benefiting from the increased exposure that P2P programs provided, and despite legal setbacks, filesharing has inevitably fallen into its natural role as the next big publicity tool." (original article)

To Be Continued