More than 1.2 billion songs are downloaded for free each year. Many record labels and associations have tried to stop these illegal act for a long time. Still, music piracy is a crime people commit without any guilt every day. According to The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), piracy is a music theft that has damaged impact for artists and all music creator. However, when looking from another perspective, music piracy actually plays a major role in defining success and it is definitely beneficial for the artists throughout the world. First of all, music piracy increases the artists’ income. Although the piracy may have negative effect on album sales, Bart Cammaerts, Senior Lecturer from LSE, stated that music industry is still showing heathy profit due to subscription services, streaming and live performances, which have significantly escalated since 2000s. Moreover, there are many ways to earn money other than selling songs, for instance, selling concert merchandises, creating fashion lines and perfumes, guesting in TV shows, doing commercials, and signing endorsement deals. These are alternative approaches that compensate …show more content…
Rather than seeing piracy as a threat, artists can learn how to make most out of it. Robert G. Hammond, a researcher from North Carolina State University found that albums which were intentionally leaked online before the official date of release actually sold more. This is a proof that music piracy is one of the marketing strategies which can boost album sales. Another case worth mentioned is in 2013, an English metal rock band, Iron Maiden, tracked down illegal downloading data and pinpointed which country had the highest amount of the band’s music piracy. Later, Iron Maiden kicked off their tour in Brazil and South America, sold out concert tickets, made enormous cash in return. It is a wiser action to make money from piracy instead of suing fans in