To Prosecute or Not: Media Edition

This is probably the first song that I was truly shocked to find out was a remix. I don’t think I’d even heard the original Jay-Z version before tonight. I never knew which was the actual original, and I never cared.

Growing up, I’d always listened to so much different music that it never occurred to me that some of it could be illegal. Sure, downloading songs off the internet is illegal, but if someone can’t afford to buy a song, does that mean they shouldn’t be able to listen to it? Similar to artists like Ed Sheeran, I don’t care where people get (my) music from. If I was famous for my music, there’s a good chance I’m getting paid bank regardless of how many people download the songs illegally because from what I know, some people who download the songs illegal still buy the album. There’s no reason I should care if people don’t pay for my music. Unless it’s taking away from the artist being able to make a living (and I don’t mean a filthy rich living), listening to music without purchase should be a concern for the back burner (if a concern at all).

Flickr: garden
Public Domain

The same goes for sampling music. This subject is a bit tricky, however. If someone wants to remix your song, it shouldn’t cost them an arm and a leg to do it. It also shouldn’t take months to get the rights to use it. As long as they’re not simply reposting the song or just pitching it, it should be able to be used.  So many great things can and have come out of musical remixes or dubs that limiting creative freedom seems like a destruction to a core part of our society. While it may not seem like it’s collaboration, it is in a way collaborative because the creator and the listeners work together to share the remixes they like and give credit to the original artists of the song, even if the rights weren’t obtained.

There has to be a change in the way music is distributed because the copyright laws around it are too strict and unclear and with the way media is growing, outdated.