Pirates not only ruled the Caribbean at the box office last summer –
they have continued to ravage the music industry, including the Christian segment.
Pirates not only ruled the Caribbean at the box office last summer –
they have continued to ravage the music industry, including the Christian segment.
Illegal compact discs and Internet downloads are pushing people out of work
and driving creativity and variety out of the Christian music industry, insiders
insist.
Christian music sales fell for the first time in two years, and piracy is largely
to blame, said John Styll, president of the Gospel Music Association. Although
he does not have solid numbers of Christian music downloads from file-sharing
sites on the Internet, he said several factors indicate large amounts of activity.
For one thing, many songs from Christian artists appear on peer-to-peer file-sharing
sites, where people can trade electronic files. Also, recordable compact discs
outsold music CDs by a two-to-one ratio last year in America. Sales of MP3 players
that play digital files jumped 56 percent.
Couple these facts with the decline in Christian music sales and the connection
is obvious, Styll said.
On the other hand, proponents of file sharing claim the process does not hurt
anyone because the artists already make outrageous amounts of money.
Styll agreed the average retail price for albums is too high, but illegal downloading
and CD burning hurts everyone in the industry – from engineers to producers
to CD manufacturers, he added. One record label cut its workforce 10 percent
because of the sales reductions, he said.
“I would keep making music for free, but because I work for a label, I
dont think those people should work for free,” multiple Dove Award
nominee Shaun Groves explained.
Piracy also decreases the variety of Christian music available, Groves said.
Recording labels are allowing their artists to take fewer risks because the
profit margin is so slim that investors cannot afford for any album to lose
money, he said. To ensure projects make money, executives produce only albums
that will have mainstream appeal.
That means leaving certain topics out of contemporary Christian music, Groves
explained. It also means signing fewer new artists and cutting other performers
faster. Had such a mentality prevailed in the past, some artists who were not
immediately successful would have been dropped and not blossomed into major
Christian music favorites.
However, despite the negative effects of illegal downloading and CD burning,
Styll and the artists agree that digital music can have a positive purpose.
Indeed, some mainstream artists gained popularity through fans spreading their
music without buying it. But the artists must choose to market themselves that
way, Styll said.
Still, whether they make that choice or not, popular artists most likely will
end up on a file-sharing network. Groves said he does not get upset with people
who ask him to autograph a CD of his music they have copied rather than bought
because he does not believe people know it is illegal.
Christian artist Ryan Gregg said he does not agree with illegal burning or
downloading, but he looks at a copied album as an avenue to larger fan support.
“If someone is willing to burn a CD, maybe in the long run, theyll
come to a show or buy a tee-shirt,” he said. “This is not to say we
support burning our CD, but I just dont think it is cool to get mad at
people about it.”
Meanwhile, the Christian music industry is working to harness the promotional
potential of the digital age, while educating the public on copyright laws,
Styll said.
A board of directors from four major labels is investigating digital issues.
One of their first steps is to begin inserting a piece of paper in each album
thanking the owner for purchasing the music rather than illegally copying it.
Several labels already have printed “Unauthorized duplication prohibited
by law” on the CDs.
“Its a small bit of type, but hopefully, it will feed the conscience
of a buyer or two,” said Angela Magill, an executive at the Rocketown Records
music label.
Manufacturers continue to work on technology that prevents people from downloading
and burning songs. However, until then, the carrot holds more promise than the
stick.
For instance, Groves said he hopes to entice fans to buy his album rather than
download the songs illegally by adding a promotional video and live version
of a song to his album. He also included a Power Point display for worship use.
Meanwhile, some observers are suggesting the downloading dilemma – and
difficulty of stopping it – eventually will move the industry to primarily
digital distribution, virtually eliminating CDs and other “hard” media.
Artists and labels already are encouraging fans to use legitimate Web sites
– such as liquid.com – that charge about 99 cents per song to download.
“The industry has got to convert to the digital world and make it easy
and affordable,” Styll said.
However, until then, believe it or not – ministers may be among the best-known
pirates, music insiders add.
Ministers commonly download material for their churches without permission,
Styll suggested.
Many ministers try to keep their services and activities up to date with the
latest contemporary Christian music without realizing the negative example they
set for their congregations, Groves noted. That sends youth the message that
illegal downloading is acceptable, he argued.
Groves and Styll say the issue largely is an education problem where ministers
and Christians do not realize downloading songs through peer-to-peer Internet
sites is illegal unless artists give permission for their material to be shared.
Groves said he empathizes with believers who want to use the music to reach
their friends. However, piracy is against a law Christians are called to uphold,
he said. (ABP)