Hannah: Hello everyone. In today’s contemporary music lecture, we’re going to look at the effects of digital piracy on the music business.

First, I’d like you to think about how you listen to music today : do you listen to free music or do you buy it ? Or do you download it from the internet ?

If you download music without paying for it, this is called digital piracy. Illegally downloading music is very common. Many people don’t consider it stealing. But how would you feel if you weren’t paid for the music that you’re making ?

A lot of money is lost to the music industry, through piracy. And by the music industry, I mean everyone, from the sound technician to the pop star to the guy in the music shop.

The internet has revolutionised the way we listen to music. In my day, we listened to vinyl, cassettes and CDs. CD sales have now plummeted and now music is available online. Nowadays, for a monthly subscription, you can have access to a huge library of music. Price of concert tickets has skyrocketed.

Your assignment is to read the Case Study of Napster’s file-sharing and you will argue the case from the music industry’s point of view. Papers in by the 14th please !