Free Music Downloads - Think of the artists
It’s hard to imagine a time when the only way to listen to music was on CD, vinyl or cassette. These days when we want to hear the latest track by our favourite artist, we simply go online and download it. And while this has brought music to the masses and made it more accessible than ever before, it hasn’t always been a good thing for the artists who produce it.
Free music downloads may seem like a good idea in theory, after all who doesn’t like getting something for nothing? But it’s important to remember that by acquiring free music downloads illegally, you are doing the artist out of royalties. All creative people are entitled to be paid for the things they produce. Nobody expects the world’s top fashion designers to give away their creations for free, so why should musicians be treated any differently, just because their product happens to be in a less tangible form?
Of course all artists understand that they need as much exposure as possible when they’re starting out, so many of them will offer free music downloads on their websites as a way of acquiring a fan base. This is perfectly fair and no one would argue with it as a marketing practice. However there does come a point in every professional musician’s life when they need to decide if music is going to be their livelihood rather than their hobby and this is when free music downloads begin to cause a problem.
If you’re a fan of music and appreciate the talent, hard slog and passion that goes into creating it, then support your favourite artist by paying for your music. If you do happen to come across free music downloads, make sure they’re legal and that the artist is getting either some kind of remuneration by the website or useful exposure. Think how you would feel if you were in their shoes!
