Browsing: Mdundo

The music industry makes a significant contribution to the economy. The industry has evolved over the years. Back in the day, artists made a sizeable income from selling cassettes or CDs. With the advent of technology came music downloads. Estimates indicate that in 2001, close to 40% of music CDs sold were pirated. There was no noticeable difference between the original and pirated version, except the latter was sold at a much cheaper cost, which drove up music piracy.

Initially, record companies and artists attempted to lobby for more stringent measures on music pirates. Unfortunately, the ability to prosecute lagged far behind the rate of piracy. The stronger copyright laws also alienated the fan base. 

It appeared digitization would be the death of music until innovation caught up. The late Steve Jobs developed Apple iTunes that allowed people to pay to download music. With the development of the Torrents protocol, …