Week 6 - Is DRM the best way to save the music industry?

Official statistics have shown the music industry’s profits to be rapidly decreasing over the past few years and it is fair to say that the development of p2p networking and illegal downloading of music is one of the main reasons why the music industry is suffering. Therefore for companies to impose digital right management to MP3 files they offer on the internet is a good idea and method to attempt to restrict and limit the possibility of people getting access to licensed music illegally. However, whether DRM is successful is another matter. With so many networking programs still widely available, people will still choose to download music illegally and for free. The music industry needs to learn to adapt and evolve with its audience and technology and not focus so much on how p2p networking is affecting their sales and royalties. At the end of the day downloading music can in some cases help the music industry. For example, if people sample music they normally would not listen to through the internet, it may result in them really enjoying the music and actually going out and buying more from the same artist or concert tickets etc.