This week, the Irish record industry decided that enough was enough. Claiming that illegal internet use of music had cost the industry €28 million in lost sales over the last three years, they called in the lawyers, writes Jim Carroll
The Irish Recorded Music Association (Irma) announced it intends to take legal action against 17 individuals who, Irma says, have been persistently uploading music on to file-sharing networks.
Similar legal action will be taken by industry bodies in 11 other countries against 963 individuals.
According to Irma's Dick Doyle, "serial file sharers are effectively stealing the livelihood of the creators of the music. We have been issuing warnings for 15 months now. It's time to take action."
But, while the industry goes on the attack against those who illegally upload music, it's downloading of music, file-sharing networks and internet distribution which may well dictate how the record business operates in the future.
There are already a plethora of legal online download stores in operation (such as iTunes and the Eircom Music Club), while many artists and labels give away free downloads on their own websites.
Huge growths in the sale of digital music devices such as the iPod - analysts estimate Apple will have sold more than 24 million iPods by 2006 seem to suggest that music fans also believe that the future is a digital one.
Andy Osborn, who runs Dublin-based independent record label Trust Me I'm A Thief, believes Irma's action is misjudged. "As a music fan, it makes no sense. Previous law suits in the US didn't stop people from uploading or downloading."
He points out that the record industry is currently working closely with Snocap, the new music distribution model initiated by Napster founder Shawn Fanning. Digital distribution is the way forward, but Osborn believes heavy-handed legal action confuses the issue.
"A lot of people just don't know about these things and they are hearing stories about downloading and are frightened off. The record labels should be educating people about networks and downloads because, a couple of years down the road, they will be trying to get people to use them."
At Universal Music Ireland, managing director Dave Pennefather says it's a "terrible shame" legal action had to be taken. "But nobody was listening to what we were saying so we had to go this route. In America, it's only when the industry started to play hard-ball that people sat up and paid attention." He says internet piracy is one of a suite of issues, including some "self-inflicted wounds" such as free giveaway CDs, which have decimated the industry and cost jobs.
Pennefather believes loss of revenue affects how the industry develops the stars of tomorrow. "The music industry runs on a different business ethos to other industries. We take massive risks on a gut feeling about a band or an act and developing that act costs a huge amount of cash."
Some artists such as Peter Gabriel have been vocal against illegal downloading. "Internet piracy, if it continues, will eventually hurt those who love to make music," he says. "There are many people trying to provide legal access at more reasonable prices and I support initiatives to encourage people to find out for themselves what is available legally and decide if they think it is fair value or not."
However, Paul Noonan from Irish act Bell X1 welcomes any dissemination of the band's music. "People downloading our music for free or copying it for their friends contributes to raising our profile, and has the knock-on effect of selling more records and concert tickets and generating more airplay. It's important to remember that home taping did not kill music, and neither will file sharing."
American band Wilco is a striking example of how downloading can help a band. Caught in a record label dispute, they made their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album available online and thousands downloaded tracks from it. When the album was eventually released, word of mouth ensured it was a bestseller and it has sold over a million copies worldwide to date.
"You can't develop a trusting relationship with an audience unless you can trust them," says lead singer Jeff Tweedy. "As a music fan, I'd prefer to be treated as a patron of the arts than a consumer. The majority of people who download music are fans who can't wait to get the music.
"The only people who get upset about internet downloading are people who are wealthy already. It's so hypocritical for the music industry to criticise downloading culture because they run on a business model which is so outdated and absurd."
Dave Pennefather admits that the music industry havs been slow to react to changes in technology. "All of this has happened in the last five or 10 years at an unprecedented pace and yes, this industry has to change, just like every business has to adopt."
For Pennefather and the industry, the current legal action is also about raising awareness. "Music has never been more popular worldwide. but no-one wants to see a situation where people are getting music by stealing it. If something is free, people don't regard it as having a value and we have to change that perception."