Rap Files
Jack Sparrow, Industry Killer
By: Deshair Foskey
Last updated February 2nd , 2010

The year 2000 brought hope to a world which was scared of being in darkness when the clock struck 12 on New Year's Eve. Y2K it was called. There was a possibility that when the world clocks changed, that computers would read the New Year as 1900. We all know the ending to that story... nothing happened other than one of Prince's hit songs going out of style.

Something happened with the advancing of technology in the new millenniums' first decade that would change the music industry forever. Our personal computers gave us the option to burn discs. And what might've began as a way to back-up more data or music. Similar to other bad ideas in the history of man, the idea started off to mean well, and well, took a turn for the worse. People started off by burning copies of their music; to making their own musical compilations; to making copies for others. 

The next step in this technological progression would be the straw that broke the industry's back. File-sharing hit the scene and instantaneously, record sales slowly nose dived and food was taken off the tables of hundreds, maybe even thousands of industry professionals. Sites like Napster led the way in innovation and outright defiance, giving users the opportunity to upload and download music from their computer hard drives. Long lines that have once wrapped around record stores on Tuesday mornings dwindled down. Why wait in line for an album, when your best friend or even a total stranger has uploaded the music for you to download for free?
 

Piracy of all music was widespread. Now do you get the title? Jack Sparrow... pirate... piracy. Yes, you get it now. There was a time when if an artist didn't sell 300,000+ copies in the first week, the album was a failure. Today, if you sell 300,000+ copies in the first week, you're a diamond in the rough. A megastar. 

And just when you would think that the stealing of music couldn't get any worse, albums started leaking, a week, two weeks, a month, two months before the albums' release date. This is a practice more common for rap music than any other genre. Album leaks are the new Napster. Full albums, including tracklistings and cover art are downloaded and often sold for a quarter of the price by bootleggers.

The music industry suffers on a daily and it doesn't just stop at albums. If an artist doesn't sell enough units, their brand loses traction and so does the moneys needed to purchase advertising space in magazines. If "urban" magazines find it harder to get major celebrity features due to lack of notoriety, larger advertisers will pull out. Add this up with people getting their news online, and now you have a magazine on the verge of closing down.

I wanted to bring this up because it seems that the only time that piracy is brought to the attention of the masses is near the end of the Grammy Awards. What really gets to me is when I find that a person, trying to get into the music industry, is downloading restricted music or even buying the bootleg versions on the street. I ask of you, "Where is your decency?" Do you even believe in karma? Saving yourself a few bucks is stealing from someone that worked hard to put out quality product, for what its worth. 

We need reform. We need to build a committee that will come together and not just help the elite eat a good meal. There is enough winning out there for far more than a handful to live well in this field. In hip-hop, we need it the most because our genre is still fairly young compared to rock or contemporary music for example. The pain runs deeper in rap and is noticeable in how only a chosen few are monopolizing the field and stunting any kind of growth in order to keep their pockets padded. 

So you tell me, "Who is Jack Sparrow?"

[Tags] Hip Hop, Rap

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