Are You A Pirate? – Teens & Piracy #2

It’s is a pretty typical scenario in this day and age, especially in the kind of economy we’re in. People don’t make much money so they jump at the first opportunity to get something they want for free. Music is just one of those things. But you get my point. When I bring up the issue of illegally downloading music to kids my age, I often hear the same excuse, just said different ways. “I’m too broke, man.” “Music is just too expensive when you think about it.” “I wanna save my money so I can go chill with friends, I can’t afford to waste it!” Basically, kids simply can’t or don’t want to BUY music. Everyone has music they love, but it seems a good percentage of them don’t love it enough to pay a buck or so a piece for their favorite tracks.

You’re probably thinking, “Emilie, come on. It’s not like I don’t LOVE my music. I just don’t have the kind of money to buy it all, it really adds up.”  

Well, here’s the thing. I want you to look down at the clothes you’re wearing.

You heard me right. You can laugh at me, but just take a look at your clothes. Especially if you’re a girl, I’m assuming you probably purchased that outfit you’re wearing—or at least you picked it out for yourself. Gone are the days when we’re cool with Mommy and Daddy going out and buying those tiny little articles of clothing for us. Gone are the days when we’d be cool with actually wearing those clothes, too, let alone be able to fit into them (haha). All jokes aside, my point is, you might have spent some money on that awesome t-shirt, sick pair of jeans, or stylin’ hoodie that you’re wearing right now. If for some reason you magically got them all for free, that’d be a little weird, right? Well, I won’t judge you if all your clothes were picked out and purchased by your parents… especially if you have parents as cool as mine. Anyways, that’s a whole lot better than full-on stealing clothing, but I’ll touch on that issue later.

Here’s where I’m going with this: whether you think about it a lot or not, you spend money on plenty of things, even as a teen. The list extends far beyond simply clothing… think about it—when was the last time you went to the movie theater? a fast food restaurant? the mall? Regardless of where the money comes from (…cough cough… even from parents… cough…), a lot of us have side-activities we do all the time that involve expenses. So technically, we can’t exactly go around screaming that we’re broke or poor because a great deal of us are fortunate enough to be able to enjoy so many activities that we take for granted. As teenagers in high school and junior high, we don’t really think about money and where it goes, but a whole lot of us definitely spend it frequently when we have access to it. Even when we are smarter with our money and are saving it up, we might still take some out every once and a while to go see the latest hot flick at the theater or go chill with friends in some activity that requires a little bit of cash.

So, what’s the deal with teens and the issue with buying their music?

Well, first of all, because we CAN get it for free, we don’t really think to buy it in the first place. It seems that because it’s right here online, easy to access and download with one click, we just do it without thinking about it. Even though it isn’t legal. All the downloading is just such a common thing in kids’ eyes that they see beyond the big red flag of illegalness! Um… if illegalness is even a word. haha

 Think about this: most of us in our right minds wouldn’t walk into our favorite store in the mall and steal a shirt, a hat, or some jewelry.  So why are we so desensitized when it comes to music? Illegal music downloading, or piracy, is a form of stealing, believe it or not. So what makes it so different to us?

Like any form of stealing, there’s consequences to illegally downloading music. Some of those consequences don’t directly effect us–or at least, they probably don’t seem like they do. And one of the biggest consequences is more directed at the bands or artists who made the music.

In next Thursday’s installment, I’m going to go a bit deeper into what piracy really does, and I’m going to kind of share with you exactly why I think, morally, piracy isn’t right–along with a few other thoughts on how the internet has affected the music industry.

Feel free to share your opinions here! I do my best to get back to everyone who comments, and I appreciate your opinions (I don’t mind if you disagree with me). One of the main reasons I started this series is to get a conversation started! Thank you for checking out my blog!