Question Description

This week's discussion topic is about file sharing of music on the internet. Composers and musicians have traditionally been able to earn income through sales of their recorded works and compositions. File sharing compensation laws and illegal file sharing sites have changed this in the internet age, making it more difficult for artists to be paid for music distributed over the internet, and artists and record companies are making efforts to work with lawmakers to look at current file sharing law.

Discussion Tutorial Video (Please watch this prior to beginning the assignment):Click to view
Assignment:

Research this topic using your Information Literacy skills, find a variety of viewpoints which could help you form an educated opinion on this topic.

Assigned Readings:

Please read the USF music copyright policy (http://www.usf.edu/it/documentation/music-copyright.aspx (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.)

and this NY Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/technology/personaltech/08pogue-web.html?_r=2&ref=personaltechemail&nl=technology&emc=cta1Links to an external site.

Day One: Monday:

Post your opinion on whether you think illegal (free) music file sharing should be illegal or not. Explain why you think this way. If you reference an article or book (as you should), please cite or provide a link.

Day Two: Tuesday:

Respond to another students post : Read and thoughtfully respond to one of your Group Member’s Posts from Day One by Clicking “Reply” to their post.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday - Thursday

In recent years, online music streaming services have arrived and started to take over purchasing hard copies of CDs. In light of this we will look at the way artists are paid via music streaming services and music downloads. For the next two discussion days we will be comparing the revenue of online streams to music downloads. As it stands now, the payout for a single music download is ~9.1 cents per song (with 1.75 cents per minute for songs over 5 minutes). The payout for streaming music varies across countries and streaming services, so for the purposes of this discussion we will focus on the online service SPOTIFY.

Assigned Readings:

http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6561031/what-do-spotify-streaming-services-pay-around-the-world (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

and

http://work.chron.com/much-money-paid-songwriter-performance-royalties-23011.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Day 3: Wednesday:

Should there be a standard payout rate for streaming and downloading music across the globe? Or do you believe the payout rates should be different? Why or why not? (Use external references to better support your argument).

Day Four: Thursday:

Respond to another students post : Read and thoughtfully respond to one of your Group Member’s Posts from Day Three by Clicking “Reply” to their post.

Discussion Rubric

You will be graded in the Discussion Group activities based on the following rubric:

1. Read the assigned research articles.

2. Conduct your OWN research into the topics using your Information Literacy skills, and bring that knowledge to your posted opinions, cite or give links to your supporting research information.

2. Post opinions and responses on assigned days. You are required to post once each of the active days of your Discussion activities.

3. Posted opinions need to be thoughtful, and show that you have read the assigned articles. Posts do not need to be especially lengthy, generally a paragraph will allow you to state your opinion and back it up. You will be graded on the quality of your posts, including references to the research information you found. You should also write in a manner that is appropriate for university writing assignments, using complete sentences, and correct grammar and spelling.

4. Posted responses to fellow group members need to be respectful and considerate. A “discussion” allows for two (or more) sides of an argument to be presented in a civil manner.