Music industry and peer-2-peer download - Essay Example

In addition, it was a PR disaster as most of the lawsuits covered by the media consisted of teenagers and schoolchildren. Meanwhile, the decline of music sales continued unabated as, compared to 2003 when 656 million albums were sold worldwide, sales fell to 250 million in 2012. PR campaigns were touted as the best way to reach more music consumers by communicating the fact that their actions were illegal and hurt the musicians. Although Yar (2008: p46) states that litigation did have an effect in raising awareness among music consumers about the illegal nature of P2P platforms, new methods like PR campaigns are now available and have a better chance at success.

This paper will consider three PR campaign frames; structural, symbolic, and political, as used in Pro Music, Music Matters, and SoundByting PR campaigns, as well as their target audiences and their intended effects on the music consumer. The pro-music campaign is a coalition of music industry organizations and individuals, who form an alliance of music retailers, independent and major record companies, artists, managers, performers, and musicians (Baym, 2010: p178). This coalition operates in several countries, including the UK, and seeks to promote an array of ways that music consumers can enjoy music legitimately and safely over the internet.

In the UK, it has partnered with ISPA UK to promote community relations that seek to educate the music consumer about the consequences of breaching corporate law when downloading music over P2P file sharing networks. This campaign addresses various issues about online download of content, while also advising consumers about available and legal online music content. The main targets for this campaign are parents, teachers, and young people, seeking to raise awareness about music content-related issues on the internet.

The main backer and financier of this PR campaign is the International Federation of Musicians, of which the UK chapter