The End of Illegal Downloading

Vinyl Bay 777, the best new record shop on Long Island, takes a brief look at the decline of music pirating

It’s been about a week since the sudden shutdown of torrenting website What.cd. The successor to sites like Oink, Pirate Bay, Limewire and others was closed after its servers were raided by French authorities cracking down on illegal files.

There was a time where illegal downloads were more prevalent than they are today. In the early days of the internet it was harder to find legal downloads of music files. Sites like Napster and Limewire sprang up, giving people a place to upload files and share them with others around the world. These sites were very popular, as they allowed for easily accessible music online. Such would become a trend that, in the end, would play a part in the demise of illegal downloading.

In the early 2000s, there was a backlash against file sharing sites. Most notably, in 2000, Metallica and other artists sued Napster for violating copyright law. The suit ultimately led to the site’s shut down in 2001. File sharing became a dangerous game after that, with sites being monitored heavily and many being shut down for similar reasons.

But another invention also led to the demise of illegal file sharing… iTunes. The iTunes store opened in 2003 and made it easier to legally buy music online. Artists got paid for their work and people got the music they wanted to listen to.

This obviously didn’t stop people who wanted their music free and other sites continued to pop up. Sites like Pirate Bay and Oink sprang up, sites that didn’t concern themselves with copyright law and wanted a revolution. However, many of these sites were invite-only and implemented a fee to use.

The final nail in the coffin, though, is coming from streaming sites. Sites like Spotify, Rdio, Apple Music, and even Netflix for movies, have been gaining momentum in the last few years. For the convenience of listening to anything at the touch of a button, people are willing to pay for a low-level subscription to Spotify or Netflix.

This has proven that it is not necessarily “free” items that had been carrying file sharing’s popularity, but ease of use and convenience. While ripping music was once the only way to take music with you, better options have popped up with the improvement of technology. With the internet’s ubiquity, one can have an entire world of music at their fingertips just by streaming it. Sure, there will be people who miss sites like What.cd, those who enjoy the freedom and large selection of music found nowhere else. But when it is just as easy or easier to stream legally, why wouldn’t you stay on the right side of the law?

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To accompany your streaming, why not purchase physical copies of your favorite albums. Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s best new shop for new and used vinyl, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, memorabilia and more, has the largest selection of titles on the island. Now open seven days a week, we’re conveniently located at 101-14 Dupont Street in Plainview, right off the Long Island Expressway and the Northern State Parkway. Shop in store and online at vinylbay777.com this holiday season!