The Day Music Died

3 Threatened American Institutions

1.) One of the institutions which Keen believes to be declining is texts. There were several examples of these throughout the article. The amount of newspapers being purchased today is declining. The New York Times for example currently has 2.7 paid subscribers, but the online version has over 40 million. Since the internet is a fast way to read the news, more and more people are choosing it to quickly get information. Many magazines are also facing this same dilemma because many of the articles found in magazines can be found on the internet with the click of a button and no money. With so many facts available online people find less reason to actually purchase books. There are websites such as sparknotes, which summarize the facts in a quick and easy way for the reader. I do think this is a reasonable thing to be worried about, especially if you have a job as a journalist, author, or working for a company that produces such media sources. Jobs are being lost because there is no longer such a high need for employees to write about certain things. With money declining in these field there, therefore is not enough money to pay employees to work.

2.) Another institution that is in danger is the music industry. This is easy to understand simply by the number of downloads people make daily. Internet sources such as limewire and napster allow music to be downloaded for free. Why would people want to buy CD’s when they know they can simply get them for free? Many people believe that since so many people are doing it that there is little to no chance they will be caught. Since so much music is downloaded the artists, and stores that depend on CD sales are losing large amounts of money. The radio which used to be very popular is also losing it steam. Over the past 18 years, the amount of time listeners between the ages of 18 and 24 had dropped 21 percent. Instead of listening to the radio and waiting for your favorite song to come on through commercials, people now simply listen to the music they want by downloading it. Again, I agree that is a problem, but it’s not something that is a problem for everyone, many people think this is good because it saves them money. This is a negative thing for those who are losing money because of the downloads. Radio stations could be forced out of business, and recording artists, managers, and producers are suffering from a loss of sales.

3.) A third institution that is in danger is the movie industry. In 2005, this industry lost $6.1 billion in global wholesale revenues. There are several causes for this problem. It’s not uncommon to find bootlegged copies of DVDs in large cities, or find websites online that show movies that are still in theater; these two account for $4.7 billion of losses. Movie theaters are losing business due to these breakthroughs. Admissions are now the lowest it’s been since 1997. People don’t want to pay $10 at a theater when they can see it for free online. The number of people who download movies online is currently 660,000, but it is estimated at by 2010 the number could grow to 50 million. The sale of DVDs has also plummeted, due to these new forms of entertainment. This is a problem for those whose jobs depend on sales of this type. An example of Disney can be used. Between the years 2003 and 2005, Disney lost so much money that they had to eliminate 650 jobs, which also forces the amount of films produced to decrease. I think people who are not directly affected by the negative aspects of this, think there is nothing wrong with it. But with the other two institutions, those whose jobs are in jeopardy will suffer, and will find these as negative.

The quote “sheep are devouring men” means that the internet is taking over many of Americans institutions. The internet is a fast, easy, and basically a free way to get information. Books, movie theaters, and music are all examples of these institutions that suffer. Because the internet is so easy to use, people opt to use it over things like books. An example from the reading explains that The New York Times had to lay off 200 people in 2005. Less people are buying newspapers because articles are available online, so there is not enough money or need for a large amount of employees.