Millions of unauthorized songs are being traded online every day. For the knowledgeable and determined, practically every commercially available recording from the past forty years and more can be located, downloaded and burnt to inexpensive CDRs. The music industry is trying to put an end to this but millions of music fans now expect to test drive albums before buying them. Many people were outraged when the major labels banded together to shut down Napster, and their discontent has contributed to significantly declining industry profits. While Napster could have become a promotional breakthrough along the lines of radio and MTV, most of its successors are taking piracy a step further by adding movies and software to the mix, making it more difficult than ever to reach jaded music fans scattered across dozens of file sharing networks.

Still, there are definite upsides to the digital music revolution. Music has never been so conveniently recorded, distributed, collected and enjoyed. While some are taking advantage of the situation to amass enormous free libraries of copyrighted songs, these people tend to have lots of time but little money. Many more are taking the opportunity to check out a wider range of music with greater speed than ever before, resulting in better informed purchase decisions and a more diverse and satisfying personal music experience.

In an age of increasing file sharing, there will be greater rewards for music that is unhindered by copy protection. Freely shared songs will simply spread faster and further, with word-of-mouth fan networks springing up around the best music. On the other hand, copy protected CDs and digital rights managed sound files will irritate many fans, forcing them to go elsewhere for their listening and networking. People have never had to pay extra for the right to listen to their CDs unlimited times on stereos, discmans or home computers. Many copy protection schemes prevent CDs from being played properly on computers and car stereos, while also preventing the songs from being transferred to portable MP3 players. Music has been and should continue to be one of the most universal and portable forms of entertainment, not devalued as protected software limited to specific accounts and circumstances of use.

Permitting the duplication of media is an important point of power for consumers of both music and software. It has been proven that software lacking copy protection is more likely to succeed than comparable software that is protected against duplication. Windows, Photoshop and Cakewalk are prime examples of products that had early success as a result of open door policies regarding unauthorized sharing of the software.

One solution is to ensure that CDs provide quality visual experiences with compelling inserts and DVD video extras that fans will want to revisit. CDs are much easier targets for piracy when they have poor quality packaging, no lyrics and few memorable songs. Albums should be treated as the auditory equivalent of movies, with no room for material that should rightfully end up on the cutting room floor. Great music inspires passionate fans, and the most valued song downloads and home-burnt CDs will often lead to actual purchases, especially when homemade discs pale in comparison to the official releases. Well-packaged albums of meaningful, worthy songs with desirable extras like music videos, interviews and lyrics are much more likely to be successfully marketed in the future.

The key is to freely encourage the sharing of select album tracks, starting with the first single. Record companies may choose to limit the track to an evaluation period, but this is less effective than giving the song away for free without restriction. When a song expires, it disappears from personal playlists and the promotional value of the download is potentially lost. The optimal amount of music to give away is two or three songs per album. Giving away less than that decreases the chances that someone will become a converted fan, while giving away more removes the incentive for people to buy the album.

The release of free songs online should be spaced out to match the promotional life of the album. One approach is to give away a single, then a strong album track followed by another single, with intervals ranging from a month to half a year between them. The first MP3s should be freely available, while later ones should require fans to join a mailing list first. The desired result is that certain songs become widely available on file sharing networks, while other songs become hard to find. Once a person is made to put effort into completing an album download, the value of the music itself and of owning the CD are significantly increased. They must painstakingly track down the entire album, giving it more worth in the process, or go out and buy the CD. Both outcomes are desirable, since they are likely to result in devoted fans.

While there is a need to share free music with audiences, there is also a need to redefine the rights of musicians and have audiences respect those rights. Artists should have final say over whether specific songs of theirs are approved for legitimate free online file sharing. Artist-approved MP3s would then be freely available, while listeners would have no rights to sample, modify or profit from the recordings. Artists who endorse this model should be recognized and respected for it by their fans. A new level of responsibility between these artists and their audience must be encouraged, with fans supporting artists that provide quality music by in turn sharing their songs on a selective basis, buying their CDs and DVDs, and attending their live shows.

Selective song sharing would involve fans only sharing the songs they know are approved by the artist or label, as well as a limited number of other songs that they value. Most fans have favorite songs that are never released as singles, and these songs should be shared among like-minded fans. At the same time, these songs should not be made readily available in the same manner as the approved songs. Artists encouraging such an approach would be less likely to have complete albums traded online, since individual song availability would be unpredictable.

In many cases, albums will still be shared online in their entirety, but the selective song sharing model skews the results so that some songs are widely available while others are far less common. The detrimental impacts of rampant file sharing will be substantially lessened for bands who release official MP3s, play memorable shows, encourage active fan communities, and release great music. Artists following these guidelines are more likely to have successful careers and benefit from the file sharing phenomenon.