On September 8, 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America accused 261 music fans of having illegally shared copyrighted music materials over the Internet. Although music sharing by using mp3 web sites such as Kazaa and Winmx has been a serious issue over the past two years, these lawsuits were the first ones.

After struggling with Internet piracy, Universal Music Group is going to be the first one to raise the CD sales by lowering the price. From the customer’s view, it might be good news. But the situation is more serious than what it seems; the impact on the artists such as U2 and Eminem, who have already built their huge fan base, might be tremendous in the future because the price cut can decrease the income that the artists would earn; this says the decline of quality music.

Many record companies are expected to follow Universal Music Group’s solution, and this will also have a great impact on small independent record stores. An estimated 1,000 record shops closed their doors within a half year in the U.S.. Some local stores still stand strong.

Peacock Music storefront

A small record shop called Peacock Music sits across from Champlain Centre in Plattsburgh. Although it is not attracting enough to catch a customer at first sight, there have been a lot of regular customers since its launch in 1983. Why? Because they have something different from chain stores such as FYE which offers just general CDs, DVDs, and services.

Gary Peacock, the owner of Peacock Music, mentions that there is a lot of knowledge in the local store. For at least 20 years, he has seen what has happened in the music scene and is still willing to learn from it.

Regular customers, ranging from kids to senior citizens, come to the store because they can find what they're looking for. It's easy to find selections such as big band jazz, classical, hip-hop, bluegrass or alternative. The stock includes a lot of rare and hard-to-find ones such as imported live CDs of Led Zeppelin (Berlin/7/07/80), Grateful Dead (Lakeland/5/21/77), or Nirvana (Tokyo/2/19/92), besides the regular stuff.

Peacock Music has been contributing to local bands with their best possible strategies. The names of interesting bands of the moment might be the bands those that came from totally unknown towns or cities. In these places there are no big records stores such as Tower Records, Virgin Mega Stores, and HMV. That is to say, their first musical experience might be brought by the local music shops. When we are reading a biography of successful musicians, we tend to find that they used to work in a local record store in the past because the records store is a great starting point for musicians. This helps them to know the music that might influence themselves. Today, Peacock Records is helping local bands or artists by advertising their concert information or paying for them to record their own CDs.

CD Rack within Peacock Records

Gary mentions that he agrees with the idea of price cut of CDs brought by Universal Music Group, although he expects its impact on his own store. “It might be enough to make a difference,” says Gary. He is not going to make any changes at his store; however, he seems to have a positive confidence in maintaining its recent store condition.

“We hope we can maintain what we’ve done in the past, being a local music store where people feel comfortable, coming in, and discussing music.”

“A lot of people come in on almost a daily basis. And we talk about what they heard and are asked about what we heard. It’s like a communication type of thing, and that’s why I started this store.”

An Array of Musical Options

Although the aspect of music business has tended to be the public focus, there is still real music in this Peacock Music store. “Music is spiritual,” said Jim Morrison from the Doors. Yes, it is. The spiritual part is what the people in the music industry have forgotten. Come in and talk with the people at peacock if you still want to make yourself known as a music lover. Soon, you will find yourself being overwhelmed by music again.

What kind of music do you like?

Tips to Fight the Record Business To avoid lawsuits, downloaders should follow these steps. 1. Stop Uploading -- Uploaders are main targets of the music industry rather than downloaders, so stop uploading. 2. Don't share Major-Label Music -- Unless you have thousands of the files, you will not likely be caught. 3. Get a lawyer -- Don't contact the RIAA if you receive a subpoena. Get a lawyer. 4. Write to Congress -- Congress can stand by your side if they find fault in the record business.   Sources from Rolling Stone, September 4, 2003.