Fact: Vinyl, tapes, cassettes, discs and mini-discs are slowly becoming extinct. Who needs them when you can simply download whatever kind of media you need online. Obviously some of the older stuff is harder to get hold of, but you can bet your bottom dollar that if they're not available online already, even your dad's most boring black and white films will soon be uploaded.
The big worry is that people are downloading media illegally (i.e. not paying) and then you have the obvious knock on effects of this resulting in less money for everyone involved in the industry. But as Internet controls becomes more advanced, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to get away with illegally downloading media. Only in 2011, British student Richard O'Dywer was extradited to the US for hosting a website which provided links to downloadable pirated films and TV shows. This sent a clear message that things were tightening up.
With increased Internet controls and harsher punishments for those involved, the public are now starting to think twice about download illegally. This change in mindset, along with the extinction of physical media, is being reflected in the increased sales of digital media. 'In 2012, digital sales increased by 11%, breaking the £1 billion barrier.'1
As we all know, YouTube is a great resource, and legal, too! The advertising is getting a little aggressive, but still, it's free, and with '48 hours of video uploaded every minute, resulting in nearly 8 years of content uploaded every day',2 there's myriad songs and videos available.
Listening to music is a great way to improve one's language skills. Even if you don't recognise/understand all of the words, it's a great way to get used to their different sounds. There are thousands of songs with subtitles on YouTube, too. So if you're a foreign language learner, why don't you give it a go? 5 minutes combining language learning with pleasure.
Here's one for all of you English learners out there:
The big worry is that people are downloading media illegally (i.e. not paying) and then you have the obvious knock on effects of this resulting in less money for everyone involved in the industry. But as Internet controls becomes more advanced, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to get away with illegally downloading media. Only in 2011, British student Richard O'Dywer was extradited to the US for hosting a website which provided links to downloadable pirated films and TV shows. This sent a clear message that things were tightening up.
With increased Internet controls and harsher punishments for those involved, the public are now starting to think twice about download illegally. This change in mindset, along with the extinction of physical media, is being reflected in the increased sales of digital media. 'In 2012, digital sales increased by 11%, breaking the £1 billion barrier.'1
As we all know, YouTube is a great resource, and legal, too! The advertising is getting a little aggressive, but still, it's free, and with '48 hours of video uploaded every minute, resulting in nearly 8 years of content uploaded every day',2 there's myriad songs and videos available.
Listening to music is a great way to improve one's language skills. Even if you don't recognise/understand all of the words, it's a great way to get used to their different sounds. There are thousands of songs with subtitles on YouTube, too. So if you're a foreign language learner, why don't you give it a go? 5 minutes combining language learning with pleasure.
Here's one for all of you English learners out there:
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