"Time for a Raise?"
Today I read Upfront Magazine's article, "Time for a Raise?" that was all about the pros and cons of increasing minimum wage and the effect it would have on the citizens of America and the economy. President Obama wishes to increase minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9.00 an hour. Many employees share his wants, whereas many employers disagree.
Obama argues, "This single step would raise the incomes of millions of working families." Raising minimum wage would give citizens more money to go back into the economy, therefore affecting our economy for the better. This raise in wages could boost the amount of pay that about 15 million people recieve. "A full time minimum-wage worker would see an additional $3,500 of income a year." Raising minimum-wage would make a huge difference in many American Citizen's lives.
At the same time, there are many opposers. For one thing, having employers have to pay more to their employees could drive some businesses out of business and increase unemployment rates again. Another opposing factor is that if an employer ends up struggling to make ends meet because of this increase in wages, "he could make less of a profit, raise prices (which could scare off customers), hire fewer workers, or reduce the number of hous each employee works." Any of these decisions could harshly affect any person involved in the business.
Overall, seeing the facts, I personally believe that raising minimum-wage is a bad idea. Although I would love to make an extra $1 per hour when I begin working, I feel that it is best for our economy not to raise the wage by that much. In my opinion, raising wages hurts more than it helps.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
"How The Web Changed Music Forever"
I recently read "How the Web Changed Music Forever" in Upfront Magazine. This article was extemely interesting and talked about the effect that the internet has had on the music industry, and more directly, on record companies. In the '90s, the internet stretched the known bounds of music distribution. "Unknown musicians could post music directly to websites and promote it for free, bypassing record companies and going right to the public." This is fantastic for the musicians and artists to get their work out to the people without having to depend on the big record companies. Many famous singers, such as Justin Bieber or Psy, got their careers started by posting on the internet.
Unfortunately, the effect of the web isn't always helpful. "It wreaked havoc on the record industry by making it easy for people to steal copyrighted music, which caused music sales to plummet." So not only is the internet destroying record companies, but at the same time artists and musicians are losing money because fans are getting their music for free. Before the digital age, musicians and record producers were both being paid based on what the fans of the music bought. That seems more fair than allowing fans to steal music, possibly causing their favorite artists to lose money, or possibly (for the less popular artists) go bankrupt.
To try and fix this situation, many record companies have sued illegal music downloading sites and "helped develop formats like iTunes, where customers can legally download music for a small fee." Although iTunes has helped to fix their financial troubles, the music there is still much cheaper now than before the web. Even still, music streaming is legal, causing more and more artists to lose more and more money.
Although the internet has changed the music industry forever, whether it's for the better or the worse depends on the way you look at it.
I recently read "How the Web Changed Music Forever" in Upfront Magazine. This article was extemely interesting and talked about the effect that the internet has had on the music industry, and more directly, on record companies. In the '90s, the internet stretched the known bounds of music distribution. "Unknown musicians could post music directly to websites and promote it for free, bypassing record companies and going right to the public." This is fantastic for the musicians and artists to get their work out to the people without having to depend on the big record companies. Many famous singers, such as Justin Bieber or Psy, got their careers started by posting on the internet.
Unfortunately, the effect of the web isn't always helpful. "It wreaked havoc on the record industry by making it easy for people to steal copyrighted music, which caused music sales to plummet." So not only is the internet destroying record companies, but at the same time artists and musicians are losing money because fans are getting their music for free. Before the digital age, musicians and record producers were both being paid based on what the fans of the music bought. That seems more fair than allowing fans to steal music, possibly causing their favorite artists to lose money, or possibly (for the less popular artists) go bankrupt.
To try and fix this situation, many record companies have sued illegal music downloading sites and "helped develop formats like iTunes, where customers can legally download music for a small fee." Although iTunes has helped to fix their financial troubles, the music there is still much cheaper now than before the web. Even still, music streaming is legal, causing more and more artists to lose more and more money.
Although the internet has changed the music industry forever, whether it's for the better or the worse depends on the way you look at it.
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