part a question 4

• Copyright

In relation to online music stores, copyright is a form of legal protection for music and images (eg. album covers). The copyright laws provides the artist with legal rights to their original works. There are several copyright issues involved with online music stores. It is illegal for such databases to distribute music without the permission of the owner of the copyrighted sound recordings. Online music stores need a license from the record labels (of the songs) to legally distribute music and make it available for customers to download the songs. Also, there are issues involved with the album covers that are included in the purchase of a song/album. Ultimately, an online music store has to make it their responsibility to respect the rights of the copyright holders. They can do this by properly asking for permission to distribute their images and music and/or get approval from the record labels.

• Fair Pricing

Online music stores need to consider what they price their songs. It is one of their ethical responsibilities to ensure that the price that they are charging for the songs are fair. Online music stores should not take advantage of the fact that most people are purchasing their music online. They should make their prices reasonable and fair in order to avoid legal issues that may stem from it. This is important because if the songs were overpriced, customers may be discouraged from legally purchasing their music online. Instead, they may resort to illegal methods of obtaining music like stealing music from music sharing programs, etc. Also, this is disadvantageous for the copyright holders who gave permission for the distribution of their work. It is detrimental because people would not buy their music. It may also tarnish their reputations because people may think that the artists are overpricing their songs and are taking advantage of their listeners. The issue of fair pricing needs to be considered when implementing this database because it may potentially prevent future legal issues involving online distribution of music.

part a question 5

Some features that I would include in my database include: (this is based off of iTunes)

• Genius (similar music) – In my opinion, this is the best feature of an online music store. This is because the customer is suggested various songs or albums that are similar to the music that they have now. This gives the customer an opportunity to discover and listen to new music/artists that are very similar to the music that they enjoy listening to now.

• Top Charts – I particularly enjoy this feature for online music stores because I can see the top songs and albums that people are purchasing. This shows the music that is popular right now and what people are listening to. For some customers who like to be current with their music, this feature is very advantageous.

• Accounts – I think this feature of online music stores is very important for several reasons. For one, there is increased security. This is because the customer has to type in their username and password in order to purchase music. This reduces the chance of someone purchasing songs without the customer being aware that their money is being used. I like the idea of interaction between user accounts – how customers can gift other users with songs, etc. Also, the ability to store money in accounts from gift cards is a very nifty feature.

part a question 2

Data Dictionary:

Field	Description	Data Type	Example
Album Cover	This is an image which shows the customer how the cover of the album of the song they are looking at looks like. It is in .bmp file format.	OLE Object	How to Save a Life album cover
Song Title	This is the title of the song which the customer is viewing.	Text	Moments
Artist	This is the name of the artist who sang the song that the customer is viewing.	Text	Linkin Park
Album Title	This is the title of the album which the customer is viewing.	Text	The Black Parade
Genre	This is the type of music (genre) that the customer is viewing.	Text	Pop Rock
Price	This is the cost of the song which the customer is viewing. It is shown in numbers.	Currency	$8.99
Song Preview	This is a music file which, when clicked on, plays a 30 second preview of the song the customer is viewing. It is in .wav format.	OLE Object	Screaming Bloody Murder.wav preview

part a question 3

The storyboard is uploaded on StudentNet.

part a question 1

• Ease and convenience – It is easier to find the songs that the customer wants compared to pre-electronic methods because the customer can just type their criteria into a search bar as opposed to manually searching for it. Also, it is convenient especially for people who live in remote places. In these places, music stores may not be available to them but if it is online, they can purchase songs from the convenience of their homes.

• Checking for availability – It is much quicker to check for the availability of the song with a digital system. For example, if the customer was to physically search for a song or album in a store, they may find that the song is not available and therefore they have wasted their time. With a digital system, the customer can just type the song/album and quickly see whether it is available or not.

• Better organisation - Having a digital music store is much more convenient in the organisation of music. This is because, with just a few clicks of a button, the data (songs) can be easily sorted according to however the customer wants (eg. alphabetical according to song title, artist, album, etc.). In contrast, the pre-electronic methods have less methods of sorting and if the customer wants to find a certain song/album, they may need to know all of the information about it (which they may not know).

• Costs less – The music available in digital systems usually costs cheaper than if buying from a non-digital store. This is because it costs less money for the music distributors to produce the album covers, CDs and cases. Most of the time, if the customer only wants to buy one song, they may have to purchase the whole album that the song is in. This is true especially if the song is not a single and can only be obtained (physically) if bought from the whole album. This is disadvantageous because the customer may not want the whole album and just want a whole song. With a digital system, the user will be able to buy only one song if they wish and therefore it will cost them less money.

• Variety – There is a larger variety of songs in digital music systems. If a song is particularly not well-known then it may be more difficult to obtain it in a normal music store. However, in digital systems, the likelihood that the song is available to purchase is higher. This is because, again, it costs less to distribute the music and therefore the song will be likely to be available for purchase.

• Ability to preview songs – If the customer has no idea of what a song sounds like, they may need to hear a preview to help them decide if they want to buy the song or not. With normal music stores, the customer won’t have the option of previewing the song and therefore won’t be certain if they will like it. With digital systems, the customer can easily click a button and hear a preview of whatever song they like and can easily decide whether they like it or not.

• Exposure – Less popular artists have the opportunity to share their music with the public because virtually every type of music is available on digital music systems. Since it is easier for customers to find any types of music, these artists will greatly benefit because they can showcase their music. As a result of this, they can gain more exposure and extend their popularity.

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