In the early 1970s, fans of Bob Marley and the Wailers gathered around record players, 8-track tape decks and cassette players to listen to “Get Up, Stand Up”, which went on to become an international anthem for human rights.
Decades on, technology has transformed societies as well as music: How it is created, recorded, distributed and enjoyed. Digital music files and Internet connections have provided new platforms and audiences for recording artists, but have also added new pressure on their livelihoods as a result of mass piracy, fast-evolving business models and an uncertain future.
Each April 26, World IP Day celebrates the human ingenuity and creativity that drives progress, benefiting mankind. And what is more universal than music, a manifestation of the innate human desire to get together and groove? That’s why the theme for this year’s World IP Day is Get Up, Stand Up. For Music.
“Music is part of an extraordinary revolution that is taking place around us, a revolution that is fundamentally changing the way creative works are produced, distributed and consumed,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry in his World IP Day 2015 message.
